The Remote & Immediate Causes

of Crimes, Instability,

Insecurity and Terrorism in Nigeria and Solutions.

By

Don Okereke(Security Analyst & Consultant)

IntroductionPage 1 of 13

Time and space will not permit one to expound all the raison d' etre for the unprecedented

trend in kidnappings, instability and insecurity/terrorism in Nigeria. The unparalleled spate

of terrorism, kidnappings and other violent crimes is to say the least, alarming. Religious

leaders, churches, mosques etc are not spared in this onslaught. At the risk of over-egging

the pudding, there is no gainsaying the fact that Nigeria is at a cross-road and gradually

drifting towards a failed state. Of course our government hates hearing this home truth, but

the truth must be told no matter how bitter it is. Just recently the Emir of Kano-Alhaji Ado

Bayero narrowly escaped death by the whiskers. His driver and two others were not lucky

as they were hacked to death by the assailants. Somewhere in Okene, Kogi State,

gunmen said to be sympathetic to the Cause of Islamic rebels in Mali were said to have

ambushed and opened fire and killed two soldiers on their way to been deployed to Mali. A

faceless new group known as ‘’Vanguard for the Protection of Moslems in Black

Africa’’ has claimed responsibility for this attack. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwela’s mother-Prof.

Mrs. Kaneme Okonjo was kidnapped a while ago. It took a demonstration of federal might-

deployment of troops for her abductors to free her. Right now the mother of Bayelsa State

House of Assembly is being held by kidnappers. These are prominent cases; so many

other incidents go unreported probably because the victims lack a voice. Also recall how

Senator Gyang Dalyop Datang and others were murdered in cold blood sometime last

year in Plateau State. So much noise was made by both the State and Federal

government, promising that the masterminds will soon be fished out. If these prominent

folks with all the Police/MoPol escorts are not safe in Nigeria, one wonders who is safe.

The status quo is tantamount to what transpires in war-torn environments. The tranquility

inherent in the nooks and cranny of Nigeria has been ruined. Some years ago, places like

Jos, Kaduna etc used to be peaceful, cosmopolitan and crises-free. Not any more!

Even in a war situation, there are rules of engagement under the Geneva Convention.

Indiscriminate killing of innocent people cannot be justified under any guise whatsoever.

It is on record that some countries have faced similar threats and challenges in the past

and triumphed. Our bane in Nigeria is that by acts of commission or omission, we

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repeatedly shy away from the truth. We are rather reactive than proactive. The following

are some of the remote and immediate causes of instability, insecurity/terrorism in Nigeria:

1. One of the primary causes of instability and insecurity in Nigeria is what this writer

calls, ‘’our wrong system of government and over-concentration of Political Power at

the centre’’. One is not trying to be a prophet of doom, but these problems will

continue haunting us until we are honest and bold enough to sort it out. So far we

have been treating the symptom of the disease and not the causative agent.

Currently it will seem we are building on sand and not on a solid foundation because

many of those issues that led to the Nigerian Civil war are still prevalent more than

fifty years after the war ended. We cannot afford reinforcing a mistake! It’s high time

we redefined and re-negotiated the terms and conditions of our existence perhaps

through a National Conference or a no-holds-barred constitutional amendment. With

many State governors opposed to Local Government Autonomy and ‘State Police’,

one doubts the current constitutional amendment jamboree will yield much positive

result.

Balkanizing this country is neither the solution to our problems. This writer strongly

believes in the unity of Nigeria. Even in a nuclear family, there are bound to be

disagreements, do we now split the family because of such quarrels. There is no

doubt that Nigeria has come to stay but with more than 400 ethnic groups, we need a

system of government that gives, if not all, then majority of our citizens a sense of

belonging.

2. The second factor is weak judicial system, injustice, nepotism and a culture of

impunity. Here people commit all manner of crimes and get away with them. When

justice is said to be meted out, a rich man gets a slap on the wrist for stealing or

embezzling billions of naira while a poor man is sentenced to five years imprisonment

for stealing a goat. There is a widespread notion that justice can be bought or sold in

Nigeria depending on one’s bargaining power and contacts in the corridors of power.

