Tunde Ajala

We were greeted with the news of yet another kidnap of innocent girls in a school in Dapchi, Yobe state. Boom! Another invitation for people to talk; talk beautiful nonsense. 

Those in government are telling us of their resolve to free the kidnapped girls. No stone will be left unturned in their quest to free the kidnapped girls from Dapchi. They will also ensure the remaining kidnapped Chibok girls and all others in captivity are freed. Beautiful nonsense.

The opposition sees the incident as another political tool. To remind the people in govt that they are incapable of protecting the lives of Nigerians, giving the impression that they would have done better. Another beautiful nonsense. The current opposition party were the ruling party when the Chibok incidence occurred.

Expectedly, the shock went through the spines of all Nigerians and other sympathizers around the world. This rude shock is coming off the heels of the heartache we went through because the incidence at Chibok. It is instructive to note that this is still very fresh in our minds. People have asked how come it happened a second time.

Some passionate Nigerians have vented their anger at the Buhari led Federal govt for allowing a repeat of the chibok girls saga. Oh the popular saying “once beaten, twice shy”. This government promised they would defeat the terrorists. Yes, we have gained remarkable improvement and gained visible milestone. That must be acknowledged.  However, promising that they would ensure security of lives and property, as beautiful as it sounds, is just beautiful nonsense.

How can they? How easy it is for people to move over 100 hundred people at once without being noticed. Even if they did not notice when the girls were kidnapped, they know the location. What happened to the common sense of cordon and perimeter in policing?

While I try so hard to decipher how we got this bad and why these senseless kidnap and killings happen unchecked in our land, I am reminded that we are a people that either celebrate or are indifferent to beautiful nonsense. We live in a world where no one is ready to question why we have so many of our security operatives guarding and escorting the elected and unelected politicians, the executives of multinational companies, recreational centres visited by the elites etc.

No matter how we try, we can never know the exact number of policemen and soldiers guarding the few big men. We can only assume. No matter the assumption. The number in terms of percentage will surely be in double figures. How many are then left to guard and protect all the other citizens in the land.

No wonder we are torn in the argument of whether or not to allocate lands for cattle colonies. Why won’t there be argument? Afterall, the big men have already colonised our security forces, allocating them at will and have rendered them a bit incapacitated to do their much needed national assignments. Anybody that wields any influence whether legitimate or not is free to claim anything in the land. Beautiful nonsense

The Nigerian military, once known for the bravery and gallantry, are now being insinuated as weak. I have always loved the Nigeria military especially as one who went to a military secondary school and dreamed of joining the Nigeria Army.

At some point a few years, it was talk of mutiny when the soldiers refused to fight without proper arms and resources, later it is the war on corruption especially against those that purportedly stole money meant to prosecute the war against Insurgents.

Nigerians are tired of the beautiful nonsense. The steam is getting thicker. All we ask is to live our lives as normal human beings. We already carry the stigma ‘Nigerian’ as if we are a deadly disease. If inside is not conducive and outside too is not conducive. What should we do???

 One thing is sure. This beautiful nonsense just has to stop.

Our leaders must respect the fact that they can no longer collobi almost all the security men to protect them, their families and cronies. They must invest in intelligence gathering and monitoring. They must stop familiarise with known criminals and thugs. They should also ensure that the armed policemen are only attached to individuals and institutions that are supposed to have them.

Security men must be trained. We need to weed out at least 50% of the policemen in our country and replace them with new ones that will be properly trained on the rudiments of policing. Cameras should be installed on police vehicles. All siren blaring escort cars and policemen attached to heads of MDAs should be withdrawn. They don’t use them as security men, they use them as status insignia.

Our leaders should leave the talk and act. free up some security men to do their jobs we pay with taxpayers money. The citizens too must be on the case of these leaders and make them have no rest until they do the needful.

This cosmetic beautiful nonsense must stop!

Yes it must!

Photo credit: bbc.co.uk