The outbreak of Nigerian Civil war on July 6, 1967 was the climax of a number of activities that made the resort to war a fait accompli. The war was preceded by an extensive tension, which no one made any serious attempt to douse. There were also unwarranted killings, which no one made any concerted effort to stop. The abandonment by the government at the centre of its primary function of securing lives and property created a huge sense of disenchantment with the leaders and disillusionment for the country. Consequently, the citizens were forced to look up to their ethnic and tribal leaders for protection and guidance. When this continued over a period of time, the inevitable became the reality and the country went to war.
As it was in the days before July 6, 1967, so it is now. All over the country, there is tension. In every corner there is an increasing sense of disenchantment and disillusionment occasioned by growing insecurity, unemployment and poverty.
In Nigeria, outlaws seem to be in charge, they kill with wanton abandonment and rabid zest. They abduct, rape and destroy property with a toga of invincibility. From terrorists to bandits to herdsmen, they go about killing, maiming and destroying with a dexterity that dusts the capacity of the military. So, it has been a season of wailing over loss of lives and mass burial for the dead from one part of the country to the other. Insecurity in the country is so deplorable that there have been attempts on the life of at least two governors in the country. One of the governors, Samuel Ortom of Benue State, said he had to run for over one kilometer to escape from the gunmen who were bent on cutting short his life.
Consequently, the people are resorting to seeking protection from their kith and kin. That is what gave birth to the Western Nigeria Security Outfit known as Operation Amotekun. Early in the year, the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) launched the Northern Nigeria security outfit code-named ‘Operation Shege-Ka-Fasa’. The Coalition’s spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, during the unveiling said the decision to set up the security outfit was due to the increasing cases of banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism in the region. Just last week, South East state governors launched their own security outfit known as Ebube Agu, principally due to the failure of federal security agencies to secure the region. Plans are currently underway by the South-South region of the country to come up with its own security network.
Besides these official regional security outfits, a number of unregistered groups have also sprouted, ostensibly to defend their region against oppression from both state and non-state actors. This development has resulted in the proliferation of arms and has also heightened the state of insecurity in the land.
Now, what does the resort to ethnic outfits by the citizens suggest if not a distrust in the ability of the country to protect them and their property? When citizens lose confidence in their country, the country loses its hold on them. It is the beginning of the end for the country.
Unemployment has reached an unprecedented height in the nation’s history, yet the best the government can do is to ask foreign countries to create employment opportunities for its youths. President Muhammadu Buhari, while participating at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London in January this year, had asked the UK government to invest in Nigeria to expand employment opportunities for the country’s youths. According to him, “A greater UK engagement in the country would bring jobs to under-tapped sector such as agriculture and manufacturing. Millions of highly skilled, English-speaking but underemployed young people are eager to work but without the opportunities that foreign investments can bring to create jobs and build businesses.” Now, if a government has to wait for another government to create jobs for its population, is that not an admission of failure in the discharge of one of its basic responsibilities?
Poverty is extending its reach in the country daily. Nigeria is currently home to the largest concentration of poor people on earth. Nothing in the horizon suggests a change of the narrative in the foreseeable future. President Buhari, during his inauguration for another term of four years in 2019 promised that starting from that year, the government would create 10million new jobs yearly for the next 10 years to scale down poverty in the land. It is getting close to two years after that promise was made, there is nothing on ground to show that the government is even cognizant of the promise it made to the people.
This has heightened tension in the country. It has increased disenchantment with the system and disillusionment for the people. Nigerians are growing to hate their country and cannot stand the leaders. That was the scenario that prepared the ground for the first civil war. Now, the country daily inches closer to July 6, 1967 but this doesn’t seem to bother those who should arrest the slide. The time to halt the drift is now, not tomorrow, not the day after, it is today. If we keep repeating the mistakes of the past, we cannot stop history from repeating itself.
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