Some of the alleged masterminds of Boko Haram are said to have been arrested in

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the past by security agents but promptly released due to intervention of powerful

individuals while some of them were jailed for just few months, they come out sooner

than later and continue with their nefarious activities.

3. A similar factor to the aforementioned is the unprecedented levels of corruption that

has permeated the fabrics of our national life. The figures these days are simply

mind-boggling! An individual steals, embezzles billions or even trillions of naira

without blinking an eye-lid! It would seem there is a competition for who wins the

highest award for corruption. Now the government is said to be negotiating with the

indicted Oil subsidy culprits. This definitely sets a bad precedent. Why not let the law

take its course. The rich criminal can bargain his way out of jail whereas the poor

criminal has no choice. From the Police to the Immigration; from the Citadels of

learning to the Seats of government; from the hospitals to the churches etc. This

writer wishes to use a couple of personal experiences to drive home his point. His

wife registered for ante-natal in one of the government hospitals and one of the

requirements in addition to paying the normal registration fee, was to donate blood.

After paying the required amount and donating the blood free of charge, he was

surprised when the officials asked him to ‘shake body’. This in Nigerian parlance

means to ‘’settle’’ or give them money. One can voluntarily appreciate them say for

doing a good job but not for them to be demanding money for doing a job that they

are paid to do.

He had a similar experience when he went to the Post office to pick up a foreign

correspondence and the clerk asked him to his ‘grease’ palms before he will release

his letter. Such incidents are widespread and have become more of a norm. People

even laugh at you when you complain of such happenings or incidents.

4. State of origin/indigenship syndrome or the so-called ‘’quota system’’ also takes a toll

on the stability and security of our nation. A typical Nigerian identifies him/her self first

with his tribe or state of origin rather than as a Nigerian. A Nigerian born and bred in

an area and whose parents and grand-parents are also born in that particular area

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but are originally from another place, are still seen as strangers or settlers. They may

be tolerated but many a times they are not entitled to some of the privileges that the

so-called ‘owners’ of the land are entitled to. Currently, it is very much unlikely for

say, a Yoruba born and bred in Ebonyi State to aspire and become the Governor of

that state. Same applies to an Igbo born and bred in say, Oyo state. Even when there

is a law that stipulates one’s entitlements/rights, in reality, it is not pragmatic. With

nostalgia, one remembers a situation sometime in Sokoto State; indigent students

were exonerated from paying school fees while making it compulsory for ‘settlers’ to

pay school fees. This is not even the gist. The gist is that ‘settlers’ from another

country (Niger Republic) are perhaps inadvertently exempted from paying school fees

because they bear Hausa names, are Moslems and have strong cultural ties with the

Hausa/Fulani people that inhabit Sokoto state. On the other hand, ‘settlers’ from say,

the South-Eastern or South-Western parts of Nigeria pay school fees because they

don’t share the same name, culture or language with the Sokoto people. You can see

the irony.

5. Weak Institutions, Powerful individuals. In Nigeria, some individuals- the so-called

god-fathers, Cabals and power-brokers are known to be stronger than the

government or the institution. They see themselves as untouchables. They boast

that nothing will happen and nothing ultimately happens! A case in point is the Petrol

subsidy fraud masterminds. The government wants to broker a deal with them so

they can return some of the money they embezzled. Many a times, the Police,

Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices

Commission (ICPC) etc needs some kind of ‘clearance’ from the powers that be

before they can do what they are naturally supposed to do especially when a so-

called godfather or powerful individual is involved. Unscrupulous money-bags and in

some cases criminals are celebrated and put in powerful positions because they are

‘connected’. A very popular and powerful ex-governor in Nigeria manipulated and

escaped justice in Nigeria but was subsequently jailed in the U.K. One recalls a

former Defence minister in Germany that was relieved of his position because he Page 5 of 13

plagiarized his doctorate degree thesis. Not long ago, a former Canadian minister

resigned after it was discovered that inter-alia, she could not reconcile expenses of

about $16!.

In the West, I mean most European countries and North America, it is not unlikely

that people get away with crimes but once it becomes public knowledge or the person

gets caught, there is no hiding place, the law takes its natural course and the culprit

must pay for it no matter how highly placed he/she is.

