The recent declaration of bandits as terrorists by the Federal High Court in Abuja is long overdue. The declaration followed an ex parte motion filed by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Justice. In an affidavit filed in support of the motion, the Federal Government told the court that bandit groups had masterminded several killings, kidnappings, rape, mass abduction of schoolchildren and other citizens and related acts of criminality in the North East, North Central and other parts of the country. In his ruling, Justice Taiwo Taiwo ordered the Federal Government to publish the proscription order in the official gazette as well as in two national dailies.
In the first place, government should apologise to Nigerians for allowing bandits to operate for this long without much challenge. Travellers and schoolchildren are the worst victims. In recent times, they have killed thousands of villagers in northern Nigeria and abducted hundreds of schoolchildren from such states as Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger. Since December last year, kidnappers have hit at least 10 institutions and abducted over 1,000 students.
Recently, the Niger State governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, cried out over the menace of banditry in his state. He said they had taken over not less than 50 villages in five of the 25 local government areas of the state. In all this, government’s response has been weak and ineffective. After almost each major strike by the bandits, President Muhammadu Buhari would condemn it and order the military to go after the criminals and crush them. At the end, nothing much would be done and the cycle of violence continues.
In any case, declaring bandits as terrorists is merely symbolic and may not change anything if the government continues the way it is going. The questions are, having declared bandits as terrorists, what next? Has the Federal Government been able to map out strategic plans on how to contain them? We advise that government should go beyond tagging them terrorists by ordering security agents to go after them and crush them. There must be no room for excuses any longer.
Let government address the causes of banditry if it is serious about containing it. Some of the drivers of terrorism/banditry are illiteracy, poverty, false beliefs and indoctrination. In northern Nigeria where there is a high rate of banditry and terrorism, illiteracy is very high. The majority of the over 13 million out-of-school children in Nigeria are in the North. The worst now is that even those who manage to go to school are being discouraged and scared out of school by the spate of abduction of schoolchildren in different parts of that region.
Besides, Nigeria is said to be the poverty capital of the world. Poverty is more endemic in the North where great number of citizens cannot afford the basic things of life. It is estimated that by 2022, over 100 million Nigerians will live in extreme poverty. To tackle the menace, government needs to create jobs. To do this effectively, government needs to partner with the private sector. And the best way to engage the private sector is to create the enabling environment for businesses to thrive. A good number of companies have relocated from Nigeria. Some others have closed down completely on account of harsh business environment. This should not be. The government’s plan to employ annually, 20, 000 graduates who have recently completed their mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme is a step in the right direction. But the number is paltry and should be increased considering the population of unemployed youths in Nigeria.
We enjoin the government to go beyond paying N5, 000 stipend to certain households as it is currently doing. The stipend will not change the situation. It will rather create avenues for corruption. It is also not sustainable. Government should rather create skill acquisition programmes to empower the youths with various lucrative skills. Vocational and technical education will empower people outside the formal school system to learn some practical ways of fending for themselves. Agriculture remains the best way to create more jobs for the youths. There is need for more incentives to farmers and youths to make the sector more attractive.
We call on the government to provide infrastructure such as good roads and electricity. If industries do not have to worry about generating their own electricity; if they do not have to worry about how to transport their goods and services, they will definitely remain afloat. This invariably translates into retaining or even engaging more workers.
There is no doubt that government raises revenue through taxation. However, taxation should not be too overbearing on the companies. Some of them pay multiple taxes such that their profit is seriously hampered. Thus, government should consider giving tax incentives to these companies and young entrepreneurs to enable them to break even and employ more people.
In all, the acquisition of Super Tucano aircraft and other modern weapons by the Federal Government should not be in vain. Let the security agencies take proactive actions against bandits and terrorists. Nigerians will no longer accept any excuse if security agents fail to contain the upsurge in banditry within the next few months. Now that they have been branded terrorists, the war should be taken to their hideouts and every sophisticated weapon available must be deployed to crush them.
