Northern Nigeria is under siege

 NIGERIA AT 60

NORTH EAST ALLIANCE RIGHTS (NEAR)

October 1, 2020.

As you must have read from President Buhari's independence day speech, our country used to be a population of about 45 million people at independence 60 years ago, today we are grappling with a population of over 200 million people. This we believe lies one of the fundamental things that are wrong with us as a people. We have no planning for the future.

Each government came and squandered our collective prosperity without making plans for the next day or for the next generation.

We have had so many October 1st. We celebrated, made speeches and moved on. 

For more than 5 years we have had insurgent  attacks. We made condolence speeches for the dead and moved on. For a number of years we have had gigantic figures of corruption, the recent one being  N2. 67b for school feeding funds found in private pockets. Like the previous ones discovered, this one too would be swept under the carpet without any arrest.

Many of our problems are becoming bigger and the perpetrators becoming bolder. From attacking small communities, insurgents are now attacking a governor, attacking a moving train.

The whole of Northern Nigeria is under siege from kidnappers to terrorists. Yet we have the President among us. We have the chief of army staff and air staff, inspector General of Police, National Security Adviser and the Comptroller General of Customs, all from the North. Yet, these attacks have become pervasive and smuggling has continued un-abetted in spite the border closure.

Something is wrong, there is certainly something that we are missing and unless we change our approach, planning and strategy, our 60 years of Independence would amount to nothing but another chapter of empty speeches. 

The unemployment rate has soared from 9.62 in 1999 at the return of democracy to 13.96 in 2019. Most affected are youths who are half the population of Nigeria's over 200 million people. What plans do we have for this threatening situation?

The government has poured billions of naira into creating job opportunities and diversifying the economy. Yet, the prices of food is still increasing and job losses are rising. Something is not right, perhaps there is a faulty approach. 

There are people across the value chain that are subverting the effort of government. These people must be identified and dealt with seriously and quickly. The government must seen to be bold and decisive in matters affecting the common people. All the three arms of the government must work in tandem with other institutions to achieve this result, or else, next year and the year after, we will still be talking about these same problems.

Nigeria is free from colonialism hence the independence celebration. But we are imprisoned by fear of kidnappers, and various other forms of terrorism. Including that of a government we have elected to protect and safeguard our freedom and rights.

Police brutality, extortion and abductions are still happening against the backdrop of democratic norms and institutions.

The government of change must make the change country in its favor. History will judge it as one that made the right reforms that ended impunity and enhanced social cohesion. Every citizen must feel safe in all the 36 States of the Federation.

We are calling on our political and religious leaders, community and business class in the North East to stand up to their responsibilities of making life a little easier and better for the common man. They must not continue to be nonchalant and ignore the suffering of the masses.

We in the North East Alliance Rights will continue to provide strong leadership, guidance, support and credible information across-the-board on the Nigerian state.

A communique released by The North East Alliance Rights.