People especially youths are greatly
influenced by those around them. In today's schools,
drugs are very prevalent, “peer pressures” usually
is the reason for their usage. Violence is a major
social problem that society faces. Young people
nowadays are very violent and tend to get in fights
over minor things. These young people use violence
to prove that they have a certain power over those
who are weak. Violence is an increasing concern and
in most communities nowadays there is always some
form of group. Without knowing, they are slowly
forming a gang and if they don’t split apart
throughout the years this could develop into a
bigger group as they get new friends and become
violent. The advent of social media due to
increased access to the internet has arguably
contributed to the formation of even larger,
widespread groups, and more on issues of immorality
and peer pressure to belong.
Despite social media playing a
positive role for most, a new survey has found out
that the high use of social media, like too
much-watching TV, can harm youth self-esteem and
easy manipulation. Two in three young people feel
pressure to look good with what is happening on
Instagram these days; and with so much proliferation
of fake content and fake news, children can easily
be brainwashed.
In Nigeria, almost all frequent users
look at social media in bed before sleeping and the
same thing when they wake up. The survey also found
25% of teenagers reported being approached by
strangers daily through their online world. Around
60% of parents never monitor or cannot even monitor
their teen’s social media account and are wrestling
their issues about how much is too much. Most are
unsure of how to provide good guidance for
appropriate social media use with their children.
With technology moving at breakneck speed and
organizations constantly changing, agility and
adaptability can position a high potential to seize
opportunities that others will miss, which is when
positively using technology. As the International
Bestseller “Who Moved My Cheese” asserts, being able
to understand and adapt to change can mean the
difference between thriving and failing. Soderstrom
questions even the use of the phrase “change
management” in the business lexicon. Instead, she
insists, just call it leadership! Indeed, change
isn’t about a new, separate event. It’s the
ever-present day today, and organizational
superstars, don’t miss a beat when changes are
introduced. They are 'change ready' as in digital-ready, and agility is just part of their
DNA." So, with the right guidance, youths can be led
to seize the positive side of social media and avoid
fake, propaganda content.
Youths Banditry and Kidnapping
Banditry has emerged as the new
monster for insecurity in Nigeria, joining a long
list of mayhem that includes Boko Haram, cultists,
herdsmen, kidnappers and militants. In different
parts of the county and especially in North-West,
from Birnin-Gwari in Kaduna to Tsafe in Zamfara,
bandits are offered as the trope for an intolerable
carnage, and arguably, the inexplicable haplessness
of the government to address the issue. Some forests
in northern Nigeria, which are ideally supposed to
be sources of blessings to the people, have rather
become a curse for them. Criminal elements including
bandits, kidnappers and terrorists have found some
of these forests a haven to unleash mayhem on
innocent people, like the famous Sambisa forest in
the North-East where Boko Haram unleash terror. For
many residents of Kaduna State and environs, the
mention of Kamuku and Kuyambana forests create a
sense of fear and despair, being the foremost
fortresses for bandits in the state and parts of the
northwest. Security agents have described the two
forests as some of the most dangerous in the country
and are often compared to the famous Sambisa forest
in the North-East. It is gathered that Kamuku forest
extends to Birnin Gwari, Chikun, Kajuru and Kiwa
local government areas of Kaduna State and shares
boundary with Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi and Niger
states. Kamuku and Kuyambana forests adjoin the
Kamuku Park located adjacent to the Kuyambana Games
Reserve which is about 14km away from Kaduna's main
town. The park, established in 1936 as the Native
Authority Forest Reserve of Birnin Gwari under the
Northern Nigerian Government and later upgraded from
a state Game Reserve to a National Park in May 1999,
was closed down due to activities of cattle rustlers
and bandits. Lately, on September 27, 2020, bandits
from the forest kidnapped a nursing mother and five
others at Jigi village in Udawa town in Chikun LGA
and demanded N10m ransom. Daily Trust reports that
Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft including the
Beechcraft KingAir, Augusta 109 power helicopter,
the Alpha jet and the MI35 all took part in
bombarding parts of Kamuku forests in Katsina,
Kaduna, Zamfara and Niger states as part of
Operation ‘Kashe Mugu 2’, the air component of
Operation Thunder Strike.
