By Mudiaga Affe, Emma Obe, Cajethan Mmuta, Jude Idu and Israel
Nigerians are going through untold agony and anguish occasioned by the recurring wave of violence and lawlessness in the country. The development is coming on the heels of President Muhammadu Buhari’s call on the United States to help combat insecurity in Nigeria.

AFRICOM: Nigerians urge Buhari to tread with caution

Kidnappings and violent killings perpetrated by bandits have become a recurring decimal with no fewer than 590 lives lost in April alone, according to a report by SB Morgan (SBM) Intelligence.
The report also reveals that there were 160 violent attacks in 31 of the 36 states of the federation within the period.

The North-West recorded the highest number of deaths with about 161 persons, while the North-Central had 149 deaths. The North-East recorded 140 deaths, just as the South-East recorded 64 deaths. South-South recorded 53 killings, while South-West had 33 deaths.

Boko Haram insurgents also reportedly hoisted their flag in at least 50 communities in Niger State, a neighbouring state to the Federal Capital Territory. Perhaps, worried about this, President Buhari during a virtual meeting with the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, on April 27, requested the US government to reconsider relocating US Africa Command (AFRICOM) from Germany to Africa, nearer the theatre of operation.

Report I’m getting is that those abducting, killings not short of arms, ammunition – Buhari

Nigerians, who expressed divergent views on the request for support from the US government were President, African Council on Narcotics, Mr. Rekpene Bassey;Chairman of Southern Nigeria Peoples Mandate, Augustine Chukwudum, and an emeritus professor of Political Science, Femi Otubanjo, among others
According to Chukwudum, the situation has not got to the point where Nigeria should call for foreign assistance.

He said corruption was the major problem in the war against insurgency and other forms of insurrection or banditry.

Chukwudum said, “Nigeria has the best police and army in Africa. And this is demonstrated any time they go for peacekeeping outside the country. Otherwise, how can the Nigerian government tell the world that they need help?
“We have enough manpower to tackle insecurity. What we lack is equipment. Sadly, the government of the day has been using Boko Haram for business. That is what I can tell you about it. “If anybody is saying that insecurity has overwhelmed the Federal Government, that person is not truthful to himself. It is a lie. It is only that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari does not want to fight terrorists.

Chukwudum said foreign assistance could be needed if Nigeria did not have the manpower and money.
“But God has so blessed us. We have the manpower and the money. So the issue of foreign assistance is not what we need to defeat banditry and Boko Haram. Government should not take us for a ride. For the government to call for foreign assistance means that these groups of terrorists have overwhelmed the Nigerian military.”
In another context, the President of the African Council on Narcotics queried the rationale behind the termination of a contract that was given to a foreign concern to fight Boko Haram during the administration of Goodluck Jonathan.

Bassey said if not for that sudden termination of the contract by the President Buhari-led administration, the fight against Boko Haram would have been won.
“The initial contract was terminated. At the time they started, they had marshalled out their strategies and they would have been able to deal Boko Haram a deadly blow, but this administration stopped them, why?

“If you want to talk about the invitation of foreign powers to help us in this situation, they will need to look at the background of what is happening. There seems to be a lot of official complicity in this situation. How do you, for instance, say that Boko Haram elements can make the kind of inroads they are making, including the seizing of hardware, armoured tanks from the Nigerian Army very easily?

‘We have enough manpower to tackle insecurity, what we lack is equipment’

“Is the Nigerian Army so feeble and disorganised? What kind of sophisticated weapon does Boko Haram have that we cannot procure as a government for our soldiers? To the extent that they have infiltrated and sacked 50 communities in Niger State. So, the question on the lips of Nigerians is why did this administration terminate that contract? We are losing grounds and Boko Haram is gaining more grounds. This administration has not done well in providing security for Nigerians as provided for in the constitution,” he queried.

Bassey also said the idea of foreign intervention was vexatious because, according to him, the US government is responsible for opening the floodgate of insurgency following the role it played in Libya.
“The idea of foreign intervention is vexatious. Nigeria during the administration of Sani Abacha went into a military pact with China when there was a struggle with Cameroon over Bakassi. One is not sure whether we are looking the way of China for this purpose, but if you look at the United States of America, you will recall that they supported the emergence of Buhari in 2015.

“I am of the view that the revocation of the contract that was awarded on the war against terrorism by the Jonathan administration was instructed by the US and the country to a large extent can be fingered as being responsible for this situation because their intervention in Libya opened the window for so much insurrection in sub-Saharan Africa through Chad, Mali and other areas.
“A lot of the arms that these terrorist elements are using to prosecute this jihadist war come from the Libya region. It is no longer the Boko Haram elements that are prosecuting this war alone. It looks like the entire Islamic extremists from across the world are funding these wars in Nigeria. They are not only funding it, but they are also partaking physically in this war. There must be the sincerity of purpose on the part of Nigeria if we are desirous of winning this war,” he added.
But Otubanjo is of the view that seeking foreign support to tackle insecurity in the country was not out of place, saying as a matter of defence policy all over the world, there is interdependence.

