It has become a serious concern the rising social ills affecting the political space of the most populous black nation in the world: Nigeria. It is disheartening Nigeria is currently being faced with such nightmares. From banditry to the somewhat staggering rise in incessant ritual killings, and kindnappings, the country is navigating in the direction of a very- perturbing anomaly.
Nigeria has become a thorough depiction of social unrest over the years. The once-peaceful "giant of Africa" has become one of the world's breeding grounds of terrorism. Nigeria, a nation where people could sleep with their two eyes closed, has now become a recognition where taking a simple nap is almost unsafe! Of course, no thanks to the impending security challenges.
It is an established fact Nigeria is yet to improve on her social infrastructure for decades. Plagued by poor health care facilities, bad roads, high cost of living, lack of healthy foods, expensive housing, the emergence of terrorism, ritual killings and kindnappings have added more salt to the injuries she has already sustained. As Nigeria struggles to get over the almost-paralyzed social amenities for her citizens to access, the severity of ills engendered leaves every Tom, Dick and Harry, connected with the posterity of the nation in a presently perplexed state. As it is said, Nigeria is in a situation between "the devil and deep blue sea".
The youths are most affected. They were born and raised in a nation, which is now arguably the poverty capital of the world. Perhaps they read history books and or were told by their parents, guardians or "seniors" how great Nigeria used to be (60s 70s and 80s, say). However, they are faced with apparently insurmountable challenges of infrastructural decay, coupled with insecurity. Growing up, they were always told "Children are the leaders of tomorrow". Now adults, they can barely eke a living!
Consequently, a number of them would decide to take laws into their hands and join the chorus of the already-alarming crime rates of kidnapping, fraud and ritual killings. Sadly, fraud, a tool commonly used many young Nigerian youths, through the use of the internet, is sadly a devised means in surviving the scorchy hardship they currently experience. Others go the extra mile of identifying with kidnapping and ritual killings as ways to make ends meet. The assertions are not in support of the heinous crimes but eye-opening facts indicating why there is an urgent need to address the pertinent issues before, as Nigerians would say, "things get out of hand".
The media is flooded with stories of incessant kidnappings in the Southern part of the country (even in the northern part), banditry or terrorism ravaging the northern territories, internet advanced fee fraud (popularly known as "Yahoo Yahoo" in Nigeria) sweeping through the entire Southern region. One cannot help but wonder if Nigeria has a future. Words cannot explain how bitter it is to sight several cases of ritual killings, victims of banditry or terrorism and advanced fee fraud. A simple Google search of "insecurity in Nigeria" or a peep-through the Nigerian social media news space would suffice to act as conspicuous instances to to underscore the asserted facts.
Resulting from the social ills, Nigeria is currently on the global terrorism watchlist, considered presently as one of the top-ten most corrupt and unsafe nations of the world. Given the stats, foreign investment concerns are steadily withdrawing their concerns and moving to other neighbouring west African countries (like Ghana), thereby dwindling the country's economic strength and totting to the unemployment rates the country is presently faced. Though the commoners are most affected by such an extruciation, the elites are not left out. Since they are Nigerians, given their nationality, any part of the world they are, "the elites", as they are called, are seen just the way the ordinary Nigerian is being looked at by the rest of the world.
Therefore, there is a clarion call for the Federal Government of Nigeria to critically look into the issues invading the social and political spaces of the country. Nigerians are fed up with the insecurity being faced, coupled with the already established social and economic problems affecting all and sundry. The earlier the government embark on head-on commitment strategies to trot out viable working conditions such as orchestrating friendly environment for employment, thoroughly making sophisticated the country's security architecture by curbing the present insecurity and room for foreign investment opportunities by "bring to life the dying" infrastructure, the better. Else, Nigeria will be mocked at by other nations who once revered it.
Only if Nigeria had a organized political structure to act as watch dog paving the genuine way for security of lives and property, transparency, employment for all, investment opportunities through the improvement of social amenities, the rising social ills of kidnapping, ritual killings, banditry (even fraud) will not be in the picture.