Insecurity and Nigerian Presidential Candidates' Promises

By Blogger 

Some IDP in one of the Borno camps 

Two separate explosions - one in Kano and the other in Jos - had killed many Nigerians at the very time Nigerian politicians are busy sorting out who becomes their party Presidential candidates in the 2015 general elections. 

The administration of the incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan, who got an unchallenged endorsement at the party's national convention in Abuja, had been fighting an uphill battle to contain the escalating violence of the Boko Haram insurgency which had claimed over five thousand lives in the last three years. 

The new flag bearer of the only visible opposition party in the country, General Muhammadu Buhari, said his government, if elected to power in February 2015, will "not tolerate insecurity" even as he said the Nigeria armed forces would be strengthened to curb and eliminate insecurity. 

President Jonathan, in his acceptance speech, after he was affirmed the candidate of the party in the next general election, made a passing reference to the issue of insecurity in the country on item number 69 of his 101 items listed in his speech  that "On my watch, the security of all citizens shall continue to be of utmost priority.  With the exception of the civil war, never before in the history of our country have we faced the level of threat we see today.  I assure all Nigerians that this Government will continue to do whatever is required to provide the security we deserve. It is encouraging that the security situation is improving, and by the grace of God, elections will be conducted in all states of the federation". 

Hours after the pronouncement of the president on the "improving" state of security in the country, a deadly blast rocked Jos town in Plateau state killing dozens and injuring scores of others. 

Some displaced children in one of the camps in Maiduguri 

Few hours before that time, some gunmen had attacked Gajigana town of Borno state killing at least 11 persons and injured some others. 

The president said despite all these attacks, he was convinced that the Nigeria Army are making some inroads in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency. But the army has so far not been able to rescue the 219 Chibok schoolgirls abdcuted by the Boko Haram since on the 14 of April, 2014. The Army has failed to rescue the seized towns of Damboa, Gwoza, Bama, Dikwa, Mafa, Ngala, Mobbar, Askira, Uba, Malumfatori as well as other pockets of villages and hamlets. 

While we all hope and earnestly wait to see how the president’s assurances of elections holding in all parts of Nigeria by next year, Borno state capital Maiduguri has continued to host over three hundred thousand (300, 000) IDPs in various camps dotted across the city. 

Concerned politicians in Borno state have suggested that the constitution should be tinkered a bit to make room for elections hold in IDP camps so that those forced to leave their primary constituencies can be allowed to partake in next years election. 

But before all the promises and prayers come to pass, it is the concern of this blog that these unabated spate of bloodshed should at least be made to stop, and citizens’ safety and dignity are guaranteed by government.