Insurgency And Nigeria’s Insecurity Challenges

By C. Okus Nwachuku, Warri

The history of insurgency and Nigeria’s current insecurity challenges can be traced primarily to political intolerance, fueled on the other hand by religious and sectional extremism.

Nigeria’s Constitution explicitly provided that ‘no religion shall be adopted as state religion’; but in total disregard to this provision, then Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Ahmed Sanni Yerima (1999-2007) proclaimed Islam as the state’s religion and no one raised any voice against that proclamation howbeit faintly or even pretentiously, perhaps in order not to be tagged as religious or tribal bigot; rather he was applauded by the largely Muslim North due to political interests and sectionalism.

We are all witnesses to the associated killings both in Zamfara and other states afterwards. Today Zamfara State is one of or otherwise the worst affected state by insurgency in the entire North — a price the state had to pay for that misstep or impunity by the then state governor, in fact a case of reaping what it sowed perhaps.

Therefore, due to sectionalism and religion, the entire North, the three geopolitical zones, at the time did not only failed to raise some voice over Yerima’s misadventure and the negative and disruptive effects of his proclamation, rather gradually various other states in the region tactically followed suit, forgetting though that they cannot sufficiently curtail the activities of their extremist adherents the various state governments have empowered to enforce the Islamization project even while they were still on the saddle, let alone when they exit not too long afterwards.

Currently the entire three Northern geopolitical zones are completely enmeshed in the crises of insurgency, banditry and overall insecurity with its attendant socio-economic tolls on the region and the Nigerian state as a whole.

What is more, new groups are daily springing up unencumbered as the states are utterly clueless and helpless as to how to tackle the insurgency, even as the teeming youths paradoxically became willing tools in the activities as they could not resist the lure of ransom usually extorted from victims.

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Likewise the Middle Belt, the North Central Geopolitical zone, which hitherto entirely aligned with the core North, an appendage of some sort but now emerging as a political block of its own, is not spared the activities of these insurgents with the killings, maiming and burning of houses in the zone’s entire landscape, motivated of course by political and religious extremism and hate.

The once tranquil states are now embroiled in wanton attacks and destructions here or there due to political or religious hate and aversion.

Just lately Kwara and Kogi States have been caught in the web of insurgency and banditry too, thereby expanding the spates of insecurity South wards.

Another case in point is the insecurity in the South East region. It is a well known fact that the current spates of kidnappings and killings in the South East Geo-political zone also had its root or linkage to so called political agitation for self actualization, first by Uwazuruike’s MASSOB and later Nnamdi Kanu and the IPOB and Simon Ekpa whose jail recently in faraway Finland for subversive and terrorist activities against the Nigerian state has just been reversed due to Nigeria Federal Government’s bungled representation – a typical case of failed governance or a total act of irresponsibility.

On his part, too, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is currently incarcerated by the Nigerian Federal Government having been fraudulently extradited to the country over three years back now.

As in the case of the North, the South East is currently embroiled and in dire state of insecurity with kidnappings and killings all over the region with movement and socio-economic activities grossly impeded. The result is that the citizens live daily in fear of what happens next – the unknown.

Interestingly the only exception in this malady among the three major political divides is the South West Geo-political region. This is owed in part to the region’s sophistication where they are not unduly or easily cowered, otherwise the likes of Sunday Igboho would have ignited the same flame of insurgency in the region.

But rather Sunday Igboho and his cohorts were curtailed and contained and that engendered the relative peace currently in the Geo-political zone, despite minor skirmishes or attacks thereon.

While insecurity is a general phenomenon in the country, and indeed worldwide, it is apt to say that it is fueled by greed and complacency of the leadership in various regions and Geo-political zones, who rather than speak up or confront these acts of impunity at the teething stages played dumb and tactically lent support to the activities.

One such blatant and undignified case was that of Prof (Ben) Nwabueze (of blessed memory) in the South East who categorically applauded Nnamdi Kanu’s acts of subversion at the time for what he termed as his ‘deliverance mission of the Igbos’; the same way too, the entire leadership of the North which rather than condemn and rise up against Yerima’s action and his recalcitrance but was condescendingly silent as Yerima and his associate state governments plunged the entire region into otherwise avoidable crises.

Without any doubt, Yerima’s declaration was itself an act of terrorism against the Nigerian state, wittingly or unwittingly, and his home state of Zamfara in particular.

Regrettably, several years after, no part of the entire Northern region is currently spared or exempt from that careless act and the resultant insurgency even up to the Caliphate in Sokoto.

Now therefore is the wake up call to every segment or Geo-political zone in the country, in fact the citizenry. It is time to rise up to these challenges especially against the exploitations and divisive tendencies of inefficient, disgruntled and unscrupulous leadership that not only polarized the polity but also impeded the growth and development of the Nigerian state and in order also to restore order and normalcy in the polity.

Without sounding immodest, it is time that the leadership of other regions or Geo-political zones take a cue from the South West Zone, their maturity and ability to exert relative control in the upsurge in youth activism in their region.

It is time to call a spade a spade so as to engender genuine development and prosperity and as well restore not only the nation’s brotherhood but its glory also for the collective good of the citizenry. Nigerians, let us all arise now to this need; now is the time or never.