Nigeria: After The Protests Storm

 By Sunny Ikhioya

Let us call a spade by its real name. The address by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu fell far short of resolving the issues raised by protesters. It only helped to exacerbate the prevailing situation. But what can the cowed masses do? It ended as expected. So much senseless destructions, time and money wasted, avoidable deaths and the battle shifted to another auspicious time and, that will be the day.

 The protests exposed the high level of neglect in the North as evidenced by illiteracy and poverty. The people are hungry down there in the streets; that is the real situation. If government does not vary its strategies to address the scourge of poverty in the land, there will surely be another protest, because you cannot keep a hungry and angry man at home. What we have been offering is just palliative, and palliative is not a final solution to problems, it is ameliorative and temporary. 

A Captive President, Blighted Country, Docile People

 By Chris Gyang

Those Nigerians who once thought that the Buhari presidency would take our country to a destination better than this forlorn outpost of stasis, anarchy and overwhelming misery now know better. They are shaking their heads in utter regret, and sheer bewilderment.

*Buhari 

When we warned, even as early as the days before the 2015 presidential vote, that Buhari’s rabid sectionalism and extreme religious proclivities would push Nigeria to a sad precipice, we were excoriated and branded as hateful and irrational peddlers of Islamophobia. But those who pointed accusing fingers at us then are now also crying, painfully – victims of Islamist terrorism, Fulani herdsmen’s terrorism and expansionism, armed banditry, kidnapping for hefty pay-offs and sundry criminalities that have become the chief themes of Buhari’s reign so far.

But, lest we forget, this is the man whom Boko Haram once penciled down as their spokesman before he became president – based on his strident support for them (once upon a time?) This is a president in whose cabinet a popular and self-confessed Al-Qaeda apologist snugly perches – one of the president’s closest allies.

Now That Abuja Is Under A Siege!

 By Dakuku Peterside, PhD

Once upon a time, Abuja, Ni­geria’s federal capital, was a serene and sprawling city that accommodated persons of all faith, social strata, and economic pursuits. Abuja, to the elite, offered an escape from insecurity, hustling, and bustling that plagued other major cit­ies in the county. It was a city in which most elite wanted to own a property, raise a family, or even retire in old age.

The city was a haven for the pro­fessional middle class linked to the public sector. It was a city of hope to the many poor people who migrated to its surburbs with the dream of ad­vancement.

Abuja , a prototype of future cities in Nigeria. It was founded on the vi­sion of a centralised symbol of our national unity . But the era of Abuja being a fortress of peace and tranquility seems to belong to history.

From Hunger In Nigeria To Poverty In Europe

By Charles Iyare

The increasing surge of migrants who cross the Mediterranean Sea from Africa and other parts of the world, mainly into Europe, has become a global threat that requires urgent global attention. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of migrants have fled their countries seeking asylum in European countries. About 90% of migrants are usually from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Mexico, Iran where there are high security risks, insurgency, humanitarian crisis, war, poverty, human rights abuses, among others.

A recent report on Daily Post indicated that from January and April, 2016 the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, has rescued 152 victims of human trafficking in Lagos State. In the report, the Lagos Zonal Commander, Mr. Joseph Famakin said his agency has successfully sent over 276 Nigerians to prison, with 51 cases in the federal and state high courts. He added that there are seven cases in the Court of Appeal and two cases in the Supreme Court. About 316 victims were rescued and brought to Lagos in 2014. While in 2015, a total of 417 victims were rescued.

The Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) in its yearly report from January 1, November 13, 2016 stated that an estimated total of 341,055 arrived in some part, of Europe through the Mediterranean Sea while 4,271 deaths were recorded. When compared to 2015, from January 1, November 13, there were 728, 926 arrivals and 3,522 deaths recorded. Despite such alarming figures, three million migrants are still expected in the European Union, (EU) in 2017, compared to 1.5 million in 2016.

Migration has the capacity to alter the total demographic, ethnographic, economic, and productive growth of both the emigrants’ home of origin as well as country of arrival. Migration has adverse effects on the host country, whose public utilities may be over-stretched in receiving migrants from other country. It may also affect the income – per – capita (IPC) of the citizens in the host country as well as the public infrastructure that have been designed to serve a certain population.

Most Nigerians who brave the stormy seas and unfriendly deserts have lost hope in an economic system that is characterised by poor governance, poor income, unemployment, insecurity, corruption, humanitarian crisis and increasing poverty.

Buhari And The Child That Was Set Ablaze

By Sabella Ogbobode Abidde

A boy, less than 10 years, was set ablaze in Lagos – causing an uproar and condemnation at home and abroad. Yet, President Muhammadu Buhari is silent on this gut-wrenching and barbaric incident. Dead silent! Haba, is he not a father and a grand-father? What would it take for him to address the nation – or at least issue a statement condemning this most inhumane act. 

Does this President not know that in addition to his many other roles and responsibilities, he is the sympathizer-in-chief? Does he not know that he must order the Police to immediately investigate the killing, and send condolences to the parents of the dead child? Does he not know? Or he simply doesn’t care. Showing compassion, and expressing sympathy, is part of what it means to be human and member of the civilized world. 

If this president does not show compassion in times like this, then, he forfeits his claim to respectability and morality. Not only is the President silent, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is also silent – and so is Governor Akinwunmi Ambode (in whose jurisdiction the killing took place).

Members of the clergy are also silent. What manner of a country is this? Where are our men and women of conscience? Is the leadership of the country so out of touch, so inconsiderate, so indifferent, so callous, so iniquitous and so devilish that they are not touched by the killing of a child? Are they devoid of human feeling?

If Buhari, Osinbajo and Ambode refuse to address the people and the parents of the dead child, then, Nigerians must reassess their relationship with these men. If members of the clergy fail to condemn this killing, then, we must think of them as no better than those who killed this child.

May the sleep and happiness of those directly responsible for the death of that innocent child be disturbed. May their lives be forever haunted.

Those who stood by — hands folded or askance, laughing, jeering and deriving joy from the barbarism — are also guilty of the crime. Law enforcement officers and elders who should have saved our child, but who watched without attempting to exhibit their humanity, are also as guilty as those who directly administered death.