The notorious Sambisa Forest in the
southern part of Borno State, located along the Lake
Chad shores near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon,
used to be a game reserve where wild animals such as
elephants strayed in from other countries, but
constant hunting and other human activities drove
most of the wild animals away. Mohammed Amin, a
Maiduguri resident, said people visited the forest
for wildlife tourism in the past but that the lack
of ethical standards led to the increase in
environmental and wildlife crime which eventually
posed threats to plant and animal species. But the
Boko Haram insurgents, driven out of major towns by
both the military and civil defence forces, have
sought refuge in Sambisa and the nearby Mandara
Mountains from where they sneak out to launch
attacks on their targets. The military had traced
some of the insurgents’ camps to the forest at
different occasions and dislodged them; yet, the
terrorists move deep into the forest to evade
arrest. In 2014, gunmen suspected to have emerged
from Gomo forest attacked Sumaila divisional police
division station, injuring two policemen and setting
free some criminals in detention at the division. It
was also gathered that resident Fulanis and farmers
in the area have been victims of kidnappings and
cattle rustling over the years. It was also gathered
that the Gomo forest is linked with Bauchi State’s
Yankari forest and as such, criminals usually
navigate at will across the forest boundaries to
unleash mayhem on innocent villagers. Two years ago,
a retired Assistant Controller General of Prisons,
Nanvyet Wuyep Gwali, was murdered by unknown gunmen
on his farm in Laminga, along Keffi – Nasarawa Road,
Nasarawa State. Some months ago, gunmen stormed the
Odu community and shot the traditional ruler, Mr.
Amos Ewa Obere (ASP Rtd).
In Southern Nigeria, which comprises
a mere 29% of Nigeria’s nearly 924,000 km² of
landmass, urban banditry is very common.
Unsurprisingly, armed robbery in built-up areas of
the country was an early manifestation. An early
exponent of this was Ishola Oyenusi, a high-school
dropout who chose to be called “the Doctor” and
terrorized Lagos at the end of the Civil War. In the
1980s, the poster-boy was Lawrence Anini, another
school drop-out who concatenated indiscriminate
violence with a touch of the Robin Hood marinated in
advocacy for the downtrodden. Anini’s reign of
terror in the then Bendel State and surrounding
states was facilitated by the complicity of some
senior police personnel who helped to provide his
gang with intelligence and made evidence against
them to disappear. In the 1990s, Shina Rambo
terrorized parts of South-West Nigeria with similar
escapades. In South-East Nigeria, the Otokoto case
in Owerri, Imo State, in 1996 revealed an underworld
of ritualized human sacrifice. By the 2000s,
commercial kidnapping, political violence and
assassinations would emerge as dominant forms of
outlawry. The best-known exponents included a man is
known as Osisikankwu (Obioma Nwankwo) in Abia State
and resource militants in the Niger Delta. In Abia
State and parts of South-East Nigeria, the
government broke down and security was taken over by
a bandit, vigilante horde, known as Bakassi Boys. In
the Niger Delta, the military government of General
Sani Abacha introduced guns to quell civic advocacy
for resource justice. In 1994, they deployed the
Joint (Military) Task Force. Nearly a quarter of a
century later, the guns are everywhere and the JTF
is mired in an interminable mission.
In some parts of the north, the
situation is also pathetic. In a little-noticed
release on December 21, Nigeria’s Defence Minister,
Mansur Dan-Ali, a retired one-Star General, from
Zamfara State, complained: “The issue of banditry
and drug abuse, unemployment and governance amongst
others contributes to the deplorable security
situation in Zamfara State.” The best the current
administration has done is the launch in December
2018 of a Presidential Advisory Committee on the
Elimination of Drug Abuse. Chaired by Brig. Buba
Marwa (rtd.), its membership also includes the wives
of both the President and the Vice-President. This
looks more like a token than a policy response, it
is argued. Successive regimes in Nigeria have in
different ways made efforts, mostly futile or
counter-productive, to address the different kinds
of banditry and another menace that they are
confronted with. The difference this time around, it
seems, is that the government of the day appears not
to be much bothered or cannot deal squarely with the
problems. The Northern youth group, Arewa Youth
Forum (AYF), has raised the alarm that some of the
over 44,000 youths orphaned by insecurity in Zamfara
State are being recruited by looting armed bandits
terrorizing the North-West and some North-Central
states including the South-West. AYF said this was
discovered following research is carried out as part
of measures to find the root causes of the
persistent security challenges. It revealed that,
within ‘eight dark years’ of banditry in Zamfara
State, a conservative figure of about 11,000 adult
males that were bread-winners of their families were
killed, leaving behind an estimated figure of 22,000
wives and 44,000 children.