6. There is no doubt that Nigeria is endowed with a plethora of unpatriotic, unscrupulous

and greedy leaders. Leadership in Nigeria is a do-or-die affair, it is not about

competition of ideas or rendering selfless service as is the case in most Western

Countries. A leadership position in Nigeria is seen as a lifetime opportunity for one to

enrich himself and exonerate the next twenty generations of his family from poverty.

The so-called ‘security vote’ has become a conduit pipe for siphoning money from the

government coffers. Like they say, a leopard cannot change its skin.

7. Unemployment and lack of record/database of criminals also in no small measure,

contributes to instability and insecurity not just in Nigeria but in any other place. The

saying goes that, ‘a hungry man is an angry man’. No wonder many western

countries pay unemployed people stipends or give them food stamps. We have a

superfluity of unemployed people and graduates in Nigeria and the jobs are not

forthcoming despite the promises by politicians. Some of these unemployed people

take to wheeling-dealing while other ones inadvertently go into crimes to survive.

Don’t forget that our society is such a place that the affluent like to flaunt their wealth

whether ill-gotten or not. So imagine where an average unemployed graduate that

spent 4-5 years in the higher institution is constantly intimidated by money-bags that

probably never went to a secondary school. Such unemployed graduate may be

tempted to kidnap the so-called big-man or any of his relatives and extort money from

them.

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There is paucity of a comprehensive database of ex-convicts or criminals in Nigeria.

The implication of this alone has far-reaching effects on instability and insecurity.

There abound cases of ex-convicts serving even in the Security Agencies. How can

we combat insecurity when we don’t have a comprehensive record of those that have

committed one offence or the other in the past.

Also related to the above point is the fact that our Security Agencies needs to be

more proactive rather than been reactive. The ranks and file of our Security Agencies

need constant training and re-training. They must also be well-equipped to tackle the

type of security challenges prevalent today. You don’t expect good result when a

Police officer with just an O’ level is investigating a Cyber crime. Their remuneration

is also nothing to write home about hence they are not motivated to do their job.

8. Nigeria is probably the only country I know of where the sale of chemicals and to a

larger extent, drugs are unregulated and where anybody and everybody can waltz

into a shop and buy any quantity of chemicals without questions been asked. Hence it

is very easy for terrorist to buy some of the raw materials and ingredients like

acetone, fertilizers etc that can be used to produce Improvised Explosive Devices

(IED’s). I recall an idea was mooted sometime ago for the Chemical Society of

Nigeria to be involved in licensing chemical dealers. I don’t know if that policy saw the

light of the day. It is not late to enact a law if one is not existing that will effectively

regulate the selling of chemicals etc.

9. The recent SIM card registration exercise may just be a time bomb waiting to happen.

One is not aware of any Data Protection Act or law that stipulates how personal

information should be protected and penalties where there is a breach. As usual, the

whole idea and exercise was rammed into our throat. Deadlines for SIM registration

were been bandied about, you will think it was some kind of emergency. Of course

dissenting opinions are seldom tolerated here and offering constructive criticism

makes one unpatriotic. The alacrity with which the whole thing was done, you will

think it is the panacea to all our security challenges. Billions of naira was sunk into

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this project. There is nothing to show that the SIM card registration exercise is a

success. How are we even sure ‘’Mr A’’ that registers him SIM is who he claims to be

since we don’t have a comprehensive database of Nigerians? Don’t forget that with

roaming, one can use the SIM card from any country in Nigeria. Even if all Nigerian

are forced to register their SIM’s, one with a criminal intent can get an unregistered

SIM from any other country, roam it and use it to perpetrate criminality in Nigeria.

One is not sure if calls can be tracked in real time here in Nigeria. If this is the case,

the most that can be done is to work out the coordinates of the nearest telephone

mast to the approximate distance AFTER the call must have ended and a smart

culprit must have moved.

Concentrating all our personal information-pictures, names, addresses, fingerprints

etc in a single database without adequate security is definitely a national disaster

waiting to happen. Terrorists can hack or access our personal information if they are

not well encrypted or secured. My fingerprint is very personal to me. One’s fingerprint

is like one’s blood; in fact it is even more personal than the blood because no two

individuals on earth have exactly the same fingerprint whereas two or more people

can have the same blood group and genotype. Hence it goes without saying that if

you want me to volunteer my fingerprint under whatever guise, I need a guarantee

that it will be kept safe and will not fall into wrong hands. The last time I checked,

according to global best practice, it is only the fingerprint of a convicted criminal that

can be taken with or without his consent.

