Of democracy, militantocracy, insurgentocracy and banditocracy

When democracy was finally ushered back to Nigeria in 1999 after decades of military interregnums, little did we know that it was pregnant with other cracies. Today, we are contending with militantocracy, insurgentocracy and banditocracy. Do I need to define these cracy systems? The systems are self-defining. Nevertheless, since they are my coinages, I have an obligation to break them down. Militantocracy is the reign of the militants, for militants and by militants. Insurgentocracy is the rule of the insurgents, for insurgents and by insurgents,while banditocracy is the regime of the bandits, for bandits and by bandits.

The first born of our returnee democracy was the militancy which was conceived in the Niger Delta Region, midwived by MEND men. Defined, MEND is a shortcut for Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta. Politicians in Niger Delta seeking to win elections in the region needed thugs to clear the route for them. Men of MEND became readily available. All that the politicians had to do was to arm them with weapons and cash. After capturing power, the goons were abandoned to their own fate. Not to worry. With sophisticated weapons at their disposal, they hugged all manner of criminalities, majoring in kidnapping for ransoms and blowing up pipelines to gain attention and patronage by the government of the day.

The second kid of our democracy was the insurgency of Boko Haram. A governor hunting for power in Borno state in 2003 saw the enemies of Western education as a ready-made arsenal to shoot his way to power with a promise to make them an integral part of his administration. He reneged. Pissed off by his failure to carry them along, the education enemies transmogrified into a band of insurgents, using Borno as their launching pad. Intoxicated by their successes in Borno, the insurgents stretched their territorial adventure to the entire North-east axis. And they have been wreaking mayhem on the region for more than a decade now. The successes they raked in emboldened them to overrun some major towns and cities across the northern states for a very long time.

The third kid, collectively, are the banditocrats. This set of criminals is presently the most ubiquitous of the trio. They are found everywhere. They are epidemic in nature…happening nationwide. Militantocratsand insurgentocrats are endemic, occurring in a particular axis.Militantocracy appears to have abated in recent times. Their agitation led to the creation of the Niger Delta Ministry and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by the late Yar’Adua regime. What we witness today are occasional threats for one flimsy excuse or the other.

However, the common denominator pulling the two most active siblings, insurgentocracy and banditocracy, together, beside killing and maiming of innocent folks, is kidnapping for ransoms. The crime has become so rampant that no one is sure of not being captured outside his home or in the comfort of his home. No one! Instances abound, occurring on hourly basis. People are being seized at workplaces, in the neighbourhood, in schools, etc.

The latest scary occurrence was the invasion and seizure of students and staff of Government Science College, Kagara, Niger state. The Kagara abduction occurred a little over two months after audacious banditocrats stormed the Government Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina state, evacuating the entire population into a forest. The boys later returned from captivity but the chief banditocrat boasted that he executed the crime to teach the Governor of the state, AlhajiAminu Bello Masari, a lesson never to mess with banditocracy. He claimed he did not collect a dime from the MACBAN of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria that negotiated the release of the abductee students.

The latest victims of the reign of terror are the Kagara students. These banditocrats must have drawn their couragefrom the successes their insurgentocrat brothers recordedat the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok way back in April, 2014 and later at the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College in Dapchiron February 19, 2018, where over 300 girls and 100 female students, respectively, were seized. All of the Dapchir students regained their freedom except LeahSharibu, for bluntly sticking to her Christian faith like super glue.

Fulani folks are currently profiled as banditocrats, marauding communities across the country with their cattle in search of greener pastures. There have been clashes, some of them bloody, occurring on farmlands especially in the southern towns and villages of the country. Peaceful folks among them have been sweating to extricate indigenous Fulani from the foreign elements who have taken advantage of our porous borders to invade our lands to visit mayhem on innocent citizens, kidnapping, raping, killing and robbing as if there is no government in place anymore. The northern villages and towns are not spared either. The criminal elements have become so dreaded that the fear of them is the beginning of wisdom and survival!

It is difficult to sift the peace-loving Fulani from the criminal elements. In fact, Fulani has become a metaphor for armed banditry and kidnapping. After being on the receiving end of banditry for too long in recent years, losing hundreds of cattle to cattle rustlers, local herders threw away their traditional trademark sticks and resorted to goading and guarding their cattle with guns. It is a common sight on the social media to see an underage herder hanging an AK 47 rifle on his shoulder while watching over his cows with one eye and looking out for rustlers with the other. With a balance of terror guaranteed, cattle rustlers will have to think twice before launching a raid on the nomads. It is obvious that these armed herders are not licensed to bear such weapons that go for not less than N400,000 each.

Weighed down by the latest mass abduction of the students at Kagara (rumoured to have been released following the intervention of negotiator-in-chief Sheikh Ahmad Gumi who reportedly stormed their Taginaforesthideout and struck a deal with their leader named Dogo Gide barely 24 hours later), the Minister of Defence, Gen. Bashir Magashi (retd), was caught on video advising Nigerians to defend themselves against these criminal elements rather than relying on the federal government to secure their lives and properties… a primary responsibility of any government. His declaration drew anger from across the country as hapless Nigerians wondered how he expected them to confront armed criminals with bare hands. The Hon. Minister has been sweating to explain himself, insisting that all he advised was that we should stand up against the criminals, who, most times, have just two or three bullets to fire.

Gen. Magashi should stop sweating. His predecessor, Gen. T. Y.Danjuma(retd), made a similar call when bandits believed to be of Fulani stock intensified their banditry across some states, particularly in the Middle Belt Region where he belongs. Former President Goodluck Jonathan also towed that line in 2014 while visiting Kanoto ascertain the level of destruction brought on the ancient city by the insurgentocrats of Boko Haram. He was so overwhelmed by the barbaric scenes that he declared and I quote: “Perhaps, every Nigerian should defend himself.” Jonathan did not go a step further to ensure that every Nigerian was made to bear arms. However, the folly of every Nigerian being in a position to bear arms is demonstrated in the killing of armed security personnel by the criminal gangs. The danger in this is that the criminals can easily pick their targets but their targets can’t easily identify them.

As I have been saying for more than a decade now, the solution to this insurgency madness which the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai (retd), just predicted would be with us for the next two decades, is to have two more patinas of police force – at the state and local government levels. They should be well-trained, well-equipped and well-motivated. In view of the overwhelming security challengesall over the country today, anyone opposing this idea should be perceived as part of the problem.

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