Current episodes of attacks, killings, kidnappings, question legitimacy of FG to govern – Security Consultant
Current episodes of attacks, killings, kidnappings, question legitimacy of FG to gover
The current episodes of violent attacks, killings, kidnappings and destructions ravaging the country, have called to question, the viability and legitimacy of the federal government because these actions challenge the very basis for an organized government.
A Consultant on National Security and Counter-Terrorism, Dr. Dozie Ezeife who made this known at the inauguration of two books, ‘Seeking Answers to Nigeria’s Security Challenges’ and ‘Boko Haram’, noted that, “The basis for having a government is the social contract that is the foundation of modern societies. We the people gave up our God-given rights to the government on the understanding that in return, the government takes on the responsibility of protecting our lives, limbs, properties and general wellbeing”.
“So when and if the government fails or is unable to defend us, it loses the right to govern because it has breached the social contract from which it derives the right and legitimacy to govern”.
Dr. Ezeife said, “Nigeria is presently and for a period has been besieged by a myriad of security challenges. There is Boko Haram Insurgency in the North East, Banditry and Kidnapping in the North West and North Central, and the various violent agitations in the South East and South-South regions. These are serious existential challenges facing our nation today”.
“The surge of violence is a threat to achieving Nigeria’s millennium development goals. It is a threat to law and order. It is a grave threat to our economy. It is threat to life, liberty and pursuit of livelihood for every Nigerian and everyone who is in Nigeria. It questions the viability and legitimacy of our government”.
Situating the insecurity challenges threatening to strangulate Nigeria on four pillars, he said, “Structural Inequities, show that the structure of the Nigerian Union is defective and this has contributed to enduring multi-lateral frictions along the lines of religion, tribe, language and culture. You can easily trace almost all the violent episodes in the nation to this imperfection. The failure to clearly define the terms of unification of the various peoples and spell out the relationships between the federating regions are the main drivers of insecurity today”.
Institutional corruption is a cancer that has spread throughout the nation and is seeking to deal a mortal blow to the nation.
“Bad governance is also one of the reasons why the nation is in the throes of insecurity. When a government is based on nepotism, it breeds incompetence and a lack of dedication to duty. The result is that the job of governance is not done and if done, it is done incompetently.
Abject lack of access to social and economic mobility by the Nigerian youth. This is because the dictum that an idle mind is the devils workshop is a metaphor that best describes what is playing out today in Nigeria especially among the youths. We run educational programmes without clear thinking about what jobs will be available for products of those programs. When we eat our children’s future, we leave them no option than a path to criminality and violence.
Present at the inauguration were the former minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN), among others.