10. Our borders are to say the least simply porous! With our extensive borders,

people can waltz in and out of Nigeria without detection. Oil bunkering is prevalent

because our coastal borders are not adequately patrolled. Proliferation of arms and

ammunitions are also common-place courtesy of our porous borders. The Nigerian

Immigration Service, Customs, Navy and the Nigerian Air force must synergize to

ensure that our borders are effectively patrolled. If need be, perhaps we can do what

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the Americans are doing in their borders with Mexico by erecting perimeter fencing

and electronic surveillance in particular hot-spots.

Solutions Proffered To The Aforementioned Problems.

Having identified the raison d’ etre of instability and insecurity in Nigeria, an attempt is

hereby made to proffer solutions.

If we must surmount the aforesaid threats to our well being as a nation, then we must

begin to tell ourselves the home truth no matter how bitter it may be.

One of the first and very important steps we must take to curtail instability and

insecurity is for us to embrace a Political system of government that gives more

power to the federating units rather than concentrating so much power at the centre.

Even the so-called federalism we claim to practice is adulterated. We have corrupted

what federalism represents. True federalism as practiced by the Americans will no

doubt eliminate the frequent agitation inherent in our polity. Sequel to our diverse

ethnic nationalities, diverse cultural and religious backgrounds, One tends to have an

affinity for a system of government akin to the British model- devolution or a variant of

it minus the monarchy aspect. After more than 300 years or so of uneasy political

marriage, Britain with 3 or 4 constituent nations-England, Wales, Scotland and

Northern Ireland, appreciates the need and benefits of devolving Powers to the

constituent countries. Scotland inter alia, has its own Police force, currency,

parliament etc.

The problems and realities that gave birth to Nigeria’s civil war in 1967 are yet to be

dealt with. Whether we shy away from the home truth or not, the implacable

geometrical trend in instability and insecurity in Nigeria can be reconciled to the quest

for Political Power and Relevance by the various nationalities that people Nigeria.

The Niger-Delta militants agitated and were promptly pacified with an amnesty

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program and with one of their own emerging the Vice President and subsequently the

substantive president.

Several years ago it was the dreaded Maitesina that was unleashed terror. Today it is

the Boko Haram. Who knows, tomorrow, the Movement for the Actualization of the

Sovereign state of Biafra (MASSOB) will be tempted to take up arms since violence

is the only language that the Nigerian leadership understands.

There was so much excitement over the offer of Boko Haram to negotiate with the

government. These guys are playing a dangerous hide and seek game with the

Nigerian Government. They are waging a psychological warfare and it would seem

they have the ace. The Nigerian government must not negotiate from a position of

weakness or helplessness. Sometimes, an offer of negotiation may just be a ploy by

the other party to re-strategize, regroup, and advance. Let us hope for the best but

prepare for the worst.

This entire hullabaloo about negotiating with every group that raises its ugly head is

tantamount to postponing the evil day. Let us be ready for the consequences as we

set a precedent of negotiating with every irrational person or group. Something is not

quite right with the foundation of Nigeria, its high time we summoned courage and

dealt with the nitty-gritty once and for all rather than chasing shadows and postponing

the evil day.

Secondly, to eradicate or curtail instability cum insecurity, we need to strengthen our

judicial system by ensuring that justice is dispensed no matter whose ox is gored.

Nepotism and a culture of impunity must also be eschewed from our national psyche

and life. Nigeria must be an egalitarian nation and not a country where there are two

sets of rules-one for the rich and another for the poor. Nigerians must not be made to

suffer in the midst of plenty!

Thirdly, serious, concerted and visible effort must be geared towards exterminating

corruption and injustice in Nigeria. EFCC, ICPC must be INDEPENDENT! There must

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not be sacred cows or smoke-screens! A situation where the Attorney-general of the

federation or the minister of justice can arbitrarily and unilaterally terminate or

discontinue any case instituted by the EFCC, et al, no matter the merits of the case,

should be looked into as it is subject to abuse.

