Introduction
Terrorism, in recent time, has become the most commonly used word in the country by both the young and the old. This has been a big threat to international security system, an act which tends to create fear in the mind of the people, distracts the peace and stability of the nation, brings about financial loss of lives and properties, and discourages investors, and gradually bringing down the economy of the nation. This satanic and dehumanised act has brought about political struggles in which the masses for a decade has been yearning and craving for a better political structure where their needs will be put into consideration, fair hearing and equal rights given to all citizens.A situation where the majority now seek for social and political change Power was shifted from the rulingPeople’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress(APC) andhistory was made. The new government promised to bring about change but unknown to the people, this much talk about change was accompanied by political bigotry, insincerity on the part of the politician and the government, security menace in most parts of the country for example,Boko-Haram in the north-east, IPOB in the south-east, Niger-delta struggle, series of strike in the public system, economic recession, and recently, the ravaging Fulani herdsmen in some parts of the county.
For a clearer and straight understanding of these two terms, it became a necessity to define ‘TERRORISM‘, which according to the Oxford Learner Dictionary 8thEdition is the use of violent action in order to achieve political aims or to force a government to act.On the other hand, POLITICAL STRUGGLEis the action and suffering been endured in connection with different groups working in politics, especially their policies and the competition between them.
The act of terrorism and the level of political struggle been suffered by Nigerians can be traced to:
THE FAMILY – This constitutes the foundation of everycivilisation, a church within a church, a republic within a republic, a world within a world; it is the building block of the society and civilisation, it is the root and the foundation of the church and the nation. If things go right in the family, it goes right in the world and vis a vis.It is like a book with the children as the pages and the parents as the cover. The family is a school of human virtues – this is a beautiful definition of family indeed; yet a pertinent question that remains unanswered is, how many homes can boast of an ideal family today? Only but a few, no more ideal family, rather most has lost its values and moral standard. Every day you hear complains of how bad our leaders are and how they mismanage funds and steal funds meant for improving the quality of life and I thought to myself, how many times have we fail to realise that the problem is as a result of poor upbringing, lack of adequate care and attention, poverty and so on from the family. All this in one way or the other has contributed immensely to the problem of terrorism and political struggle, family producing children like children manufacturing industries with no means of livelihood that can cater for the children or any form of support from the government. This has made youths available for all kinds of crime and atrocities with just a little pay to take home. Thinking of who these so called suicide bombers are – they are people from homes like every other normal youth. These problems could be lessened if all parents would take the responsibility of raising a healthy family, have adequate plan before bringing them forth. Only give birth to the numbers you can cater for to avoid bringing nuisance into the society. Parent should be responsible enough to know the whereabouts of the wards, the company they keep, how they get what they use at certain points. Let the change you want to see in the country as a parent begin from your home or family and yourself as an individual.Let your family be a model and a mirror that will reflect justice, equityand fairness in the society.
CORRUPTION – is another major problem in Nigeria that is common in all sectors starting from the lowest place you can think of. The people want a free and fair democracy that will give them maximum personal freedom and periodic opportunities to choose their leaders and select governmental projects from the available alternatives. Corruption has made the aspirations of these people or electorates almost unachievable. Terrorism and Political Struggleis the after effect of the corrupt act been perpetrated by almost all the leaders in different sectors, a common trend that eats away the faith of the citizens in democracy. Unfortunately,it is saddening as the liberty of the country which I see every day of its successful experiment that corruption has been imputed to many members of the House of Representatives and Senates the right of the people have been bartered for promises of office, god-fatherism thereby rendering them useless in office.
What is needed in Nigeria at this crucial time is a radical change ofmind, individuals must realise that fighting corruption is not just good governance but a self-discipline and patriotism. The earlier this is been realised, the better as no form of parliamentary procedure would be the change we so desire to see. This is because those to preside over such are the biggest gainers from corruption and the suffering of the people. People can longer trust any arms of the government due to corruption, evil sentiment, irrational nepotism, tribalism, ethnic prejudice has found a comfortable place in all these arms of government and institution.
Nigeria is a country where few persons imposes its rules on the majority which is not democratic at all, it is a state controlled by the elites. Corruption has done a lots of damages such as unemployment, fund meant for job creation, development and improvement of infrastructure is beingdiverted by one man leaving the youth– the potential leaders of tomorrow– jobless and making them nuisance and agent of terrorism, shattering their hopes and dreams of a better life after graduation from school.
