“We Cannot Have Peace If We Are Only Concerned With Peace. War Is Not An Accident. It Is The Logical Outcome Of A Certain Way Of Life. If We Want To Attack War, We Have To Attack That Way Of Life”. A. J. Muste.
This writer though not a security expert, will attempt to look at the topic from the natural perspective to minimize errors of assumption.
To begin, what is security?. The Wikipedia says, security is protection from, or resilience against potential harm (or other unwanted ) coercion by others, by restraining the freedom of others to act. Going further it says, beneficiaries of security may be of persons and social groups, objects and institutions, or any other entity vulnerable to unwanted change.
In contrast, insecurity according to dictionary encyclopedia is the state of feeling insecure; uncertainty; want of
confidence, lack of safety or protection in general terms. Insecurity however, has a broad concept depending on the perspective one considers it. Among these are;-
*Existential crisis which is characterized by the impression that life lacks meaning or when one doubts his personal identity.
*Linguistic Insecurity comprises feelings of anxiety, or lack of confidence in the mind of a speaker surrounding their use of language.
*Basic Needs insecurity is one of the major approaches to the measurement of absolute poverty in developing countries.
*Job Security is the probability that an individual will keep their job.
*Food security is the availability of food in a country and the ability of individuals within that country to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs.
For the purpose of this topic, the focal point will be on the new mode of insecurity in the South East as piloted by non state actors against the establishment.
Recently in the South East Nigeria, we have witnessed the development of a nauseating phenomenon which has drastically changed the psychosocial existence of the zone. What started inform of town hall meetings, seminars, peaceful protests and agitations for freedom that was in sync with the law(s) of land by a pressure group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), was unfortunately and irretrievably hijacked by criminals, faceless and selfish agents of destruction falsely garbed in the robe of freedom fighters. Freedom fighters are known for, courage, non-violence, love, independent thinking, honesty, humility, compassion, inspiration, dialogue and determination. Some famous freedom fighters like, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Mallam Tafawa Belewa, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, etc, inspired and motivated others to fight injustice. They were the pillars behind the freedom movement. They made people aware of their rights and their power. They never took up arms nor engaged in wanton killings/destruction of their people. From the foregoing, there is an incomparable variance in the mode of freedom fighters existing and ravaging the once peaceful and joyous South East. This mode of freedom fighting have defied all the norms of freedom fighters by being unavailable, unaccessible for dialogue and without a common leadership/command structure. It is in fact a free for all thing.
MLK, Jr. said, “You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say”. Thus, in reality devoid of politics, it is condemnable how the opposition group in the South East, faced with this notorious aberration tagged freedom fighting, rather than condemn and join force with the government to tame the menace for the good of the society, chose to make it a propaganda/campaign agenda just to score cheap and costly popularity anchored on the ignorance of the populace. This immoderate sabotage of the establishment by the opposition group is not only a catalyst but also blood which enlivens this aberration camouflaged as freedom fighting. From the odious activities of this invidious group, it is evident that their outward exhibitions are nothing close to freedom fighting but most inclined to criminality and nuisance that has severely affected all facets of the lives of people of the South East, inclusive of the opposition .
Continuing pretentiously on vilifying or disparaging the Governors of the South East Zone over the nefarious activities of this unidentifiable entity (a.k.a.unknown gun men), tantamount to belying the truth as “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”, Dr. MLK Jr.
This matter is beyond trivializing via hack writing or jesting or abusing of the authorities on social media platforms.
The time is gone for the people of the South East to continue to sit on the fence and be laying blame on few people. The time is now for all hands to honestly be on deck putting politics aside to find a lasting solution to this menace that has the potency of setting the economy of the South East 20 years backwards. It is said that having a good discussion is like having riches.
Mr. Dikeukwu F. M.
Analyst/Public Affairs Commentator.
Writing from Lagos.
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