“It is worrisome that the present
situation of incessant banditry and barbaric
killings, maiming, kidnapping for ransom, rape,
cattle rustling and wanton destruction of property
and economic livelihood assets by devilish forces of
evil and bloodthirsty insurgents has reached an
unimaginable and horrendous proportion in a region
which was hitherto peaceful and calm, called
Northern Nigeria”.
Hardly a day passes without such
incidents occurring. Armed bandits, who launch
attacks on innocent citizens of the state,
infiltrate into Kebbi State through Dansadau forest
from Zamfara State and Rafin Kuka forest from Niger
State. Daily Trust gathered that the two forests
that crossed from Zamfara and Niger into the state
serve as camps for bandits who usually terrorize the
people. It was gathered that once bandits attack and
abduct people to such forests, victims only regain
freedom after ransoms are paid. According to some
sources, many are not so lucky to secure freedom as
they often get killed. A resident of Zuru, who
sought anonymity, said in the recent past, the Rafin
Kuka forest which is not more than 100 kilometres
from Zuru, used to be a peaceful abode where herders
and farmers carry out their activities. “The locals
around the forests can’t go to their farms neither
can you see the one-time peaceful herders running
around the forest with their herds of cattle”.
Bandits rustle the cattle while farmers are maimed
and killed in the process; the forests have been
taken over by the criminals.
The people and the federal government
are grappling with the issues of youth banditry all
over in the country. All these are creating
restiveness and destabilizing the economy because no
investor will come to any environment that looks
insecure. “But with massive youth training and
empowerment, some of these crises will automatically
be resolved without resorting to spending billions
on amnesty programmes and other resolution
mechanisms,” said a
federal lawmaker, Senator Opeyemi
Bamidele, a representative of Ekiti Central
Senatorial District at the Senate. The Chairman
Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and
Legal Matters, Bamidele, also said the country can
only overcome its rising insecurity level through a
well-designed training and empowerment policy for
jobless youths.
The Defence Headquarters has said
troops have killed two bandits and arrested three
suspects in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna
State (Sept 2020). Some arms and ammunition were
also recovered from the bandits, Coordinator,
Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche
said in a statement in Abuja. In the same month,
angry youths from surrounding villages to Jibiya, (Gangiya
and Kuka Babangida) headquarters of the Jibiya Local
Government Area of Katsina State, blocked the
Katsina/Jibiya Highway in protest against alleged
bandits’ attacks. Eyewitnesses said the highway was
blocked with old tyres, heavy stones and logs of
wood, thereby preventing vehicular movement to and
from Jibiya through the route. Although the
circumstances surrounding the protest and the
alleged bandits’ attack were still sketchy, it was
learnt that the angry youths initially gathered at
Kuka Babangida village before barricading the
highway. The state police command later confirmed
the arrest of 43 suspects in connection with the
protest. The police also revealed that one man lost
his life during the protest, while the protesters
burnt down a police border control, a Nigeria
Immigration Service post and several vehicles at
Daddara village. Adamawa Police Paraded 36 for
Kidnapping, Armed Robbery, Rape, car theft and
receiving stolen properties. September 15, 2020, the
Commissioner of Police in Sokoto, Olugbenga Adeyanju
disclosed that the command had seized three AK 47
rifles, a G3 rifle, 199 rounds of live ammunition, 5
cartridges, a tractor, two vehicles, a barrel pistol
and some cash. Police in Akwa Ibom Kill 6 Armed
Robbers in Gun Battle, said the Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Amiengheme Andrew on Friday, Oct 2,
2020, in Uyo while parading the dead robbers and
other suspects. The victims died during a shoot-out
with the police along Calabar-Itu Highway “Today, at
about 5.30 am, acting on a credible intelligence
that a six-man armed robbery gang whose specialty is
car snatching in Akwa Ibom and Cross River were
operating along Calabar-Itu expressway were killed
by Police” The CP warned hoodlums engaged in
cultism, armed robbery, rape and other vices to
desist forthwith or leave the state as the command
“under my watch has no room to accommodate any form
of crime and criminality.” Many young people now use
the excuse of being jobless to delve into the act of
kidnapping people, while demanding ransom. In the
case where the families of the abducted people are
unable to pay up, the victims are usually killed or
brutalized until they finally pay up or even die.
