The National Coordinator, Civil Society Coalition on Sustainable Development (CSCSD), Dr. David Tola Winjobi has lamented that the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) is overwhelmed by the insecurity in the land, reports ITREALMS.
Winjobi in keynote address available to ITREALMS, at side-event of the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) cum High Level Forum (HLF) of the United Nations, also lamented that government’s despondency has given rise to separatist groups in the country.
“It is obvious the federal government is overwhelmed with insecurity especially in the northeast because the destruction and killings of innocent citizens and our soldiers continue unabated,” he declared.
He cited an instance of the news early July 2021 that Boko Haram and Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) have appointed the Interim Council, a governor, a Chief Prosecutor, a Commander for parts of Borno and established two caliphates at Lake Chad and Sambisa Forest.
These, Winjobi described as “ridiculous that Boko Haram/ISWAP could appoint a governor over parts of Borno State despite the claim by government that Boko Haram has been decimated and defeated.”
He pointed out unequivocally that persistent failure of government to address injustice, attacks by local and foreign Fulani militias, wonton killings, kidnapping, banditry, rape, armed robberies, and other vices occasioned the frustration and pain of the citizens’ call for the establishment of security outfits such as Western Nigerian Security Network code named ‘Amotekun’ and the Southeast Security Outfit 'Ebube-Agu' and even propelled the establishment of Eastern Security Network (ESN) by the Indigenous People of Biafra (POB); in order to protect the citizens from militias carrying AK-47 whilst disguising as herders.
As said by him, separatists groups such as Odua Peoples Congress, Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign States of Biafra, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta and similar groupings have legitimate demands unlike terrorists Boko Haram and Fulani militias whose ideology is for expansionism and to Islamise Nigeria.
“… The action that runs afoul of both the International and local laws and statutes,” he decried, stressing that Nigerians now, appeared to be more aware of their religious or ethnic affiliations than ever before.
Winjobi noted that while there is such a separatist group like MASSOB (Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign States of Biafra) that sprang up in 1999, upon Nigeria‘s return to democracy, a more potent one known as Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was set up in 2012 with its main aim to restore an independent state of Biafra in the Southeast of Nigeria through a referendum.
IPOB, he said, has gained significant media attention for becoming a frequent target of political crackdowns by the Nigerian government.
The group, he also said, has numerous sites and communication channels serving as the only trusted social apparatus for educating and inculcating first-hand information and news to its fellowers.
On December 12, 2020, the group‘s leader, Nnamdi Kanu announced the formation of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), a regional security force, even as Kanu is reported to have been kidnapped by the agents of Nigerian government from Nairobi, Kenya.
ESN, he said, is a measure aimed at safeguarding the South Eastern region from the onslaught of Fulani militias, however, the South-East Governors established Ebube-Agu in response to the Western Security Network codenamed Amotekun, established by the Southwest Governors on January 09, 2020.
Amotekun, he noted, was the first regional security outfit initiated by a geopolitical zone in Nigeria, though frowned at by the Federal Government, stressing that Nigeria is gradually failing in the attainment of SDGs.
He cited Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for instance, which addresses the issue of quality education but the activities of the kidnappers and bandits indeed not only threaten education let alone quality education, but also strengthen the rate of out-of-school children and thus achieving the aim of Boko Haram which tags “western education as forbidden.”
Given the above scenario which Winjobi described as ‘unacceptable,’ he lamented that it will be difficult for Nigeria to achieve SDGs by 2030 in the face of damning figures.
“Achieving the SDGs is dependent on the political will of our leadership,” he declared.
Calling on the governments at all levels to “walk the talk and stop paying lip service to development issues.”
Chuks Egbune/Editor
2 comments:
This is a good development sir, keep it up.
This is great sir. More grace IJN
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