The the emeritus professor of Political Science said countries fend for one another with different types of military assistance ranging from weapons, training, intelligence, and outright military cooperation on the battlefield. “So, when a country is asking for assistance, it is not necessarily asking for another country to bring in soldiers to come and fight its wars, the assistance may be in the form of weapons acquisition or shared intelligence which is very important.

“The US, for instance, has massive capacity to gather intelligence. They also have a massive air force. By asking them to station African Central Command in Africa, is because we are beginning to see that the Sahel region is a dangerous area of instability. We are having many Islamic groups emerging here and there. “Only two weeks ago, the President of Chad was killed in a fight with rebel Jihadists. So, it is desirable and not a negative thing to ask for the assistance of another country that has a superior capacity to assist you. Without the USA, Britain would have been a colony of Germany but today Britain has survived the Second World War.

“The US is fighting al-Qaeda in the Middle-East. So, let us not try to politicise military assistance. It is something that moves around the world in a circle and I think we need it badly now. We need assistance in terms of intelligence, particularly with the Boko Haram insurgence. Nigeria is a country that has become attractive to all kinds of criminal groups. It is poorly policed and there are many things to steal. They kidnap people and ask them to pay N5m ransom, how many people can pay this kind of ransom in Chad or Togo, or Niger?

“So, we need to be able to break the backbone of such group by seeking superior intelligence which we do not have. If you do not have superior intelligence, no matter your training or number, you can easily be eliminated. The support from the US does not undermine our sovereignty and it does not belittle us,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Lead Director Centre for Social Justice, Ezeh Onyekpere, who spoke to one of our correspondents, urged the President to apologise to Nigerians for failing to protect lives and property in the country.

Onyekpere said, “We thought that as an ex-soldier, Buhari has something different to offer in terms of providing security to the nation. In saner climes, people hold leaders accountable based on the promise they made. But in Nigeria, it is normal to lie to the public and gain access to the public office and shoot the people with guns when they demand return of the mandate”

“Well, I hear that he has called on the US to intervene. But that is what he should have done before now but because we have those who benefits from the crises, such could not be done. It is because some people are not held accountable for their misgivings. It also this kind of impunity that has rendered the economy useless.

“I can tell you that many countries seek foreign help when faced with critical situations like this. But in our case, it looks like there they want to end a certain race owing to what is going on in the country of because you can see that the Nigerian military may have no answer to this insecurity problem.”

“So many people have requested the President to resign if he has no answer to what is killing the people he is leading. Is it not better for him to call it a quit. Some have also suggested seeking foreign help, which he refused but it is like he is going back to what he rejected before and the fact remains that the damage has been done because lives of those who have died cannot be regained. Properties lost as well as the disaffection and divisions created will take a long time to heal. Well, let’s wait and see the response of the US.”

Contributing, a university teacher, Dr. Agharese Osifo, linked the violence in the country to economic challenges. Osifo, who teaches Agricultural Economics at the Ambrose Alli University, (AAU) Ekpoma, noted that high unemployment in the country had exposed youths to violence. Osifo said, “The Central Bank of Nigeria has confirmed that the economy is dire straits. The NBS figure on unemployment rate recently published showed the mess also.”

“Now is time for the president to jettison the concept of laissez faire or free market economy. The presidency should undertake massive public works programmes and the complete overhaul and regulation of the banking sector to help the economy recover from the current depression which is the major factor responsible for the growing insecurity and general instability.

“The presidency need to develop large scale industry,banks, stock markets, insurance companies, and credit unions.These are the tools that will forge Nigeria’s economic development and they are panacea to the growing insecurity and general instability in the country.

Former chairman, Nigeria Bar Association, (NBA), Imo State, Nosike Damian, who frowned on the lopsidedness in key security appointments, asked the President to resign. “The President should tell himself the truth; he has lost it and if it were to be in the western world, he would have honourably resigned. If you are not doing well, give way. You are not bound to die there. Let some other persons try.”

Proffering solution, a media consultant, Mr. Obinna Mbonu, called for the arrest and prosecution of all persons bearing unlicensed arms.
Mbonu, who urged the President to listen to the counsel of his economic team,also canvassed the patronage of Nigerian goods.

He said, “President Buhari has not been honest, especially with the growing problem of nepotism. For many years now, Fulani herdsmen have been killing people and nothing has been done about it. To arrest the ugly situation, the federal government should take decisive steps by arresting herdsmen with dangerous weapons such as AK47 rifles and those involved in killings must face prosecution.

“The same thing applies to the recruitment into the military and paramilitary agencies. The exercise should be based on merit and consideration of federal character where need be. A situation whereby 80 per cent of those enlisted in the military and police come from the north is not acceptable. This creates room for lack of trust among citizens. It also creates tension and makes youths to be aggressive, leading to breakdown of law and order.

“On the economy, I urge the President to always listen to the advice of his economic team and try to follow their economic blueprint? Another way out of the economic downturn is that we must we must support and encourage made in Nigeria goods.
“If we must grow our economy, we must patronize made in Nigeria goods; that is how we must grows the economy and boost the value of the naira. We must also encourage the entrepreneurship.”