NIGERIANS could do themselves a lot of good to appreciate the present predicament of their country if they should go back to read some salient parts of the Oputa Panel Report. Its executive summary and recommendations succinctly captures the country, which an eminent Nigerian scholar once described as being in a perpetual flux.For those who may not have the luxury of time to read the entire report, I will recommend the first part of Chapter 2 of the report, which basically deals with state policies. The conclusion of the high-powered Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission was that the Nigerian state was merely hanging in the balance as it had failed its citizens. What is left of a country if its people are overshadowed by a climate of fear' That is the simple question among the populace now.It does not evoke much emotion any longer, given reports of callous waste of lives in parts of the country. The effusive public emotions fizzle out almost immediately after the tragedies because of what has become a systemic failure. Rather, what people ask are, who would be the next victim and where the next catastrophe would occur'Perhaps, five years ago, the circumstances surrounding the cruelty that claimed the life of former President Olusegun Obasanjo's host during his visit to Babukura Fugu, the in-law of slain leader of Boko Haram, in Maiduguri, the Borno State, would have elicited more public anger than it did. But because we are fast-turning absurdities into normalcy and reality, human life is no more sacrosanct and actually an item that should be treasured. Not with the kind of mindless killings and maiming prevalent in Plateau and places that Boko Haram members have resolved to make life misery for law-abiding citizens. What a country! We are suspicious of one another's movement. Our homes have become prisons because of heavy iron barricades meant to fend off intruders.Customers coming to transact genuine transactions are considered as security risks by corporate organisations with private security guards frisking people almost to their pants. Even though people are being subjected to similar psychological torture, the exercise is merely to pander to the tide of the moment, as those saddled with the assignment grossly undermine the security checks, especially on intelligence gathering. Law enforcement agents on the streets and major highways arepre-occupied with the syndrome of waiting-you-carry, with majority of the citizens leaving their security to providence.Indeed, the pall of uncertainty is everywhere. By the time you are reading this piece, the authorities would have concluded an emergency meeting in Abuja with Vice Chancellors of Federal universities as part of ongoing pro-activity to the current security challenge. They were summoned to the federal capital because of the recent bomb scare in some universities, which created tension on their campuses and almost resulted in a major upheaval in one of the varsities. Lagos, which remains the nation's economic hub, is frequently under bomb scares, though the police claim they are mere hallucinations without taking firm and convincing pre-emptive steps so far.This not the first time Nigerians, in less than two decades, will find themselves under the climate of fear. The Babangida years and the Abacha era brought in a season of terror with sporadic bombings, particularly in the South-West. The madness almost endangered the present 'democracy' at the embryonic stage. The sorest point was when the minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige, murdered without any definite clue on who do it!The current situation that has made death cheap in the country places everyone at risk. The build-up came in stages like the 1984 Maitasine riot and the unguarded statements by some religious leaders which tend to suggest their open support for fanatical groups or extremists in the society. Preachers brazenly make inciting statements during religious gatherings without caution from official quarters.Religious broadcasts are packed full of invectives aimed at specific targets, leaving the audiences with an impression of dereliction of duties by relevant agencies that ought to monitor or vet the materials before they are released for public consumption. So, the present Boko Haram is just one of the many such extremist groups in different parts of the country. Other species abound in most parts of the cities, propagating falsehoods in the name of politics, ethnicity, religion and other numerous cleavages. All of them are contributory to making the Oputa panel coming to the conclusion that Nigeria needs to go back to the basics, in order to rescue itself from its current perilous state.'Oderemi, 08023501874 (sms only)
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