By Yemi Olakitan
Dr Chinelo Megafu, a 2015 award-winning UNIPORT Medical school graduate who recently resigned from her job was scheduled to travel to the United States, according to reports but her life was wasted in the train attack, carried out by terrorists. There is an outpouring of grief and anger by Nigerians on social media over the death of Dr Chinelo Megafu, who was aboard the ill-fated train. Ms Megafu had tweeted during the attack that she had been shot in one of the first messages from victims that conveyed the gravity of their situation. “I’m on the train. I have been shot. Please pray for me,” she had tweeted.
Michael Ajidahun, her colleague and friend, gave an update hours later that she did not survive the attack.
“Just woke up to sad news. My friend who was shot at the Abuja Kaduna train incident by terrorists had passed. She tweeted yesterday that we should pray for her. Sadly she didn’t make it. She was a trained medical doctor. Nigeria, why? I’m heartbroken,” said Ajidahun better known as ‘The Bearded Doctor’ on Twitter.
This recent attack by bandits on a train is a classic example of the failure of the Federal Government of Nigeria to provide adequate security while building infrastructure all over the country. This particular incident has proven beyond reasonable doubt that no matter the extent of Federal Government investment in infrastructure development in Nigeria, without commensurate and improved security architecture, it’s all a sham, failure is guaranteed!
Massive investments in infrastructure without a considerable overhaul of our security systems are a total waste of our national resources. If we build trains in the heavens, bandits and terrorists will burn them down, waste lives and resources.
Notable Nigerians have cried out on numerous occasions that the current security system in Nigeria is inadequate to cater for the security threats we now face as a people. We must reject the unnecessary waste of human lives and potential. It could have been avoided if we just put on our thinking caps, not moving on with business as usual. Today, it is Dr Chinelu Megafu, tomorrow, it can be anyone!
The perpetual waste of lives without consequence and the refusal on the part of our leaders to see that our current security system is obsolete and can no longer meet the demands of present-day realities is appalling, to say the least. This is an emergency. Nigerians are dying in their numbers. These are the reasons tribal leaders give for secessionist agitations.
The Federal Government should immediately call for a National Security Summit and let local and international security experts proffer solutions to this countrywide tragedy and disgrace. Many have called for the decentralization of our policing system in Nigeria in the past. This call has continually fallen on deaf ears.
They have argued that State Governors will abuse state police but is it not better to deal with State Governors than to continue to shed the blood of innocent Nigerians and waste the lives of our people?
No Governor can be stronger than the federal police or the Nigerian Army. Erring State governors can be dealt with, according to the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Therefore, Nigeria should allow states who can afford State policing to go ahead and do it and abandon lame arguments and excuses against state policing systems. Security must be decentralized and urgently too. Security is too important to be left in the hands of the Federal Government alone. States and local governments must work together with the Federal Government to protect lives and properties. In fact, all hands must be on deck. We must explore the options of state police, community policing, and regional police.
Many have argued in favour of regional police, whichever options we choose. Nigeria must learn from international security architectures implemented by developed nations. We cannot reinvent the bicycle. There is no problem Nigeria is facing that older nations have not faced before and triumphed over them. It is obvious that our current system no longer works. Therefore, we must learn from others.
A concerned Nigerian, Olajumoke Awosika wrote on social media, recently, ‘‘this government is a massive failure on security on all fronts. This young lady, lost her life on the train yesterday. These are people adding value and contributing to our nation. They are wasted by useless low life illiterate terrorists and nothing is being done to curb them. When they manage to arrest some of them or when some of them surrender. They are not punished, they are compensated in the name of amnesty! Soon they will succeed in bringing down planes, international flights will be cancelled and we will be left to deal with it.’’
Banditry is just one of Nigeria’s many security headaches. There is the problem of ritual murders which have now become almost a daily occurrence. Young people, as young as 17 or 18 have been reportedly found carrying out ritual murders to make quick money. They either murder their girlfriends, their mothers, friends or total strangers.
The murder of Bamishe Ayanwole in a Lagos State Government Bus, BRT is a classic example. Bamise, a fashion designer, was found dead on a Monday morning, nine days after she was declared missing. She boarded a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) vehicle in which she was raped, her private part was cut and then she was murdered. The Lagos State Government suspended the BRT operations as a precaution after intelligence revealed “planned attacks” by persons yet to be identified.
The Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, Lagos, was heavily guarded by armed security men – officers of the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army, and the Department of State Services (DSS) – over a proposed protest to demand justice by Nigerians for slain Bamise Ayanwole. sympathisers in their numbers also besieged Bamise’s residence to condole with the family. They carried placards with inscriptions, “We want Justice for Bamise”, “Do not sweep under the carpet, we want Justice.”
