The state of insecurity in Anambra State is dire. Everyone is baffled by the high rate of cold-blooded murders committed on the streets by unidentified people. The security architecture has collapsed. There is a sense that there is no one in charge. The state has been hijacked by gun-wielding men and women who shoot randomly at people without asking questions. It is a dreadful environment.
The atmosphere of fear has gripped the police who are now virtually absent in the public sphere. They are afraid of being asphyxiated and incinerated by the dreaded “unknown gunmen.” Everyone is afraid. No one knows what would befall them if they step out of their homes to go to the market or to walk along the streets or even to exercise.
Anambra State is facing an unusual challenge. Never has a state become so leaderless, so insecure and so wrecked by violence. We are watching the gradual disintegration of a state once regarded as a role model among other states. How did Anambra descend to this low point, a situation in which people are hunted openly, brutally murdered, and abandoned like animals in the bush? Common sense or good judgment has taken flight. In its place has emerged brute force, uncontrolled rage, instant retribution and death. In Anambra, you don’t have to quarrel with anyone before your life is snuffed out by someone you do not know. The people are living in a precarious environment.
The situation is not yet beyond repair. All governorship candidates in Anambra State, in collaboration with the state governor and other officials of state, can help to reduce the current tension, anger and feelings of hopelessness that are driving indiscriminate killings on the streets. They must hold dialogue with the youth and they must do so urgently, with sincerity, goodwill and determination to address the plight of the people. Time is fast running out. And time is what the government and governorship candidates do not have in abundance.
The dialogue must acknowledge that the youth have genuine concerns over the way the Federal Government has treated people in the South-East relative to the soft approach with which federal authorities have been pacifying bandits, kidnappers and the Boko Haram insurgents in the North.
There are times when you do not know whether to cry or yell at governors of the South-East states who have watched nonchalantly as their states descended into a valley of death. They consistently wring their hands, wondering what to do and how to demonstrate responsible leadership in a region in which they have lost control of their states and shown little leadership. The governors appear to have no idea about how to reinstate order in an increasingly hazardous environment and unsafe region, and how to protect the lives of citizens, which they are constitutionally bound to protect.
This is the time for truth-telling. And South-East governors must listen to some truth, which their assistants are unwilling to convey to them. For a long time, the governors copped severe criticisms over their lack of interest in the welfare and security of their people. They watched silently and apathetically as northern governors and the Federal Government advanced the interests of the people in the North. Owing to their inability and unwillingness to serve their people commendably, South-East governors are seen largely as cowards who are unwilling (not because they cannot act) to confront the Federal Government about the marginalisation, neglect and unfair treatment of people in the South-East.
Many people have wondered why governors who were elected to look after the interests of their people have remained reticent and indeed unconcerned about the socioeconomic conditions of people in the region. The governors abdicated their responsibility to the people. Someone suggested the other day that there is no difference between the Federal Government’s neglect and abuse of people in the South-East and the high level of indifference shown by governors in the region. Consider these.
The economic situation in the South-East is grave. The people are impoverished, unemployed and are ravaged by illnesses. The political environment has been constricted or narrowed, and unruly non-state actors have wrested leadership from the grip of governors.
On paper, the governors are supposed to be the spokespersons of their people. In practice, however, the governors say little to defend the interests of their people. And yet they were elected to lead and to serve. During election campaigns, they pledged to enhance the economic interests, welfare, safety, security, and wellbeing of their people. How misleading those promises have turned out to be!
One of the reasons why people in the region are angry and unsettled is because the governors seem to be collaborating with the Federal Government to further suppress the youth and to overlook their demands for employment. The governors drive around with motorcades of armed police and soldiers who guard them, while ordinary people are left at the mercy of criminal groups such as kidnappers, armed robbers, extortionists, duplicitous pastors who commit adultery with female members of their congregation and scam them as well, including other criminals who perpetrate financial crimes.
Here is one question that South-East governors have failed to ask President Muhammadu Buhari and his officials: Why is the Federal Government negotiating with terrorists in the North, encouraging them to hand over their weapons, rehabilitating those of them who renounce violence and indeed incorporating them into the armed forces while the restless youth in the South-East are regarded as terrorists who should be wiped out or incarcerated?
It is this kind of contradiction that fuels the anger and bitterness among South-East youth. Surely, if the South-East is a part of Nigeria, the Federal Government must treat all regions equally. It must adopt similar policies or approaches in dealing with agitations for autonomy and uprisings wherever they occur. You cannot offer carrots, apples, bags of rice, vegetable oil and staggering amounts of money to known terrorists in the attempt to persuade them to abandon violence and criminal behaviour while youth in the South-East are treated as criminals and terrorists because they dared to express their genuine concerns over the government’s neglect of their welfare and the government’s marginalisation of the region.
It is hypocritical of the Federal Government to engage in this form of duplicitous behaviour, drawing closer with one hand terrorists in the North while shooting youth in the South-East and depriving them of their rights and entitlements. That is discrimination and confirmation of the marginalisation that the people in the South-East have complained about for many years.
The atmosphere in the South-East is tense and volatile. Too many people are upset with the quality of leadership, poor governance, the high level of corruption, lack of opportunities and lack of concern shown by the governors and the Federal Government. There is hardly any governor in the region who could be credited with an impressive or exceptional record of achievement other than the public relations stunts that are often shown on television and splashed on newspaper pages. But the point must be made: People in the region are not easily fooled. They are more discerning than the governors and the Federal Government think. They are not as gullible as the governors and Buhari believe.
The next few months will really determine who has practical power and influence in the South-East. I do not believe the governors have the support of the people. They might be in a position of power, but they are not highly regarded or respected.