For some time now, the problem of insecurity, which used to be one of the lowest in the hierarchy of social problems facing this country, seems to have assumed alarming proportions since the end of the Nigerian Civil War in 1970.During the pre-colonial and colonial eras, insecurity was merely handled by the Federal government, using the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Prison Service, the Immigration Service, and the Customs.Also, local security guards were recruited for this purpose by the native authorities. Some of them were attached to the customary courts and were known locally as the Danduka or Courtma.Since the past one decade, government expenditure on security has gulped a sizeable chunk of the Federal, State and Local government budgets in the name of security votes and other related sub-heads.It would appear that unemployment is one of the strongest push factors. A situation where an alarming rate of about 40 per cent of Nigerians, most of who are youths, are not gainfully employed, smacks of a missing link in governance and the absence of a desirable social contract .The emergence of armed insurgency in the Niger Delta could be traced to that factor. This is why the Federal Government has been commended by the international community for the ongoing rehabilitation of the youth. Perhaps the huge expenditure, which the federal and state governments have met in this process, could have been avoided if the actual problem of the Niger Delta had been nipped in the bud. In order to achieve this, the multinational oil companies operating in the region should have spent part of their surplus value to build roads, bridges and other infrastructure in the area, in addition to the establishment of industries that will engage the angry youths.The payment of the so-called compensation cannot mitigate the impact of the activities of the companies. What is more, the compensation does not reach the grass roots intact.The Niger Delta is not an island of its own. Even if more than adequate attention was paid to them, the other geo-political zones could become jealous and this will result in additional claims of deprivation. Another factor responsible for the current insecurity in the country is the imbalance in development. The deliberate concentration of Nigerias capital resources in a few cities, culminating in the emergence of largely underdeveloped rural communities had further jeopardized the security of this country.Those living in the shanty towns see the dwellers of the cities as their enemies. In the same way, the masses in the rural areas appear to wage a cold war against the urban dwellers. As a result, they organize criminal expeditions to the cities and after a few days, retreat to escape the law enforcement agents. This trend has continued till date.The rural dwellers are jealous of the bright light in the cities, the pipe borne water which flows at intervals, the health facilities, the fairly good roads and drainage systems, including the educational institutions and the white collar jobs. What do we expect in this kind of confusion'It has even become difficult for aggrieved youths to be traced because there are no roads to the rural villages. It goes without saying that one way to curb insecurity is to spread development to all the nooks and crannies of the country, irrespective of the peoples contribution to the economy.It would be unreasonable for anyone to condemn the establishment of educational institutions and subsequent mass educational policies of the federal and state governments, which have produced millions of university graduates and school leavers , since education is the bed rock of development of any country.But having achieved this, what effort are we making to replace the retired subsistent farmers who have been feeding this nation for a long time' The unemployed school leavers are neither here nor there and this appears to worsen the food insecurity of this country, forcing the Federal government to import food that we can produce.It is interesting to observe that the ongoing transformation by the federal and state governments emphasize agriculture and security. President Goodluck Jonathan recently advised Nigerians to pray for him and the government rather than criticize it. I believe that the president is not opposed to constructive criticism, since he is not a magician. And anybody who expects his one year old presidency to solve all the problems facing this country, will be regarded as a spoiler. However, it has become absolutely necessary for the agricultural mobilization and empowerment of the Nigerian youths to embrace agriculture as a veritable venture that will supply the food needs of the country and engage them in gainful employment in order to prevent them from being devils workshop.- Mr. Nwadialor wrote in via emmanwadialor@yahoo.com
Click here to read full news..
