Just like the emperor that fiddled while his kingdom burned, our president decided that a state visit to Brazil was worth his attention more than an internecine problem that has left, at the last count, 150 people dead and thousands displaced in the past four days.
Maybe, Mr. Yar’Adua was actually going to Brazil to learn how our country can perhaps be the ‘N’ in the BRIC acronym which stands for Brazil, Russia, India and China. But while he is eager to soak up whatever tips President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva of Brazil might be willing to pass across, he might actually do better by listening to Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao who had to hurry home from the last G8 meeting in Italy because of a similar crisis in China.
There were riots and heavy fighting between Uighur Muslims and Han Chinese in Urumqi and Mr. Jiabao could not be bothered by the discussions at the G8. He scurried home to douse the tension.
Instead, Mr. Yar’Adua glibly mouthed to state house correspondents on Tuesday that he had just finished “meeting with our Defence Chiefs who have been in constant touch with the governors of Borno, Bauchi, Kano and other states. There has been very serious action. In fact, we have the situation under control now and I believe by the end of today everything will take shape.” Contrary to this assertion, heavy fighting continued overnight between our soldiers and members of the radical Islamic sect in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
While the fighting started on Sunday, it took our president over 48 hours before uttering any statement, not even that of commiseration with the families of those who have lost loved ones in the crisis. Instead, he said, “I have been monitoring this situation in the last few days.” Like a tourist with a binocular is contented monitoring a safari without any consequent action whatsoever beyond enjoying the show, our leader kept monitoring.
First, it was Atlas Cove that MEND militants blew up on Sunday, July 12 without a wimp from our security agents. Subsequently, Mr. Yar’Adua only applied band aid on an ulcer by re-assigning defence ministers and bringing a retired general without demanding for the resignation of the so-called defence chiefs.
So-called because it is apparent they cannot defend the citizens of this country they are paid to defend. Two weeks after, four states erupted in an orgy of violence following attacks from an Islamic sect, Boko Haram, which claims to be against Western education. They started by attacking police stations and government buildings and typical of our security personnel, the attacks caught them napping.
Epidemic of crimes
While it might look hasty to say, it appears the current Nigerian government cannot guarantee the security of its citizens any longer. Just consider the cases of kidnapping in the south east where a silent epidemic is raging with families warning their sons and daughters against coming home, with the Niger delta debacle, and then add this latest crisis, one wonders whether we still have security agencies.
What level of intelligence gathering are our agents carrying out? Where were the State Security Service, National Intelligence Agency and Criminal Investigation Department when the problem started? Bauchi State has always been a hot spot for religious riots, how come it fell off the radar of security agents?
Are they well trained and properly equipped to deal with such uprising? Quickly and without much thinking, our government officials dismiss any appearance of religious riots always singing, “It’s not religious riots,” yet we have not stopped losing lives to those who fight in God’s name.
While it is not yet confirmed whether Boko Haram have links with the Taliban and since there is no history of al-Qaeda-linked violence in our country yet, we are clearly walking near the shadow of death.
Our borders are porous, our law enforcement officials are often clueless and inept, and the politicians don’t care. How worse can things get? Nothing perhaps illustrates this more than the statement, on Tuesday, by Moses Anegbode, Assistant Inspector General of Police, who said, “We have set up road blocks and check points to control the attacks.”
For our president who had time to behave like an headmaster threatening kids under his watch by ordering Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos State to scrap some local council development areas, going to Brazil on Tuesday is not only insensitive and wicked, but also a sign that he does not know what to do to make Nigeria work.
And you know the sadness of the situation? We’ve known this before.