EDUCATION –On the other hand, we were told education is key to becoming a successful person in life but it seems our leaders has long changed the padlock. How then, do we convince the upcoming generation that education is still the way when we are surrounded by poor graduates and rich criminal? Obviously, with the level of abnormalities in the educational sector the value of educationhas drastically reduced thereby reducing thecertificate obtained in most of our institution as no less than a piece of paper due to how some obtained their result and the level of corrupt practices in the educational system. Many half-baked graduates who went to school but school never passed through them with some still working and leading in high places as a result of bribery and connection, some even end up in public offices and that is how this cycle of bad leadership continues – a problem that has reduced quality of services in most sector in Nigeria. Terrorist, fraudsters, armed robbers, kidnappers and so on are all product ofcorrupt society, able men and women who are still within age of employment with so much potentials and talents but end up getting involved in all vices due to frustration and lack of the basic necessities of live. Though the situation of the country does not justify their action but somehow men need to survive and they choose those ways as a means of surviving. I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference, they are the Father, Mother and the teacher. That is why I laid much emphasises on the family, imagine a world where every child from every home is well trained and adequately taken care of, how beautiful our world will be and how there will a drastic improvement in the educational system if teachers are well treated and trained. It will improve quality of education as teachers will be satisfied and will not take bribe from students or parents to pass a child. It is high time Nigerians awake from their sleep in general and let go of the belief that only politicians – the leaders can bring about a lasting solution to our problems as it is these same politicians that have created them, though not all as some parents have also failed in their duties of raising responsible and godly children.
CIVIL/HUMAN RIGHTS – the fight however, to attain the right political system has led to the continuous political struggle by the citizen.Since Nigeria gained her independence as Nigeria, it is yet to experience true democracy. It is so sad that despite the infrastructural decay of Nigeria system and the incompetence leaders, Nigeria has only had a few of its citizen raise their voices to challenge the level of atrocities committed by the leaders. I do not mean those who sit at the comfort of their home to write to media houses or the internet or interviews. No, I am referring to the act of engaging in civil disobedience through peaceful protest and participating effectively and efficiently in election to appoint the right and good leaders who will move the country forward. I respect 2face Idibia, a musical icon for voicing out for the masses even though he later backed out due to personal reasons. Also NnamdiKanu, the leader of IPOB for standing up to the government. These are individuals, representing a voice for the voiceless and fighting for the common rights of the people. All these are forms of Political Struggle.
For Nigeria to be better, there has to be an inner transformation of all, especially the leaders, they must acknowledge the democratic mandates given to them to serve the people rather than be served. There must be justice and fairness to all and individual civic or human rights must be guided and protected in the country.
Nigerian leaders should also emulate the decisive steps taken by the Americans and Europeans that we now see as super powers and admire today on how they have attained such height.Karl Marx said, “Struggle cannot arise without consciousness”that is, struggle is only possible when members of a class are conscious of their position and condition”. Thus, this scenario can be said of the Nigerian people, we do noteven know that we are suffering. Sometimes, I see what is been brought in from other countries as used items/materials which Nigerians gladly purchase and then use for years. Until we realise our level of suffering and the fact that we have all it takes to be a great nationif not for mismanagement and greed of our leaders,we will continue to be the way we are.Nigeria is in a total mess and almost unredeemable unless the people raise their conscious level and go back to history to understand how other developed countries of the world made it, we will continue to gamble. It is unreasonable that the Nigerian government would remove History from been thought in schools all in an attempt to prevent knowledge and destroy any sense of history/past among the younger generation. How can Nigerians foresee the future without a single knowledge of their past? How can Nigerians understand their society without the knowledge of what created it? I can say, the most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate them of their own understanding of their past. History helps us live in an era where we were not present, help us relate to people whose action influenced the shape of the present day and most importantly, democracy can only thrive effectively with knowledge of history been imbibe in our leaders.
SOLUTIONS – Furthermore, Nigeria has been identified among countries of the world as a country in which terrorism has come to stay. Despite all efforts by the military agencies to tackle the situation, we still have cases of bombing and killings here and there by different terrorist groups hiding under different names. To curb this issue however, the government need to do more of intelligent work to arrest this menace that has rendered many dead, homeless and affected all areas of economy by going to the root cause, identifying the funders of this group, seeking help from countries that have conquered such cases, tackle the conditions that in the first instance created it and more importantly, Nigerians must agree on the enemy they sought to defeat to prevent loopholes and safe havens for these criminals to escape justices. Failure by the government to take adequate measures, do things in the right manner and fight any act of terrorism will on the long run create room for another world war. If the government can ensure adequate provision of the basic social amenities, stop the common trend of embezzling public funds, then the issue of political struggle will soon be a thing of the past in this dear country Nigeria.
CONCLUSION – In conclusion, looking at the above points and the visible neglects by our leaders in security, infrastructure, education, mass unemployment and the level at which corruption has eaten deep into the Nigerian democracy, problems of terrorism and political struggle will continue except, the government do what they have to do so that the people also can do what they need to do effectively by carrying out their duties in their various positions. All these in check will go a long well in curbing the issue of terrorism as every Nigerian will be in the right place at the right time or busy working to contribute to the growth of the Nation’s economy. And with no idle mind or jobless persons all around the street, there will be no person(s) to be cajoled into terrorist activities. Nigerians will be happy, there will be peace and stability. There will be no political struggle.
God bless Nigeria.
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