Provision of social welfare must be our priority

Over the weekend, the nation learnt that a distinguished retired General had died in the captivity of his abductors. Major General Rabe Abubakar served this country with honour and distinction for decades. He was abducted from a road in Katsina State alongside his wife. Tragically, we have just learnt that he did not survive. In other climes, people who have given the very best of their imagination and skills in the gallant service of their nation look forward to a life of contentment in retirement.

The death of Major General Abubakar is the latest in an alarming roll call of losses the Nigerian State has suffered at the hands of these monsters. Twenty seven days have now passed since schoolchildren and their teachers were violently abducted from their classrooms in Oriire, Oyo State. They remain, according to the Oyo State Government, in the forests of Old Oyo National Park. These incidents appear to have become daily occurrences across the country. A few days ago, in Kogi State, bandits stormed a community in Kabba Bunu Local Government Area as students sat for their WAEC examination, killing the Vice Principal of a local secondary school, a six year old child, and an elderly resident. In Borno this past weekend, terrorists attacked Kautikari village near Chibok, killing one person and burning a school block, this after the abduction of more than 40 students in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of the State last month. Last week armed bandits were reported to have ambushed and killed an officer and six soldiers in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Every state and region is today affected by similar stories of terror.

We mourn General Abubakar and the loss of every member of the armed forces. We continue to pray for the safe return of those children, and the scores of Nigerians still in captivity. But mourning alone is not enough. Nigeria has now been ranked fourth on the Global Terrorism Index, up from sixth last year. Terrorism deaths in the country rose by 46 per cent in a single year. Every one of those numbers is a name, a family, a community whose lives will be permanently altered.

I want to be clear. This is not a partisan statement. I have no interest in scoring political points off the graves of our soldiers or the suffering of our children. I speak as a concerned private citizen. While the Nigerian constitution places responsibility for our security at the President’s desk, a responsibility that cannot be cast off, this crisis is bigger than any party. It is a fight for the soul of the nation, and it must be fought by all of us, together.

Nigeria’s security crisis is not separate from the economic crisis facing citizens. When  young men cannot find work, criminal networks find ready recruits. When the cost of living crushes families, desperation becomes a recruitment poster. Insecurity fuels poverty. Poverty fuels insecurity. To break the cycle, we must attack both at once.

This is why I call on government at both state and federal level to make social welfare an urgent national priority, not an afterthought. The US-Iran conflict drove energy prices up across the world. Many nations introduced subsidies, business support grants and temporary price controls to help cushion the impact on their citizens. I therefore propose that government explore and implement viable interventions to help business stay open and continue to provide jobs to people. Government must assist farmers who cannot reach their fields with targeted support so they can survive the season. Families crushed by the cost of living need real safety nets, not slogans. Communities living under the shadow of armed groups need food security interventions that reach them directly. A hungry, desperate population is fertile ground for recruitment. A population that is fed, supported and has something to lose is Nigeria’s first line of defence.

We commend the House of Representatives for passing the constitutional amendment to establish state police. We urge the Senate to move with equal urgency and complete this process. State police is not a silver bullet. No single measure is. But it is a critical step toward restoring the authority of the state in every community, in every region, every day. The drafters of the bill must however address valid concerns about institutional corruption, impunity, and the very real possibility of the hijack of state police forces by political actors who fund them.

Alongside the proposal for decentralised policing, we need community policing structures that rebuild trust between citizens and security agencies, and real intelligence gathering, so that we act before an attack rather than mourning after one. We must urgently and immediately rebuild the Multi National Joint Task Force and restore coordinated operations with Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin. Terrorist networks operate across borders. Our response must do the same.

Our military deserves far more support than it has so far received. That means an aggressive recruitment drive to rebuild our numbers, improved remuneration at par with emerging market countries, honour for service, and sacrifice that is celebrated. It means proper care for the widows and families of our men and women in uniform who gave everything, and modern equipment and training that match the threat our troops face on the ground. And it means deepening our partnerships with international allies whose objectives align with ours, for the threats confronting now and in the years ahead.

Despite these challenges, our gallant troops have recorded some successes in the fight against terrorism. The rescue of 360 women and children from a terror camp in Borno must be celebrated; as must other rescues and successful strikes the Nigerian military has recorded against bandits and terrorists. But much more work needs to be done to halt the nation’s slow slide into lawlessness and anarchy.

No Nigerian should have to bury a loved one taken in captivity. No parent should spend a single night not knowing where their child sleeps. No Nigerian road should be a conveyor belt into a kidnapper’s den. No community should live under the shadow of fear while the state looks away.

Nigeria has walked through dark valleys before. We have always found our way back to the light. We will do so again, but only if we choose, now, to walk that path together, by adopting a ‘whole of society’ approach to combating poverty and terrorism.

May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Hayatu Deen was a presidential aspirant of the African Democratic Congress

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