By Ayodele Oni
Ekiti state Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has blamed increasing wave of banditry and other insecurity in the country on the advent of democracy.
The Governor, made the remark, while delivering a lecture as the Guest Lecturer at the 7th Babarinde Oduyoye Annual Birthday Lecture Series, held at the University of Ibadan.
According to him, the major security concerns before the advent of democracy in 1999 “was the staccato of ethnic and religions violence that was common then, that was before the dawn of the Niger-Delta militancy which took almost a decade.”
Fayemi said since the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999, sectarian clashes have claimed an estimated 70,000 lives across Nigeria.
“These clashes have not only been inter-ethnic or inter-religious; they have also been intra-ethnic and intra-religious.
“The increase in the incidence of conflict suggests that there is a correlation between democratization and violence.
“A major reason for this is the nature of democracy itself. After decades of military rule, democracy was expected to usher in peace and stability.
“But democracy has liberalised the political space unleashing tensions that were previously bottled up by the coercive might of the military.
“Repressed identities and resentments have emerged as powerful currents in the polity with renascent communities making claims and counter-claims on power under the banner of micro-nationalism.
“The current secessionist posture of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and self-determination activism from across most southern region of Nigeria, are reflective of the liberalised political environment.
“The intensity of political contest for power which often leverages the passions and sentiments of micro-nationalism and other forms of sectarian populism raise the potential for violence in our polity.
“In this way, politics itself, in an under-institutionalised country still struggling to entrench rule of law, generates significant security risks that must be accommodated in our threat assessment matrix.”
According to him, “this moment calls for sober reflection and system overhaul, going forward, but the positive opportunity that these agitations provide will be for us to further renegotiate our constitution to produce a more localised federal power structure.
“The ungoverned spaces need to be closed up quickly by motivated men with the singular objective to save the nation. That takes us to the number two issue of financing and arming large recruitment.
“I believe one of the cheapest and fastest ways to handle this is to amend the law setting up the Nation Youths Service Corps (NYSC) such that we can use the existing orientation camps to train willing and able graduates to reflate the security personnel under a special arrangement that will be worked out.
“That way, the fund that is currently deployed to the NYSC can be used with just some additional funding which could be sourced through a national emergency fund for the next five to 10 years.
“Those who cannot join the military services can serve in their community without pay if we must still retain the NYSC for everyone.
“To incentivise those who may volunteer to serve, they will have a separate certificate and medal of honour in addition to having priority for military, paramilitary and civil or public service recruitment after service.
“We also need to encourage investment in the real sectors that can engage people and reduce unemployment which is a major source of insecurity.
“I urge Nigerians who have the means, to set up businesses and industries that support their primary goals. Let us consider joint ventureship in agro-allied industry in addition to building halls, malls and universities.
“Today, the greatest challenges facing the country is the youth explosion and the corresponding unemployment challenge.
“Investment in agriculture is smart for us as this will guarantee employment and food security. We must also understand that agriculture was the major industry that got us out of the two recessions we had to fall into by default.
“We also need to start confronting issues relating to our burgeoning population with boldness. There is simply no way we can continue to grow our population at this geometric rate.
“The girl-child now needs to receive priority and they all must benefit from free, compulsory and qualitative education till SSS 3. Education remains the greatest antidote to poverty.”
