Very Sad Developments
By
Wada Nas
Our dear country is in pains, and we must feel very bad about it. When Nigeria is sick, we all are sick, what affects her equally applies to us. The Lagos tragedy arising from bomb explosion, from a military bomb dump is indeed a serious tragedy, a sad development un-witnessed in our history. By the last count, 1000 innocent souls, mostly women and children, lost their lives in the disaster.
I offer my sincere condolences to our president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the good governor of Lagos state, Alhaji Ahmed Tinubu and all the people of our great country for this sad loss. As a Muslim, I take solace in the injunction that “from Allah we come and to him we would return”.
Naturally, in such circumstances, emotions run high and nobody should be blamed for such. It is natural to be emotional under such a circumstance. It is also so, for us to ask, why did this happen or rather why was it allowed to happen?
Military experts believe that most officers do not like posting to that place because of the high risk involved considering an alleged lack of proper care of how the bombs are being dumped without due consideration to safety, in spite of its location in a civilian area. Although rumours are not to be believed, the gossip world has it that some of these bombs were relocated from various locations from across the country, to complicate the situation in Lagos, when the Lagos Garrison was about to be up graded to a full fledged division by this administration. If true, and we cannot be sure, we may not need to know the intention of putting all our eggs in one basket. Still, we don’t have good reasons to believe this rumour particularly that on occasions like this, rumours spring up sometime without solid foundation.
What may be said is that there was some measure of inappropriateness in the way the bombs were dumped and left for years at its location without adequate consideration of implications. We certainly need to put in some measure of seriousness in handling such sensitive issues particularly those that touch on our national security. Considering our obligations in the West African sub-region there is an extent that measures need be put in place to ensure that there is no repeat reoccurrence.
The rumoured plan by the police rank and file to go on strike following failure to pay their salaries and allowances for months shows the extent of the serious decay in our security system. Like what happened in Lagos, this is the first time of such a publicized attempt in our history.
In matters of security the police is the first line of defence and so should be treated with utmost consideration in terms of funding and payment of salaries. There is danger to national security when those who are employed to protect the people are not catered for properly. The excesses of some few apart, many policemen have lost their lives in attempts to curtail communal violence which has become rampant in our society today. We cannot add to this loaded burden by not paying them their salaries when due.
Since our country is not at war either with itself or any other neighbour, the Cameroonians skirmishes notwithstanding, the police ought to be accorded first priority in matters of internal security. Their failure to deal with violent episodes arises not from their inability to do so but due to their incapacity to handle them, due to no fault of theirs.
We cannot expect them to perform miracles when they are poorly funded. The ease with which OPC members in the South West have been ransacking their stations speaks volume of their poor funding and therefore in capacity to effectively handle civil disturbances.
Of course, we do appreciate the bad eggs within the force who have been denting the image of the service. We know their zeal for “ kill and go” at road blocks sometimes over N10 or N20. That they could open fire on innocent citizens for such a small amount tells us about the non payment of their salaries and allowances regularly, and also explain why some of them engage in dubious activities.
Where a policeman remains for months without his salary, nothing would stop him from receiving “evil money” from armed robbers, drug pushers and such others, who are ready to give him what he is not likely to get in all his years of service.
And this brings us to the issue of pensioners some of whom have been around for months without receiving their benefits. Where the benefits of retired officers are not paid for years, nothing stops the ones in service from looting the treasury in order to ensure a better future in retirement. Such things encourage corruption in the system. When retirement benefits are not forth coming, as when due, a signal is being sent to those in service to loot as much as they could, as they would equally face the same bleak future when in retirement. The uncertainty of tenure since the Murtala-Obasanjo great purge of the 70s and the certainty of a bleak future, in retirement, caused by failure to pay retirement benefits for several years, combine to make nonsense the orchestrated fight against corruption and other social vices. You leave a retired soldier for months without his benefits being paid as when due, and this man knows how to handle the gun, what would he do seeing members of his family perish? He may fall for the option to join an armed robbery gang.
The point being made here is that the refusal to pay salaries and benefits for months to serving and retired officers is at the root of the corruption and armed robbery we have been complaining about. A man denied an honest way of earning a living would be forced to engage in dirty deals if only in order to survive. This is a natural law. The human person is born to live and until he dies, he must live and this he must do one way or the other. If he is forced to engage in corrupt practices or armed robbery in order to earn a living, having been denied his rights, he can’t be blamed solely for his actions. Those who refuse to honour their obligations to him are also a guilty party.
So, the state or government is a contributory factor to the causes of corrupt practices within the system and incidences of armed robbery for its failure to honour its obligations to both its serving and retired officers. The motive of those who are forced into such corrupt practices is not to be corrupt but to exist. It is worse when you force this on the police. You either make them more corrupt or protect armed robbers who will pay them more.
It is important for us therefore not only to ensure prompt payment of their salaries but to look in to the structure of the salaries. A well paid policeman would not engage in such things that would cause his dismissal from the force. Where the contrary is the case, he remains a willing tool in the hands of enticing elements.
Talking about national security, one really wonders the motive of the military high command, including the Commander-In-Chief, for releasing a clearly false information that Muslims have concluded plans to attach military and police formations as well Christian dominated states. Was it a deliberate plan to cause division within the military and between Muslims and Christian? If so for what purpose? I have a feeling that Nigerian authorities are falling flat to disinformation going on around the globe against people of certain faith. And considering that foreign intelligence agencies and military are now dominant in the system, one can hardly rule out their fingers in such disinformation tactics. But the greater cause for worry is that the high military command would put out a statement believing in such and knowing how explosive it could be. Perhaps it is wrong to ask if the Nigerian state is against its Muslim citizens. But in the refusal and failure of government to offer a public explanation on this disinformation, many may be tamped to think so.
Let this government not deliberately engage in acts that would cause severed division within the polity particularly along religious lines. Since the coming of this administration, the country has never known peace. Clashes here today, explosions here tomorrow and assassination there all the time. Is this what the government wants? Certainly no. Then why indulge in actions that would ensure continuation? Hard to understand.
There is a need for the Commander –In-Chief to offer public explanation on this matter for several reasons. It is important that he does so except if we are being told by his silence that he caused this dangerous signal to be sent to all formations.
Wada Nas