This is the case of one
fifty-year-old kidnapper simply known as Sani. Sani
is said to have been kidnapping people for thirty
years now and confirmed that he has killed 50 people
who could not pay up their ransom after kidnapping
them. Sani before he was caught by the Nigerian
police, said he has carried out his acts in over 5
northern states including Kaduna, Katsina, Niger and
Zamfara states in the northern part of Nigeria. A
notorious kidnaper, popularly known as Malam Gayam
Birnin Gwari, an indigene of Birnin Gwari in Kaduna
state, has disclosed that he has over 120 kidnappers
under his control. Responding to questions while
being paraded to newsmen by the Force Spokesman,
Frank Mba, in Abuja, he said that he has lost count
of the number of people his gang has killed but they
are more than 50 persons. Explaining, the kidnapper
said: “I am a boy to the notorious kidnapper called
Yellow Jambrose who bought guns and the military
uniforms I am wearing for us. I have over 120 boys
under my control. We go to work kidnapping people on
the road and cattle rustling”. “When we kidnap
people and take them to our camp, those who can pay
a ransom, we release them, while those who can’t
pay, our boss Yellow Jambrose will command us to
shot them”. “I can’t know exactly how people I have
killed, however, I can just say over 50 people
because it is not every day that we shot them.”
Stories like these are endless, all over the six
zones, in both northern and southern parts of
Nigeria. The government must wake up. “Just a few
years back, everywhere was peaceful. One can move in
and out of the places freely but now, you’d not dare
it, otherwise, you may become a victim,” he said.
Timelines:
Jan 3, 2020: At least 19 people were
killed by unidentified gunmen in a night-time raid
on a rural community in central Nigeria, according
to police. The attackers torched houses and other
buildings of the Tawari community in Kogi state,
100km (60 miles) south of the capital Abuja.
March 2, 2020: At least 50 people
were killed in multiple attacks by armed bandits on
villages. Sources said about 100 armed assailants
stormed into the villages of Kerawa, Zareyawa and
Minda in Kaduna state at dawn on Sunday, gunning
down worshippers as they left a mosque for morning
prayers before killing residents and burning and
looting homes.
On June 10, 2020, an estimated one
hundred fifty bandits killed fifteen-seven people
across six villages in Katsina state. Thirty-three
of the victims were from the village of Kadisau and,
according to a resident; they rustled two hundred
head of cattle and looted every shop there is an
operation that lasted some five hours. A similar but
deadlier operation occurred on June 9 in Borno
state. The locations of the attacks in Borno and
Katsina are around 450 miles apart.
Sept 18, 2020: A gang of around 100
gunmen dressed in army camouflage stormed a police
station in the town of Gidan Madi in Sokoto state
killing two officers and injuring another. Later on
Thursday, a group of suspected cattle thieves
launched an attack on the farming village of Yanteba
in Katsina state, killing five farmers. Armed gangs,
called bandits by locals, regularly raid villages in
central and north-western Nigeria, killing and
kidnapping people as well as looting and burning
homes. Gunmen are believed to hide in the nearby
Rugu forest that stretches across Zamfara, Katsina,
Kaduna, and Niger states.
Oct 15, 2020: Armed bandits kill 10
in northern Nigeria’s Kaduna state.
