THERE is now no doubt that the issue of security has become a major challenge in Nigeria. It has been the case for quite some time now. The challenge has however intensified with the threatening and lethal activities of the Boko Haram group. The various and many incidents of bomb attacks and the resultant killings of civilians by Boko Haram have generated alarm about the capacity of the government to guarantee the safety of life and property. Worse still, in recent times, the controversial readings of the causes, nature and challenges of the Boko Haram group among some segments of the Nigerian population have intensified anxiety about the security situation. ON the one hand, there are those who view the Boko Haram sect as a terrorist arm of the northern political class. According to this reading, the intensification of the lethal activities of the Boko Haram sect is part of the strategy of the northern arm of the political elite to protest the disregard for the zoning formula within the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2011 presidential race. This view is often buttressed by the claim that some elements of the northern elite have promised to make the country ungovernable for President Goodluck Jonathan. SEVERAL instances of public outbursts by prominent leaders in Nigeria have served to heat the polity and portray the country as one in deep inter-ethnic or inter-religious situation of emergency proportions. For instance, just when the Boko Haram leadership asked Jonathan to abandon Christianity or resign from office, Ahmed Joda, a former Permanent Secretary, called on Jonathan to renounce any intention to contest the 2015 elections in order to restore peace to the country. Similarly, at a lecture in Lagos, Edwin Clark accused the northern governors of ganging up against Jonathan, accusing Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammadu Buhari, both former heads of state, of being behind the Boko Haram sect. As if that was not enough, Asari Dokubo, a former militant, warned that any attempt to remove Jonathan from power forcefully would lead to a civil war.THUS, the Boko Haram sect's activities are viewed as a confirmation of the deep-seated division of the country along religious and other lines. According to this view, the violence and mayhem of the sect and the seemingly inability of the government to apprehend the machinations of the sect confirm that the country is condemned to disintegration. This disposition does not only reflect in the constant call for a renegotiation of the basis of the Nigerian union, but more worrisome is the impatience with the Federal Government's effort to deal with the security challenge. OTHERS on this presumption call for a decentralisation of the police in the hope that security will improve when states begin to run their own police institutions. The recent disagreement between the northern and southern governors over the establishment of state police is taken by others to signify the non-cohesive nature of the Nigerian state. Indeed, the call by Boko Haram on President Jonathan to renounce Christianity and embrace Islam is interpreted to manifest the deep-seated character of Nigeria's religious divide. Hence, some think that decentralisation could precede the eventual peaceful disintegration of the country. This has shown in the reactions to disagreements by leaders of various segments of the Nigerian population over some issues that they consider critical to the continuous existence of Nigeria as a single entity. It is against this brewing wind of extremist discourse that Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida thought it necessary to restate their commitment to defending the integrity of Nigeria at a forum in Abuja recently.HEARTILY, several Nigerians have deplored the unguarded and inciting comments of politicians and political leaders in Nigeria. Senate President, David Mark, has also called on the media to report some of these outbursts with caution and appropriate regard for national security. In a democracy, dissention is taken for granted. That is why values of moderation, tolerance, negotiation and compromise constitute the democratic spirit. ALSO, in a federal system, these values are indispensable. Federalism is oiled by constant interactions among the leadership of the various layers of government. We call on Nigerians, especially sectional and governmental leaders, to exercise restraint in their comments on security. This is a time for them to close ranks and seek scientific alternatives to current efforts to deal with the challenges of security and governance rather than trade in vitriolic.
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