Guest Columnist By USSIJU MEDANER
info@medaner.com | justme4justice@yahoo.com
Since around 2007 when the Boko Haram insurgency began in Nigeria, the nature, pattern and intensity of insecurity in the country took a new turn. We were hit very hard with an attack from within that we were most definitely not prepared for, or perhaps that we had no intention to respond to appropriately. Between then and 2016, casualties were piled up, initially from the north-western states of the country, but gradually spreading across the entire northern states and splitting into the southern and western corridors of the country.
We got to the point when even the seat of power became apparently unsafe; when bomb threats and actual bomb attacks became the norm of the day. Nigerians could no longer sleep with their two eyes closed; and livelihoods were literally grounded across the North West, part of North East and the North Central states. Farmers could no longer afford to go to farms for fear of imminent attacks, kidnapping and the ultimate fatality.
The pattern of insecurity cum insurgency in the country over the decade has morphed into a complexity of concern and has continued to result in significant casualties across states and regions of the country. The Boko Haram insurgency and its terror operations around 2009 and thereafter has been particularly devastating. The group’s tactics including terrorist strategies, guerrilla attacks, and social disruption, initially proved too difficult for the country to respond to. Then, the season of mass abduction of innocent citizens and students brought too much agony on the people and the nation.
The casualties remain high. Estimates of casualties vary widely, but it was reported that between tens of thousands of people have been killed, abducted, dislodged and rendered homeless by the conflict over the decades. We all remember what the cycle of violence looks like, when every heavy high handed response to the insecurity is bound to result in further retaliation and attacks from the insurgents and perpetrators of the insecurity in the country. And with this destructive cycle came the exacerbating of the accompanying humanitarian crisis, with millions displaced and many more affected.
Perhaps, it was the failure of the consecutive PDP governments to address the insecurity in the country head-on; and the seemingly pampering of the actors that eventually emboldened their resolve to unleash more terrors on the country. We went from just Boko Haram, to every form of attacks on the souls of the country and its people. From Boko Haram to kidnapping and banditry, and the abducting of citizens for ransom, which seems to have become a lucrative business for the perpetrators and has spread evenly across the country more than any other form of insecurity. Banditry in the northern states, unrest in the south east being perpetrated primarily by the Indigenous People of Biafra and the Eastern Security Network affiliate of IPOB that are raining terror on the region and grounding legitimate commerce and businesses at will and regularly. Crude Oil theft and pipeline vandalism were and still remain the problem in the South-South, dealing severe economic blows to the national economy everyday. We would also not forget the increased spread of armed robbery and cultism prevalence across the country simultaneously; and not the least are the farmer-herders crisis, piracy and sea robbery along the Gulf of Guinea, among several others defined insecurity. With the combination of all these, the country has never remained the same.
Just as safety became a serious concern, food insecurity came hard upon us as the food production and distribution cycle was broken. Farmers could no longer go to farms along the most active agricultural bed of the country, and when they managed to do so, the harvest was confiscated by either the Boko Haram or the other criminal elements in the same category. Humanitarian crisis consequences however came upon us resulting in the expending of billions of dollars that would have been directed to real development of the country; but the resulting case was managing the consequences of these threats and attacks across the country.
But the narrative is changing. We are no longer that nation where Boko Haram and bandits were having a field day operating without being scared of attacks from our gallant army. Gone were the days when we cannot sleep with our eyes closed. They are on the run, hiding and operating from a defensive position. We are decimating their numbers and ranks and gradually becoming free from them.
Just a few days ago, the once dreaded bandit leader Turji was on the run, leaving his family and fighters behind to some unwanted end in the hands of the Nigerian Army. It is a fact that the security position of Nigeria has increased tremendously in the current Administration, but more still has to be done. We cannot rest on our oars until we have completely flushed out these levels of threats and attacks in the country and make Nigeria safe for all Nigerians.
Whatever it is that we are doing right now must be sustainable and gradually build upon to become our standard protocol against insecurity. We must maintain the effective funding of the military, the equipping of the forces, and the continuous training and development of the entire service personnel. We must invest more in the effective collaboration and coordination among the security agencies, leveraging on the need for intelligence gathering, access and usage as a major tool for combating insecurity.
We must embark on a multifaceted response approach that addresses the economic, social and institutional drivers of these security challenges, leaving no stone unturned until we win. This must as well include recognition of the continuous need for dialogues and reconciliation among us to address all budding ethnic and regional tensions that are capable of escalating insecurity at any corner of the country.
Whatever we are doing now, just like the words of the chief of Army, we must not relent. We must take the battle head-on to them until we end it. We must, as directed by Mr. President, end insecurity in the country in 2026. While doing this, it is equally important that we do not relent in providing a lasting solution to the farmers-herders clashes across the country. I will suggest that along with the ministry of livestock created by the current Administration, the already gazetted need for cattle ranches across the states be given urgent attention, to enable us to take the cows and cattles off the farms and roads as soon as possible.
We must give it to the president and the national security apparatus. The result so far is worthy of commendation. Nigerians must rise up to offer all the possible support to make the job easier for the government. The traditional systems and leadership must at this material time leverage on their position of closeness to the grassroots to aid the intelligence gathering job component of the fights against insecurity. Let us work with the government and with the Army, in all our little corners to expose and rid our communities of perpetrators and agents of insecurity. As it is said, security is everybody’s business.
I am going to end this piece today by reminding all our leaders of the need to leverage on the successes we are already recording and the safety already established across a number of the corridors that farmers were previously displaced over the years. It is time to address food insecurity with the same force and tempo; aggressively enabling the farmers to return back to their farmlands and partner with them to once again feed the nation. If we can feed Nigeria effectively before the end of 2026, then we would be able to say boldly with conviction that we are seeing the end insecurity in Nigeria.