Large-scale banditry is on the rise
throughout Nigeria, particularly in the northwest.
In Niger and in other parts of West Africa, the line
between "jihadis" and criminal networks can be very
thin. Indeed, jihadi groups have financed their
operations by kidnapping for ransom, cattle rustling
and human and narcotics trafficking, among other
criminal activities. That might be the case in Borno.
Within the past week, military spokesmen have
claimed success in operations against “bandits” and
“jihadis.” According to the media, the government
has also engaged in talks with certain groups, but
without apparent success. In any event, the bottom
line is that security everywhere in Nigeria,
particularly across the north, appears to be rapidly
deteriorating, resulting in popular discontent. In a
protest, some Nigerians complained that the federal
government is paying too much attention to COVID-19
and not enough to banditry, which, they say, is
killing many more people than the disease. However,
security forces in February announced a sweeping
operation aimed at armed gangs in the area. Last
month 21 people, including 16 members of one family
were killed when bandits attacked a village in a
reprisal attack. Armed thugs on Thursday chased away
hundreds of anti-insecurity protesters in Kano.
The Protest organized across the
Northern states by the Coalition of Northern Groups
(CNG) against the lingering insecurity challenges
bedevilling the north, couldn’t go far as the
heavily armed thugs launched an attack on them. CNG
gathered along with Bayero University, Kano road to
proceed with the protest, but some hoodlums
descended on them, beating and snatching their
phones until they took to their hills for safety.
According to CNG, it decided to stage the protest to
express concern on the dwindling economy,
prohibitive commodity prices, rising inflation amid
mounting poverty and prolonged stay at home by
university students. The group also expressed
sadness about how northern leaders and politicians
had neglected the region and its population, while
the southern leaders help their people at the time
of need. “That while the southern elected and
appointed leaders and representatives are quick to
identify with their people at the time of need,
their counterparts from the North, including the
President, the Senate President, Senators, Rep
members, governors, state legislators and other
government appointees would rather abandon the
hundreds of thousands of people in northern
communities exposed to crime, lawlessness and
insecurity in the hands of bandits, insurgents,
kidnappers, rapists rustlers, and other violent
criminals without any form of protection”. That it
is contradictory that despite several protests and
pleas by northerners, the authorities never deemed
it fit to extend the swift spirit deployed against
FSARS into securing the North, or addressing the
myriad distresses faced by northerners.
Youth
Explosive Demographic Shift:
Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),
Godwin Emefiele, asserted that Nigeria’s population
will hit 425 million in 2050, the third-largest in
the world unless urgent steps were taken to control
it. Fielding questions from senators, the CBN
governor, who painted a gloomy picture of Nigeria in
comparison with other countries, said with the rapid
population every year and penchant for sabotaging
government policies on economic growth and
development, there would be a serious crisis, if
serious actions were not taken to control population
growth. In May 2019, the CBN governor said he
inherited a very precarious situation that led to
the skyrocketing of the exchange rate to over N500
to a dollar in one year but noted that after serious
monetary policies, it came down to N360 and had
remained so. He promised to use his second term to
promote the agriculture sector through the Anchor
Borrowers program, relying on Small and Medium
Enterprises, SME.
A fresh warning by the National
Population Commission (NPC) that the prolonged
closure of schools occasioned by the Covid-19
pandemic may lead to more girls dropping out of
school, getting married and having children should
be a major source of concern for any serious
government. Although Nigeria has not conducted a
recent census, thereby making it difficult to know
the nation’s current population, studies and surveys
being conducted by reputable bodies on the
increasing population are heartrending and raise
anxiety over the country’s future. It is estimated
that India, China and Nigeria in that order will
have the biggest populations by 2100. Ironically, it
is in the very poorest countries that women have the
most children, on average. 2018 Nigerian Demographic
and Health Survey released last year that was
conducted by the NPC in conjunction with the Federal
Ministry of Health, the World Health Organisation
and the United Nations Population Fund, among
others, reveals a troubling trend. If this is not
nipped now, it could deepen poverty, escalate
violence and worsen unemployment. Nigeria is
estimated to have 206 million people. According to
the survey, the birth rate in Nigeria is 5.3
children per woman. Katsina State, one of the
poorest in the country has the highest at 7.3 births
per woman. Other states with high birth rates
include Bauchi and Jigawa, which have rates of 7.2
and 7.1 respectively. The survey found that 44
percent of teenage girls with no education have
begun childbearing, while only one percent of
teenage girls with more than a secondary school
education has given birth. While Lagos has the
lowest rate of teenage pregnancy at just one
percent, Bauchi has the highest at 41 percent.