Measures must also be put in place to ensure quick dispensation of justice. In

Nigeria, people commit an offence that has say, a five years maximum sentence and

they spend six years in jail awaiting trial. Let justice be done and seen to be done.

Fourthly, merit must not be sacrificed on the altar of State of origin/Indigenship or the

so-called Quota system. Laws must be made that guarantees every Nigerian, the

right to reside in any part of Nigeria and be entitled to what every other person there

is entitled to. I understand we have such laws; those laws must not just be paper-

tigers, they must be enforced and workable.

This issue is the root of the imbroglio in Jos and some other parts of Nigeria. The

Hausa/Fulani tribes in Jos are still seen as strangers even though some of them, their

Parents, grand and great-grand parents were born in Jos and have no other place as

home.

Fifthly, we must strengthen and encourage our institutions. As Obama once said,

Africa needs strong institutions, not strong men. Our institutions must walk the talk

and not just be paper-tigers. All citizens must be equal before the law. The culture of

foisting candidates on the electorate during elections must stop. Elections must be

free and fair and a system should be put in place that ensures only Patriotic and

unscrupulous individuals hold positions of responsibility.

Similarly, unemployment must be seriously tackled and curtailed. The private sector

must be encourage and supported to create the much needed jobs. Constant

electricity supply will no doubt boost employment and increase productivity.

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Lastly and very important is that we must jettison our fire brigade approach to solving

problems be it security or otherwise. More often than not, we wait until the harm is

done before we start running helter-skelter. We must embrace an intelligence

gathering method. Problems, crises etc must be nipped in the bud before they

escalate. Prior to his death, Osama Bin Laden seemed to be larger than life for about

a decade but through intelligence, America finally tracked him down and eliminated

him.

Our Police and other security agencies must be well-equipped and trained/re-trained

to tackle present day security challenges. Qualified and bright individuals should be

encouraged with good incentives to enlist into the Security Agencies. The police must

not be a dumping ground for dullards. One is encouraged with the recent enlistment

exercise of IT professionals into the officer cadre of the Nigeria Police. Other

professionals should be wooed too. The Nigeria Police is also reported to have upped

the ante by making Ordinary National Diploma and NCE the minimum requirement for

potential recruits into the Police. Recruitment exercise must be transparent. Merit

must not be sacrificed in the altar of god-fatherism. The Police forensic laboratory

must be well-equipped, funded and staffed with qualified personnel.

Security is not necessarily rocket science; no wonder even nitwits find very

comfortable careers in crime and terrorism. A lot of common sense can help to

maintain security. The problem is that common sense is no longer common these

days. An iota of omission or negligence can have severe security implications and

consequences. Even the Scripture says, ‘watch and pray’.

Nigerians must be continually sensitized to be security conscious. We have a culture

of taking everything for granted over here. Security is a collective responsibility. Our

lackadaisical attitude to security must cease. In most Western countries, people take

note of a new neighbor when s/he moves into the neighborhood. You will be

surprised you wander up and down a street in a typical Western nation and the next

thing you see are police cars blaring their sirens. Apart from the security cameras

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everywhere, probably an elderly man or woman must have tipped the police off. Here

in Nigeria, most of us do not know our next door neighbor not to talk of other

neighbors living the next street. We don’t know or care what our neighbors’ are into.

The National Orientation Agency, the State Security Service etc have to be more

proactive. Enlightenment campaigns must be ongoing.

Recall also that individuals and groups do not have a monopoly over terrorism.

History abounds of State terrorism where Governments by act of commission or

omission, use instruments and institutions of government to terrorize its citizens. We

also have financial terrorism etc. Too much wealth is in wrong hands in Nigeria and

they can deploy it to destabilize the polity.

So government must not push its citizens so hard that they resort to criminality,

violence and terrorism. A hungry man they say is an angry man. Nigerians are

generally peaceful and pliant.

All the aforementioned factors are intertwined; the sporadic interplay of them

impinges an unpredictable butterfly effect on the Stability and Security of Nigeria.

Nigerians, let us Unite Against Insecurity and Terrorism. Let’s make Nigeria great

again!

God bless Nigeria and Nigerians.

Don Okereke(Security Analyst & Consultant)Abuja, Nigeria.donnuait@yahoo.com+2347080008285

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