This is just one of such stories that daily filled the media space in Nigeria. Nigerians have been murdered in hotel rooms, a church, a train, a bus, on the streets. It seems as though nowhere is safe.
Since the Federal Government collapsed the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS operations due to the widespread Endsars protests, insecurity and criminal activities among Nigerian youths have hit an all-time high. It is as though, there is now, no one to checkmate criminality in our nation. Perhaps it is better to revisit the SARS operations, albeit in a more civilized manner as it seems that Nigerians have moved from fry pan to fire. SARS was cancelled as a result of police brutality but what Nigerians are experiencing now is ten times worse than police brutality.
Unemployment is one of the major causes of insecurity in Nigeria. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the total number of people classified as unemployed increased from 17.6 million to 20.9 million between 2017 to 2018 and keeps increasing due to the increase in Nigeria’s population.
An idle hand is the devil’s workshop. A nation with such a huge population of young energetic people like Nigeria should provide enough opportunities for employment, engagement and amusement for the teeming population of Nigerians so that they can engage in productive endeavours so much that they have no time for immoral and evil acts.
The Federal Government should maximize the opportunities in the sports, arts and entertainment sectors, modern agriculture and technology sectors. The government should develop football tournaments, tennis, boxing etc., develop local leagues, invest in art galleries, music festivals, theatre, literature, film studios, trades carnivals, boxing, wrestling tournaments, technology competitions etc. These are the ways to engage the youths.
There could also be opportunities in the area of mechanized agriculture. How can young men from Northern Nigerians be moving cows from place to place in this century? When cow industries can be established in such a way that massive exports are created and wealth given to the people. Is it not possible to establish cow industries and export milk to other countries? Is it not possible to produce modern cow feed so much so that Fulani people have enough feed for their cows and don’t need to trek from Kano to Lagos in search of feed for cows.
Nigeria must develop its intelligence. Our poor intelligence systems have left many high profile murders unsolved. Kidnappers now have a filled day. Despite attempts by the Muhammadu Buhari administration to curb the rising criminalities and killings across the country, the nation’s security apparatus appears to be overwhelmed with criminals having a field day killing, maiming and extorting their victims. The police, poorly funded and motivated, and the military, which is fighting a decade-long insurgency in the northeast, appears to be at the end of their wits on how to curtail the downward spiral in security. Swathes of the North-west have, virtually, been taken over by rampaging bandits who kidnap for ransom and kill victims who cannot pay for their freedom.
The North-central is not free from the deadly assaults by these bandits, and kidnap gangs who now operate freely in parts of Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa and are making inroads into the Federal Capital Territory. The northeast is yet to experience peace as Boko Haram insurgents are in a deadly battle for supremacy.
We must strengthen our intelligence institutions. Kidnapping has become a thriving industry in Nigeria. Little kids are no longer safe on our streets. The National Assembly must make laws to solve all these problems.
Our youths are too jobless, too idle. No wonder we have developed a reputation as the number one country for internet scams in the world. We must develop and reinvent our security architecture while engaging our large youth populations meaningfully.
The Government can take advantage of the gains in the Nigerian film industry. We can promote international partnerships and the sharing of film technology between Hollywood and Nollywood so that our films can compete globally. We have enormous talents, and extraordinary human capital but the lack of enabling environment is causing a mass exodus of Nigerian brains to the developed world.
We may argue that the film industry is a private endeavour but let us remember that had it not been for former President Goodluck Jonathan who provided the film industry fund, with which some cinema entrepreneurs were able to build cinemas across the country, Nollywood would have continued to suffer in the hands of piracy.
Had it not been for the advent of Netflix, our film distribution networks will continue to be Isale Eko, Alaba and Oshodi based. Now, our movies have found greater audiences all over the world. This has helped our reputation as creative and innovative people. Therefore, the FG must push for international partnerships in film technology and support local filmmakers.
The same can be said for the music industry. Afro beats have pushed the name of Nigeria into the hearts of millions all over the world through the efforts of young, brilliant Nigerians and without government support.
As we speak, there is no known grant or funding for the music industry in Nigeria, despite the numerous awards and breakthroughs that our musicians have gained for Nigeria. We must support our young artists who, through dint of hard work, determination and resourcefulness have made it all possible.
Nigeria has the potential to become a superpower in the continent of Africa because of our population and resources. Only Nigeria has the potential. However, unless our leaders rise to the occasion, our nation may continue to wobble in the dreamland of lethargy.
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