Insecurity: Ten ‘wise’ Northern governors and our collective shame

That insecurity has become Nigeria’s nightmare is not in doubt. That efforts have been made and are still being made to end the scourge is also not in question.

What seems to be a point of argument is whether or not some steps being taken to solve the problem by the political class are well-intentioned.

Recently, some Northern governors were in the United States of America to take a lecture on how to stamp out insecurity in their domain.

The ten governors from the North West and North Central had been invited by the United States Institute of Peace to a two-day symposium on Peace and Security in Northern Nigeria, but many Nigerians believed it was an unnecessary jamboree.

Truth be told, insecurity in parts of the North has become a pain in the neck of Nigeria as some of the states have almost been swallowed up in the menace of violent bandits, herdsmen and jihadists killing, abducting people, destroying communities and displacing innocent citizens.

For years, there have been assorted seminars, summits and conferences on security, attended by these governors. At such events, great suggestions were made but the situation has remained unchanged.

It is feared that the US security symposium attended by Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau, Abba Yusuf of Kano, Uba Sani of Kaduna, Umar Bago of Niger, Hyacinth Alia of Benue, Umar Namadi of Jigawa, Dauda Lawal of Zamfara, Nasir Idris of Kebbi, and the Deputy Governor of Sokoto, Idris Gobir, would not yield the desired fruit at the end of the day, if past experiences were anything to go by.

Nigerian politicians take joy in jumping abroad with the excuse of looking for investors and seeking better ways of doing things. The Nigerian society would have been the better for it if half of the things they see and learn abroad is replicated here upon their return, but the case has been that as soon as they return to the airport in Nigeria, they drop whatever good lessons and mannerism acquired abroad, and put on the garb of their bad behaviours.

For instance, these politicians see the laws work perfectly abroad, but they have made sure that the rule of law does not have any meaning here. They respect traffic rules over there; they see how human beings should live when they go abroad, but they have collectively turned the country into a zoo. They daily make Nigeria a laughing stock in the comity of nations by their actions.

So, whatever lesson they learn abroad, is usually dropped inside the trash can at the airports upon their return.

There is no amount of training and seminar on terrorism that has not been held here, the question is, what has been done with the recommendations? There has been no implementation.

Well, Nigerians are expecting to see a positive reflection of the US symposium on the fight against insecurity at least, at least, in those ten states represented at the April event.

The governors pretended to forget that insecurity has a precursor. When a large percentage of the people in the North are poor and with little or no education, they become easy preys to the bandits, who recruit them for dangerous jobs.

The question is, what efforts are the governors making to change the poor conditions of their people? Travelling abroad for a lecture on how to fight a symptom and not the real cause of the symptom is a sheer waste of resources.