FOR anyone with a passing familiarity with the ongoing situation in the country, the findings of a recent survey by the Abuja-based polling, business consulting and data analytics firm, NOI Polls, cannot have come as a surprise. The key one we wish to highlight here is that 74 percent (basically three out of four) of the nearly 1,600 respondents surveyed nationwide“ no longer feel safe living in the country.” A further breakdown reveals how grim things are from the perspective of the everyday Nigerian. For instance, “crime and security (41 percent) outrank economic management (39 percent), unemployment (35 percent), and electricity (34 percent) at the top of the list of most important problems that Nigerians want their government to address.” Furthermore, “most Nigerians (84 percent) are concerned about abductions and kidnappings, including 65 percent who say they are a “very serious problem.” At the same time, almost six in 10 Nigerians (58 percent) rate the handling of kidnappings and abductions by the police as “fairly bad” or “very bad”.
The NOI findings are a confirmation of the despondency pervading the land on account of perplexing and deepening insecurity. Nigerians have got so used to the overbearing nature of reports on insecurity and kidnapping that they have become numb to them. Thus, rather than security, it is insecurity that Nigerians now take for granted as the government has shown itself glaringly incapable of protecting the people or even attempting to stem the overwhelming tide of violence. Definitely, Nigerians are only reflecting their true perception as captured in the results of the survey: they would rather not live in the country anymore, a sentiment further underlined by the predisposition of almost all classes of Nigerians to leaving the country by all means.
These findings are consistent with those from another recent survey by the South Africa-based Ichikowitz Family Foundation. According to the latter, 95 percent of Nigerians aged 18-24 feel that the country is “headed in the wrong direction” while 90 percent wish to emigrate at the earliest opportunity. In addition to insecurity, corruption, political intolerance, unreliable internet, and a poor education system further stoke the desire to leave. Long queues at various western embassies offer confirmation, if any were needed, that disaffected young people mean business.
Part of what makes growing insecurity in Nigeria such a paradox is that the amount of money dedicated to security in the federal budget has increased year on year over the course of the Fourth Republic. For example, in the 2021 federal budget, almost N2 trillion was allocated to the security sector, a 14 percent increase on the N1.78 trillion set aside in 2020. The main problem is that most of the money has been diverted into private pockets, even as rank and file law enforcement agents have been starved of the tools required to do their jobs effectively. Arguably the greatest tragedy of all is that the Buhari administration came into power on the back of fervent promises to rein in insecurity and restore ordinary Nigerians’ faith in their country and its possibilities. Judged by that metric alone, the Buhari government has been a colossal disaster.
If there is a silver lining, it is the fact that the northern power establishment seems to have finally come round to the idea of state police. It is not a magic bullet; to be sure, there is none. That said, it is an important step towards the principle of security being the concern of people at the local level, and a milestone on the path to safe neighbourhoods and a secure citizenry. Security, ultimately, is a local problem that has to be solved effectively at the local levels. That is why southern governors reiterated the call for state police last week. The government must come to a responsible appreciation of the unfortunate situation in the country and speedily impose a new order of security. That is when Nigerians will again feel safe in every part of the country.
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