Last week we looked at the same topic and indeed listed very crucial points worth receiving attention from those in power and authority. Elsewhere leaders don’t wait to be told stories by third parties, they tune to the broadcast stations to listen to news, analyses to know what is happening and to get the much needed feedback. Great leaders read the newspapers and news magazines alongside to pick the minds of other well informed contributors. Our experience is abysmally very poor on this score. Many leaders, particularly those in the office, don’t care about the news.
This may sound as a surprise to some of us yet it is true; some of us have heard our leaders tell us those who make news don’t worry about news. They have this penchant to carry on as “we are the news, nothing else.” This may be about ignorance being elevated to something noble. Good governance we crave for can come by way of proper enlightenment. A man of knowledge definitely would in most parts act well. Everyday people with knowledge speak on what can be done to develop the country in the most beautiful and sustainable manner but it continues to look like water poured to the back of the tortoise. It hits the rough encasement and drops off to the soil and melts away. The ugly cycle goes on ad-infinitum.
Knowledge is vast and no man knows it all no matter how brilliant or gifted he is. History is full of great examples for anyone who will care to spend a little time to pick from it , and the truth we pass on is only those ready to learn have the benefits history has kept in stock.
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In terms of banditry and terrorism there are good examples to pick from. Before America came up with the policy of close and tight borders, the entry requirements were very stringent. It depicted a clear objective. The vision was and has remained a safe country. Anyone desiring to step into the country would have to fill a form where he would be required to state in detail all about his person, travel history and business experiences. They desire to know who is coming in. At some point the applicant is required to undergo a medical examination to confirm he is free from contagious diseases.
When you eventually make it into the country, the security agencies, not one, take up the additional responsibility of trailing you to convince themselves they never made the mistake of allowing a criminal into the country. This is the extent authorities go to ensure security of the country and the people. Recently, the population of immigrants began to grow and to raise concerns. It has been a campaign issue too.
President Donald Trump has since come through with different measures, apart from hunting illegal immigrants in the manner of common criminals, those apprehended are being deported to countries other than their country of origin where the American government has received acceptance of care for the deportees. Border controls have been tightened, fences are propping up in some land borders and very tough conditions prescribed for admittance into the country. Leaders who appreciate what it means to have peace are serious with security matters. They don’t play around it, they hit direct and hard too. Our leaders hardly go beyond “we ensure perpetrators are found and brought to book.” It ends until another incident happens. In Ghana, even Burkina Faso today, the policy is to shoot illegal immigrants on sight.
Hear out President Trump last Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly speech session: “America’s border will not be violated anymore. In the United States, we reject the idea that mass numbers of people from foreign lands can be permitted to travel halfway around the world, trample our borders, violate our sovereignty, cause unmitigated crime, and deplete our social safety net.
“We have reasserted that America belongs to the American people, and I encourage all countries to take their own stand in defense of their citizens as well.
“In defense of their citizens lies the heart of the matter.”
What Trump is doing runs through the developed countries across the world if not almost all countries of the world. Africa is not as free as we tend to believe. Not long ago, Equatorial Guinea rose up and sent militia herders packing from the country, no one heard arguments like free movement for persons and the most ridiculous cows. It was a case “your activities confirm you are not peaceful, leave.” Nobody suggested money for appeasement of the kind former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, made to the federal government led by Goodluck Jonathan.
For many African countries, the visitor must come in properly. A man who hails from Niger Republic working presently in our country said he wasn’t allowed to stay in Cameroon because he had no papers. He found his way to Calabar and to another city in the Eastern region where he currently lives. A fellow country person who left for a visit to Uganda and had the urge to enter Rwanda didn’t find the adventure a pleasant experience even though he was an African. This is what it ought to be, even if Africa was to adopt a no visa policy in the spirit of African brotherhood the gesture should in no way invalid the need for documentation. It is crucial to know who is where each time.
We return to the case with our country. Our leaders don’t know the importance of keeping a close watch over the borders. If they do, matters concerning cross-border movements would be a recurring issue on their lips. It would also be at all times a campaign matter, unfortunately it is not so. Rather we hear of open borders and the reason often given is that some sections of the country share affinity with people of neighbouring countries especially those around the Sahel region of the continent.
Apart from matters surrounding open borders, our leaders as observed earlier have gone ahead to exacerbate a bad situation they took. For instance President Muhammadu Buhari began building a railway and road right into Niger Republic. He said he was doing so for economic reasons. Our country appears to be the only one to have undertaken such a journey in recent history, one stands to be corrected.
Truth is the president was pandering to primordial sentiments. He ought to have known the country would not have any real economic gain from the funds invested in constructing the rail line into Niger Republic. Influx from the open borders policy didn’t help the country. It granted access on very cheap terms to fighters from troubled countries in North Africa like Libya. The militia herders syndrome isn’t happenstance. It is an agenda of citizens who subscribe to open borders for different reasons. Truth is the outcome isn’t pleasing to anyone. It has pushed the country further to the edge. We need the borders put under check and anyone who desires to come into our country should pass through a clearly defined process. We ought to know who is here with us.
Many have tended to make so much out of the shrinking economy. There is no doubt economic downturns come with negative consequences. It is a factor in the high level insecurity plaguing the country but it is not totally responsible for the deadly dimension the menace has assumed. Many of the criminals we see carry very sophisticated weapons, the cost we understand runs in hundreds of thousands in the arms market value. Definitely, weapon purchase wouldn’t be the priority of a hungry citizen. What this confirms is the existence of a second or third party action.
Political class do constitute and fund gangs to achieve political objectives. We alluded to this in the first part of this series. These gangs become emboldened and grow wild after they have been used and dumped. The intrusion of external forces is there.The Head of State of Burkina Faso recently told us he rejected a huge monetary offer from one of the Arab countries designed to help him build more worship centres in his country. He rejected on account that he needed funds to develop the country against religious centres. We know foreign forces are interested in some aspects of our national life. This is a source of big trouble for us no doubt. It is most regrettable the question of terror sponsorship has been played down by the federal government.
Population growth ought to be matched with economic opportunities. We don’t see that in the country. Trained idle youths anywhere translates to a time bomb. Time is ticking and that is why it has become urgent to find means to take care of the young people. Tokenism as we seem to be doing won’t help. It is certainly not helping the situation.
For the security architecture this is another important area. Those knowledgeable enough have advocated for an elite police system, a force that would approximate what we have done with the army. Rather than heed the calls we have done things to distort whatever legacy we inherited at Independence. The police that is the frontline force in the war against insecurity is decimated and rendered ineffective. The military began the trend while in power but successive civil administration allowed the process to continue.
The recruitment process isn’t what it used to be, citizens of questionable pedigree now find their ways into the force. This has created a big problem. The training seems not to be in tandem with the level of development. The number of personnel, resources and equipment are all issues. Before, we had a Mobile Police Force unit. They had a training near what is imparted to the military, the force could hold on territories. We have destroyed the idea.
Finally, countries that want security and peace orientate and indoctrinate the young people. In our case we allow them to nurture and grow all by themselves. The result is by the time they turn mature adults, the mind is captured by foreign stereotypes. Poor acculturation is a terrible weapon on its own. It shifts the equilibrium in a negative way. It is doing so to us.
•Concluded
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