15th September, 2011
As the seventh Senate resumes and sets the agenda for what to expect from lawmakers in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, security must be the first topic of discussion.
The spate of bombings by the Boko Haram and the mindless killing and ethnic cleansing in Plateau state have assumed a frightening dimension and, if nothing is done, Nigeria is heading for suicide.
The president of the country appears complacent while the National Assembly seems preoccupied with allocations and how they are spent. The security chiefs have been summoned several times, yet no solution seems to be in sight.
Just when states in the southern part of the country began to get jittery that the Boko Haram bombings were getting too close for comfort, the smouldering fire in Plateau state became unbearable.
Armed robbers have not stopped terrorizing the citizens though the police make an arrest now and then, while kidnapping has become a lucrative business where millions could be made.
What we are witnessing today did not begin yesterday. It has, like a cancerous wound, festered for years while we take half measures to douse the fire, leaving the embers glowing.
We hope the conflagration if and when it comes would not destroy what little unity that still keeps us together as one country.
If the presidency cannot take a stronger stance against the agents of disunity and anarchy, the National Assembly, in the name of all that is good, must come up with a solution and save Nigeria.
The National Assembly should take another look at the security situation and consider all suggestions, including the controversial issue of state police, if it will solve the problem. The country is too large to be policed from Abuja.
Before now, electricity, health, education and infrastructure were our biggest problems, but today terrorism and ethnic cleansing have been added. The big question now is: Can Nigeria survive these problems before descending into complete anarchy?
The president’s rhetoric about improving security seems to be just talk. The president must move now, we cannot allow a few disgruntled elements and their sponsors to destroy our country.
The security challenges are enormous and now is the time to use all machinery at our disposal to seek, arrest and prosecute these criminals. No matter how many panels of enquiries are set up, the Plateau problems will remain a reccurring decimal except we really get to the root of the matter, even if it means taking an unpopular decision.
The National Assembly must realise that the Boko Haram sect cannot be compared to the Niger Delta militia who had a just cause! Religious bigots must not be allowed to overrun the country.
Other burning issues, whatever they may be, can wait until we resolve the security problem. We cannot continue to live in fear.
The National Assembly must rise as one and be our voice. The lawmakers must check the president’s slow pace and make haste and take a tougher stance against these agents of destruction.
This is a time in the life of this country when our leader must be strong and ruthless.
Our elected representatives must rise to the occasion and remember that if the United States of America did not resolve after the 11 September, 2001 not to tolerate any act of violence against its citizens, the country would have been overrun by the terrorists. More decisive action needs to be taken against these terrorists and show them the might of the Federal Government.