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How Nigeria can overcome kidnapping, insecurity

By Abubakar Bukola Saraki
After posting a tweet on the kidnap of the 12 policemen yesterday, the thought of the damning implication that sad incident has for our country continues to disturb me.
Moreover, last night some of my colleagues in the 8th Senate came to visit and, along the line, the same issue came up for discussion.
Two of them from the North West narrated how the kidnapping problem has become a big racket with many criminal rings now organized around it. I was stunned by some of their experiences and the stories they have heard from their constituents.
In fact, throughout the night, I continued to turn these scary stories over in my mind. Coincidentally, during my visit to Ilorin last weekend I also heard stories of how more people are finding it difficult to go to the farms as they fear for their lives.
This heinous crime is spreading fast round the country. Meaning it is not a crime limited to one part of the country or restricted to certain group of people. With the recent victims being police officers, we must recognize that this is a serious national problem.
As I ruminated over this issue many thoughts came to my mind. One was whether I should keep quiet and continue to watch events. Another was to share my thoughts and ideas on the way forward, just put my suggestions out there.
I know that taking the second option may generate some comment like: “Saraki has come again!”. But I conclude that contributing to finding a solution to a national problem is more important.
In all honesty and with a sense of responsibility, I have no intention to score cheap political points here. The time for electioneering has been and gone. Now is the time for governance and the delivery of dividends of democracy.
The kidnapping issue is not a problem for President Buhari alone. It is a problem confronting and threatening all Nigerians.
Even though one is in opposition, at a time of national crisis opposition leaders all over the world join ranks with government to seek solutions. As was the case during the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti or in the post-genocide rebuilding efforts in Rwanda.
I am convinced that this is a problem for all of us, and as such, I advise Mr. President to urgently call for help from all and sundry. All hands must be on deck. If we don’t address the problem of kidnapping urgently it will engulf the entire nation.
In this country, we have brilliant, serving and retired intelligence officers. We have experienced serving and retired military and other security officers who have had some of the best training available in the world in dealing with this type of problem.We also have former Presidents and heads of state who have great ideas on security. And, we have traditional rulers who, by their background, have strong insights they can contribute on this issue.
Also, there are political and legislative leaders across the board who may have the one or other idea to share on how to resolve this crisis.
What is more, in our Nigeria there are some of the best IT brains who can help deploy technology towards solving the kidnap cases and eliminating this security threat.
Many of them are youth who have shown an interest in finding solutions to national problems and have demonstrated their capacity in several fields of endeavors. These youths will be too glad to help if we engage with them on finding solutions to this problem.
Then there are many countries whom we have a good relationship and who have confronted similar problems in the past and used technology and modern techniques to overcome them.
These countries, I am sure, will be more than willing to assist. They know this is a problem threatening our existence as a country. In my humble opinion, Mr. President, should tap into these abundant resources because what we have on our hands is a national emergency.
Some people may argue that Mr. President seeking for help translates into helplessness or admission of failure. That argument that holds no water. What matters now is to find the appropriate solution.
From my own perspective, wherever the idea is coming from – be it from a retired security officer, an opposition leader or even a foreign country – what is important at this juncture is to put an end to this national menace.
I am sure that if all these people are ‘locked’ up in one room together and with the abundant talents and resources that will be available to tap into, they will most certainly produce a workable, action plan that can immediately be implemented to solve the kidnapping problem.
The fact is that there is no Nigerian or friend of Nigeria who truly loves this country and is concerned about this matter that will not heed President Buhari’s call.
This national emergency is threatening the very existence of our country. We cannot leave it to the government alone as if it is solely Buhari’s problem. It is not. We have left it for too long.
This is a problem that was initially limited to one part of the country. However, it has long since spread across the country.
During the tenure of the 8th Senate we discussed this problem many times. For example when some of my colleagues like Senators Kabir Marafa and Isa Misau were consistently speaking on the floor about how the problems of kidnapping, banditry and other criminalities were destroying the economy in their part of the country.
On other occasions, we observed a one-minute silence for the victims. At other times, we organized security summits with a view to finding a solution.
During that period, some people felt I was simply giving prime time to some of my colleagues to grandstand on the floor of the Senate in order to discredit the Buhari Presidency or unjustifiably vilify their state governors.
Sadly, the problem is still here with us today.
The problem of kidnapping is not only threatening the peace of the country. It is creating food insecurity and constraining people’s means of livelihood, particularly in the rural areas where 70 percent of the food produced in this country comes from.
Farmers are no longer going to farm as they fear for their lives. In such circumstances, how can we talk of self-sufficiency? It is time we tackled the problem head on.
These are my thoughts and they are borne out of a genuine desire to get this problem resolved once and for all.
As somebody once said, it is not just enough to pray for victims. No, we must find a permanent solution that will prevent any reoccurrences.
Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki was the President of the 8th Senate.

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