By Dada Ahmed.
Perhaps 50 years ago, no ordinary human being would have imagined the scale of the unabated wave of bloodshed and violent attacks going on in many regions of the world, including Nigeria, today.
But the bitter truth is that terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, insurgence and other security challenges have taken over the centrepiece of human existence, usurping the fragile peace in many parts of the world, including Nigeria, the most populous black nation in the world.
Unfortunately, man is now confronted with the stark reality of killings, maiming and destruction of property in the hands of fellow human beings, to such an extent that governments and individual organisations are now struggling vehemently to curtail the frightening phenomenon.
For more than 10 years, Nigeria has been striving to stamp out
the Boko Haram insurgency, banditry, farmers-herders conflict, secessionist agitations, kidnapping, armed robbery and other forms of crime and criminality threatening the socio-economic fabric and corporate existence of the nation with no end in sight.
In the 7th Inaugural Lecture of Federal University Lokoja, Kogi State, Prof. Mohammed Suleiman Audu, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and an erudite Historian and International Studies expert went down the memory lane to catalogue the consequences of the Boko Haram insurgency in the north-eastern part of the country to include Dikwa suicide bombings, Dalori attack, Maiduguri, Nganza funeral attack, Gamboru bombing and the Goneri ambush among others.
He held his audience, who include eggheads in the higher institutions across the country and outside its shores spellbound when he also mentioned the Monguno and Nganzai massacres, the Koshebe massacre, the Kankara kidnapping, as some of the harrowing experiences which Nigerians undergone in the past decade.
The Historian of note attributes the crux of the social, economic, political, religious and ethnic challenges facing the country to a number of factors such as conflict of interests, inordinate political ambition, perceived social and economic marginalisation among various groups competing for limited resources.
While some elements of the Yoruba nationality agitate for a separate country, to be known as Oduduwa country, some people of the Igbo extraction are also calling for the birth of Biafran country.
As the Federal Government of Nigeria is doing all its power to contain the security challenges plaguing the nation, Prof. Mohammed Suleiman, also an expert in Conflict Resolution and gender issues, claimed that he has solutions to the myriad problems hindering peace, not only in the world but also in Nigeria, in particular.
According to him, time is ripe for the world leaders to begin a paradigm shift to end incessant conflicts and their attendant consequences on humanity and society.
The professor, whose inaugural lecture dwelt on “Life is Endless Battle: The World is Becoming Less Peaceful”, said that in achieving peace, the world leaders and their counterparts must take cognizance of Mitchell’s models of “ripe moment”, “hurting stalemate”, “imminent mutual catastrophe”, “game of entrapment” and “enticing opportunities”.
Suleiman also drew the attention of the leaders to Mitchell’s opinion which underscored the imperative of ensuring that “recognition, dialogue and legitimacy are preconditions for ending violent conflict.”
He added that it had become exceedingly clear that in order not to set “house ablaze”, there was need to create a pragmatic strategy that would enable the people to cross the daunting hurdles ahead.
He noted with dismay that the endless battles across the globe had dealt collateral damage to the peoples and continents, noting that the per capital income of the warring nations had dropped significantly.
Besides, Suleiman moaned that in the affected countries, average annual growth rates had reduced to the barest minimum, while fatalities arising from armed conflicts, contagious diseases in refugee habitations remained palpable, as a result of the conflicts ravaging the world.
The professor, a widely travelled academician, also expressed concern that the rising wave of conflict across the globe had induced grave economic, political and social implications, even with disturbingly monumental proportions.
He, nonetheless, called on governments to be careful and tactical in dealing with conflict and development issues, so as to forestall the precarious situations from getting out of control.
“Governments must assuage the hurt by providing all enablement to calm frail nerves. Diplomacy, carrot and stick approaches must be employed in soothing the hurt,” he said.
The deputy vice-chancellor, who emphasised that the cardinal responsibility of any government centred on ensuring the security of lives and property of its citizens without any encumbrances, said that government must decisively tackle the menace of terrorism, insurgencies, banditry and all forms of criminalities in the polity.
He also called for renewed efforts to make the citizens safer, saying that the security agencies must work in synergy to ensure the attainment of better results.
Suleiman, who is of the Ebira extraction in Kogi state, noted that there had been an embarrassing dearth of pre-emptive intelligence, leading to post-damage response in national security issues, urged governments to develop professional capacity, build trust and sound intelligence outfits with counter-intelligence competences.
“The level of socio-economic deprivation, inequality and iniquity, globally is astronomical. Governments need to close the gap and reduce the constraints. Consistent and deliberate welfare policies that are people-driven must be the focus of global governance.
“Government must understand the people’s psyche. The culture of alienation by government has caused many countries enormous catastrophe.
“The people have lost confidence in their various governments’ capabilities to combat insurgencies and terrorism.
“There is a yawning gap in the long years of neglect and failure to build effective and operational capacities in the security agencies. The time is now for all these abnormalities to stop,” he stressed.
The professor also advised leaders to imbibe the culture of wider consultations across political and cultural establishments, understand the nature of problems and the kind of appropriate solutions.
He particularly underscored the need for the leaders to make concerted efforts to inculcate democracy and its core values in global politics.
In all, it is true that no society is absolutely free from conflict because in all human interactions and relationships, there would invariably be conflict of interests which, if care is not taken, could degenerate into crises and skirmishes.
All the same, it is the ability to manage and defuse such crises on time that makes a society to work and be in peace.
Ahmed is a blogger, writer and a media consultant.
ahmeddada008@gmail.com.
