I do not wish to sound like a prophet of doom, but I am increasingly troubled by the rapid escalation of insecurity across our country.
The safety of lives and property, the most important responsibility of any government, is subjected to what the Hausa call “riƙon sakainar kashi”, careless and unserious handling.
In the so-called “ungoverned spaces,” where arrests and prosecutions are almost impossible, bandits and terrorists operate freely, killing, looting, raping, terrorizing rural communities with impunity, sacking villages and sending farmers away from farms. What baffles me further is the euphemistic term many victims use, “ɓarayin daji”, to describe these violent criminals. Why not call them what they truly are “ƴan ta’adda”?
Even in supposedly “governed” areas, the situation is no better. Armed robbers prowl urban centers, attacking and killing innocent citizens just to steal their mobile phones. Strangely, we refer to these violent criminals as “phone snatchers” as though they merely grabbed phones and ran. In reality, these are armed robbers, often wielding deadly weapons and inflicting fatal injuries. One does not need a machete or dagger to “snatch” a phone, only the element of surprise and speed.
The trivialization of language only masks the depth of our crisis.
The toxic mix of youth unemployment, poverty, illiteracy, widespread drug abuse, and easy access to both crude and sophisticated weapons compounds the problem. These five social evils, coupled with rapid population growth, form a combustible cocktail, one that spells inevitable doom for any human society, including Nigeria.
Our governments, particularly the federal government which monopolizes all security forces, appear to be asleep at the wheel.
Politicians are fixated on elections, obsessed with winning at all costs, and preoccupied with enjoying the spoils of office. The country, in their eyes, seems less like a shared national project and more like conquered territory, ripe for rape and plunder.
The citizens, even the most educated and enlightened among them, are grappling with the crushing weight of man-made poverty and deprivation, surviving hand to mouth in what the Hausa aptly describe as “hannu baka, hannu ƙwarya.” In such a state of daily struggle, many can hardly spare a thought for the looming crisis staring us in the face. It is as though the entire nation, especially the North, has resigned itself to fate.
When one takes a closer look at the scope and severity of the insecurity engulfing the nation, the signs are unmistakable: the Nigerian ship is either already sinking or dangerously close to capsizing.
Perhaps, this is the path fate has laid before us.
And perhaps, just perhaps, when the ship sinks or capsizes, and the chaos settles, the few survivors may one day rebuild a new Nigeria. A better Nigeria. One that truly honors its potential and stands as the pride of the Black race universally.
Prof Ammani wrote from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria
