Unless urgent steps are taken to tackle the rising level of insecurity in the country, the 2023 general elections may hold, eminent Nigerians and groups have warned.
Those who raised the alarm include the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Samson Ayokunle, and the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar.
They spoke at an Inclusive Security Dialogue Retreat jointly organized by the Global Peace Foundation and Vision Africa in Abuja.
Others at the event include the Secretary-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Okey Emuchay; the National Secretary of the Ijaw National Congress, INC, Ebipamowei Wodu; representative of the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, Prof.Yusuf Usman; Aare Ona-Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, the convener of Niger-Delta Self-Determination Movement, Ankio Briggs; a member of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Diaspora Government, Udeh Christian Iwuagwu, amongst others.
They spoke against the background of stepped-up attacks by bandits across most of the northern region of Nigeria. Eight days ago thy attacked a train going from Abuja into Kaduna, killing eight passengers, wounding about 26, and abducting about 167.
While the bandits have released only one out of those kidnapped, they are now using the remaining captives as bargaining chips to pressure the government to release 14 of their commanders and sponsors who were arrested by the government.
Media reports say the bandits have marched the captives from Kaduna State into Niger State, which is fast becoming their enclave as they now control large swathes of land in Nigeria’s largest state by landmass. Reports on Tuesday quoted the victims as saying that they trekked for five days to move from Kaduna State into Niger State.
“Care must be taken to ensure that the 2023 election does not become a sham. Insecurity, if it is not taken care of, by the government, there will be no 2023 general elections,” the CAN president said.
“Going by the present state of affairs in the country, are we sure the bandits and terrorists will not overrun the country before 2023? These criminals are moving from one level of sophistication and recklessness to another. Nigerians want a better society, and if we do not deal with this insecurity, I don’t think there will be an election in 2023,” he noted.
On his part, the Sultan of Sokoto said: “A lot of people have been arrested over banditry and terrorism, but how many of them have been jailed or executed? These people have killed thousands of people. Some people should pay for all these atrocities. The NSA and the service chiefs should all resign by now because they have failed. Let us get new people with fresh ideas to confront the situation.
He spoke through his representative, the Co-chairman of the Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace, Kunle Sanni.
“The President, Muhammadu Buhari, knows how to recruit people to work for him, but he doesn’t know how to sack them. Unless we all speak up and tell each other the truth, there may be no Nigeria even in 2023. We don’t pray so.
“In Nigeria, the bane of our problem is corruption. Anywhere people think there is money, a lot of corrupt elements move to that side. The issue of insecurity in Nigeria is the new ‘crude oil’ because that is where the money is.”
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo scribe, Okey Emuchay, contributing, said: “As soon as the issue of the Igbo presidency took a life of its own, the spate of insecurity heightened in the Southeast. Today, Anambra is under siege. People are being killed; public assets are being destroyed to the point where the State Governor has shut down all the local government headquarters. It is that bad.
“We (Igbos) are part of Nigeria and no amount of intimidation or insecurity or blackmail will make us less Nigerians. We are the most federated of all the units in Nigeria and we have contributed to the utmost development of every part of the country. We have paid our dues in Nigeria.”
Prof. Yusuf Usman, who represented the NEF, noted that Nigeria’s drift into anarchy started with the scrapping of history as a stand-alone subject from the school curriculum, noting that the elders had lost control of the youths across the country.
According to him, banditry was not a military problem, but a social issue that must be addressed through justice and social reorientation.
On his part, the representative of IPOB Diaspora Government, Udeh Christian Iwuagwu, argued that the solution to Nigeria’s insecurity lay in the restructuring of the federation.