when the Financial Times of London in its editorial of December 22, 2020 warned that unless certain urgently critical steps were taken, Nigeria was precariously at the verge of degenerating into a failed State, there were many who considered that opinion as a harsh, Eurocentric and of course egocentric evaluation targeted at foisting an unfavourable domestic and international image on Africa’s most populous nation.
Those who canvass this position have their own way of letting you know that every great nation and democracy, emerging and established have got issues militating against their growth and consolidation which they need to resolutely confront and be determined to overcome. Their position has been emboldened at the weekend with the assassination attempt at a former president of America, Donald Trump who was giving a speech at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania adding to the growing number of US presidents, serving and former who were either assassinated or attempts made at having them assassinated. That violent signals are coming out from the world’s most consolidated democracy should not in any way delude us towards thinking that there are no clear, present and imminent dangers on the precarious path Nigeria is tangentially treading.
Four years down the line, since the Financial Times’ highly contentious editorial, the situation across the country, instead of getting any better is daily degenerating in the fragility index with obvious manifestations of a State increasingly enmeshed in seemingly intractable crisis, highly marked by acute economic stress, worsening state of insecurity, growing insurgency , weak institutions, endemic corruption, demise of integrity, vast erosion of values, lack of faith in a system with failed infrastructure resulting from poor policy Implementation.
Today, it has become a lot more obvious that Nigeria is on the brinks and about to become a problem far too big for the world to ignore. A State’s primary obligation to those it governs is to provide for their security and maintain a monopoly on the use of violence.
This is one area Nigeria’s failure has constituted a growing concern to the global community. About same time, last week, that 120 pupils were being trapped in a collapsed school building in Plateau State, with 22 of them already confirmed dead, the palace of Emir Mohammadu Sanusi, one of the contenders to Kano emirate throne was being set ablaze at Gidan Rumfa in a tale of two emirs in one emirate, one enjoying the support of the kano state government and the other basking in the recognition and patronage of the Federal Government.
About same time, thousands of families, tired of being fed on a daily diet of hope that turns out a mirage were going to bed again in hunger and despair, about same time Citizen Reuben was being butchered in the forest by his captors, his offence being that his relations who were contacted for ransom were not responding with the urgency the kidnappers had expected. He had been battling with worsening cost of living challenge which made him relocate from Bayelsa to his home state of Edo.
As he was trying to settle down, he saved up some money and embarked on a mission to have his family resettled in Edo, not knowing that was going to be likened to mission to hell as it turned out to be the journey that brought him face to face with dare devil kidnappers.
Before help could come, apparently not from the State but from relations who placed their property for sale, he had received deep machete cuts on his back and shoulders while his five right fingers had also been chopped off. He is currently in an intensive care unit of a private clinic. To him, the debate of whether Nigeria is at the brinks of a failed state is no longer an academic exercise awaiting some form of proof for validation. What further proof does he need to present when Nigeria has failed him through and through. Citizens’ response to a failed or failing State often varies with age and social circumstances.
In contemporary Nigeria, we have observed high level desperation on youths and younger families to relocate not only to Europe and America but now, to other relatively stable countries in Africa. No one needs to think far to decipher why Morocco had to be the preferred venue for the celebration, last week, of Wole Soyinka at 90.
Africa had to celebrate Soyinka but Nigeria was not deemed safe enough for the event. It is for about the same reason that we are recording a renewed exodus of multinationals from the country. The heightened insecurity has negatively impacted on the economic activities including agriculture. Non state actors have taken over the farms and the forests, today, we are grappling with an unprecedented level of food insecurity.
We are indeed in very challenging times, made the more so by the aloofness of the leadership at the centre which instead of demonstrating vision and commitment to values is deeply enmeshed in self perpetuity gambits while the degeneracy continues. The current trajectory, if it goes unchecked will end up in deeper tragedy for the country.
We must hold leadership accountable at all times. There’s an urgent need to revitalise the nation’s economy, prioritise development of key sectors above the bogus flamboyance of political offices as leadership without transformational legacies is a monumental liability. We must do everything to restore hope, not as in empty political sloganeering but in concrete, practical terms. So much is wrong when individuals now need to build up private security around themselves especially as it has become self-evident that the state security apparatus has failed to serve the interest of the average citizen
Postscript
Police: The Pangs Of Neglect
There were issues in my neighbourhood that necessitated my having a close interaction with members of the Nigerian Police sometime last week. I encountered a group of committed and professional officers ready to stem the tide of crime and criminality. But I saw evidence of poor institutional funding. Most police vehicles across the country can hardly move beyond a few kilometres. How come we are expecting that such a poorly funded police institution will put up a winning fight against armed robbery, kidnapping and banditry. There’s no doubt that there are bad eggs, enough to fill up some baskets. The self-evident truth however is that there are refined, thorough bred professionals in the police who can truly be ‘your friend’. The question however is how do we expect the best of performance from them when we can neither fund nor equip them to deliver on their mandate. Incidentally, we are quick to notice their extortionist tendencies without finding out the last time the system provided for their kits and operational logistics. Most police stations do not have functional vehicles, yet we expect them to fight crime to a standstill. If we want to get the best from our police, let’s be ready for improved funding and also ensure that the appropriated funds do not end up in private estates of people at the police service commission. We cannot make meaningful progress in the fight against crime and criminality with the police institution as presently constituted. The time to reform the Nigerian Police is nigh.
