Security or Nothing: The First Test of Government Existence -By Abdulkadir Salaudeen

Securing the lives and property of citizens is a core idea in political thought. This is why the security of life and property is the primary responsibility of every government. A government might claim giant strides in growth and development, using some metrics to assess itself. It amounts to nothing once the lives and property of citizens are not secured.

Presidents, heads of government, or prime ministers, as the case may be, are basically chief security officers of their state. This is why in Nigeria, a president who never had military experience is officially designated Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. His or her first job, say political philosophers, is to play the security role which justifies why government exists in the first place.

I was relieved when I read that those who rival the Nigerian State in the monopoly of the use of force have released the kidnapped Woro victims of Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State. When I said “the Nigerian State,” I did not mean an ideal state or a state in the definition of Max Weber. I called it a state because those elected to govern it officially call it a state.

To Weber, the state is the entity that has a monopoly of the legitimate use of force in a territory. That force, according to him, is meant to protect citizens. In Nigeria, that force has not only failed to protect ordinary citizens, it has also failed to protect public office holders, top elected officials, the elites, and the ruling class — except Tinubu and those dearer to him.

This is not to say the President himself is safe. Kidnappers have threatened to kidnap a former Nigerian President in the past. I am only saying that, at the moment, we have not heard news that the President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, or any of their close family members have been kidnapped. Nigerians might not even find it shocking if their President were kidnapped, considering the extent to which bandits wield weapons of destruction. It is a possibility we should not pray to see.

Nevertheless, we have heard, read about, and even seen senior military officers, local government chairpersons, and judges being kidnapped. A Sharia Court judge in Katsina escaped being kidnapped through a court window. He should thank God that the window was not heavily burglar-proofed to obstruct his passage. If it is possible to thank a window, he should thank it for being not only a source of ventilation but also an escape route.

Another judge in Kebbi suffered a bitter fate. Notwithstanding that he was a judge of the State High Court, he was kidnapped. The ransom allegedly paid was 50 million naira. To ridicule the Nigerian State even further, we learnt the kidnappers demanded five bottles of malt drink and five packs of fruit juice before releasing the judge, Hon. Justice Faruku Hassan Bunza.

What is ironic is that Nigerian military officers, who should be less vulnerable to attack because they have weapons to protect themselves, are becoming the most vulnerable. While the killing of lower-ranking officers has been normalized such that it no longer merits news coverage, the top brass are also becoming regular targets for elimination. It was Retired Major General Rabe Abubakar who died in a kidnappers’ den in June. It was Colonel Abdussalam A. Ude who was shot dead by kidnappers in July. We don’t know who will be next in August as we continue to pray it does not happen.

Top military officers have become such soft targets that THISDAY crime and investigative journalist, Sunday Ehigiator, dutifully chronicles some of the unfortunate incidents of abduction and the killing of top military officers in his report titled “As Insecurity Continues to Hit Retired Generals.”

From the foregoing, it is not appropriate to say government exists in Nigeria. We are in a state of anomie. What exists presently in Nigeria is a group of elected individuals in the corridors of power who wish to be addressed as government but are either unwilling to govern or incapable of governance.

When there is no security there can be no society or state. Life without government is what Thomas Hobbes described as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” That is exactly what life is in Nigeria today. John Locke listed three natural rights: the right to life, to liberty, and to property. He argued persuasively that the main reason people form government is to protect those three rights. If government fails, the people have a right to challenge it.

Thus, I call on all Nigerians to patriotically challenge the Tinubu government at the polls in 2027. This is a patriotic call. Since the government has failed to guarantee any of the rights listed above, citizens have the right to question its legitimacy. The fear is whether the right to question that legitimacy will not be trampled upon by the election umpire, INEC.

It is unfortunate that the government brags that it “rescued” 308 Nigerian citizens who were abducted in different attacks in Niger and Kwara states — 163 abductees from Woro Community in Kaiama LGA, Kwara State, and 145 from Niger State. As if that is an achievement and a campaign point, the government described it as the largest rescue operation ever carried out on the same day by the joint security team.

I don’t blame those praising the government. We have been reduced to rightless people who now think government protection or rescue is a privilege. From a political philosophy perspective, the “rescued” victims and their families need not thank President Tinubu. He should rather apologize to these victims for his failure to protect them against kidnappers and for wasting six months of their lives in kidnappers’ dens.

These victims have lost, in six months, things they can never recover again for the rest of their lives, and things that may be recovered but not soon. We should recall that the Woro attack reportedly claimed about 200 souls. For those of us who believe in life after death, the government will definitely account before God for how it failed to protect those citizens. The government will explain itself (it will explain tire) while the victims watch and wait to get their rights — rights that were only lost in Nigeria but would definitely be found before the Just and the Majestic. I guess this is what the Catholic Bishops told President Tinubu that upset him and his government.

President Tinubu applied for, and even claimed to have fought for, the top security job in Nigeria, and the Nigerian Constitution is clear about his primary role. Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution states in very simple English: “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.” This is why this column insists: “Security or Nothing.” It is not just political theory. It is not Hobbes or Locke or Rousseau or Bentham. It’s constitutional.

Dear President Tinubu, security first. Not roads. Not schools. Not GDP. Not electricity. Not industry. Not jobs. Not even campaigns. After security, we will discuss the economy and infrastructure. Secure the country first from your rivals. Your rivals are not Atiku, Obi, and Sowore. Your rivals are the bloodthirsty, trigger-happy, and ruthless bandits.

May Nigeria be a safe haven for Nigerians.

Abdulkadir Salaudeen
salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.com