The ongoing rapid growth in Nigeria’s
population without an observable increase in the
resources poses a serious challenge to the country’s
development. Looking at the effects of youth
population explosion on the standard of living in
Nigeria; and how to guarantee economic growth,
sustainability, and development, the apparent
indicators are that poor education, low standard of
living, increased cost of living, increased crime
rate, overcrowding, family stress, malnutrition,
health complications, sickness and death are some of
the effects of this youth population explosion and
demographic shift in Nigeria. To control the rapid
population growth, however, there is a need for mass
education and awareness, eradicate poverty and
illiteracy which will, in turn, create awareness on
the dangers of uncontrolled population growth as
well girl-child education. Nigeria is the 7th most
populated nation with an annual population growth of
about 31 million with China and India taking the
lead. This increases competition for limited
resources and consequently reduces the standard of
living of ordinary Nigerian citizens.
The high rate of population growth
implies that more Nigerians are drawing from the
nation’s resources including water sources, oil
wells, natural gas, and farm produce. This also
means more cars on the road (with greater
pollution), higher demands for food production and
land use. Indeed, poverty is not the cause of the
population explosion in Nigeria; it is the effect.
The more threatening aspect is that Nigeria’s
population keeps growing without commiserate
development and an increase in the resources
available. When there is an uncontrollable increase
in human population there is bound to be an
unhealthy struggle for survival which has posed
great change on survival in the country as there are
many mouths to feed, clothe, and house, with scarce
resources; consequently, more cases of malnutrition,
overcrowding, crime wave, and low life expectancy.
Ordinarily, Nigeria’s large youth population ought
to be an asset, but with over 13.5 million
out-of-school-children, the result is a largely
uneducated and unskilled population that cannot spur
social and technological development. It is not
surprising that Nigeria is now the poverty capital
of the world with a high level of unemployment and
the associated crime rate. Nigeria needs therefore
to take urgent steps to curb its rising population
and tackle poverty. Addressing birth rates through a
mix of women empowerment, education opportunities,
birth control clinics and public enlightenment will
make a difference. Ignoring population explosion
warnings will keep many Nigerians permanently as
hawkers of wood and drawers of water in an
exponentially changing world.
Nigeria can become a laboratory for
innovation for the world and own business systems in
at least 3 areas – energy efficiency, internet
applications, and in technology and outsourcing, 80%
of incremental growth can be achieved solely through
“offshore and low-cost” proposition. Providers will
see the benefit and begin to consider distinctive
approaches, each building on a source of
competitiveness, with distinct performance markers
and imperatives. Information and Communication
Technology (ICT)-enabled solutions in healthcare,
education, financial services and public services
can drive socio-economic inclusion of more than 30
million citizens each year, faster, cheaper and more
effectively than traditional models. Demographic
shifts will fuel the growth of new sectors, markets,
and service lines: the ability of diversity to build
strength and unity is the power that will propel the
organization and consequently, the Nigerian
industry, into new dimensions of performance.
Creating sustainable power, access to low business
interest financing, creation of self-employment
assistant programs (SEAP), and access to roads and
availability of broadband internet technology are
key elements that can spur the growth of human and
intellectual capacity and service the industrial
competitiveness.
Causes of Population Explosion in
Nigeria:
Some of the causes of rapid
population growth in Nigeria include the following:
poor family planning, illiteracy and ignorance,
poverty, culture, religion, migration, and
urbanization, polygamy and early marriage:
Poor Family Planning:
This is a major cause of the population explosion in
Nigeria. Most couples fail to use contraceptives in
the control of birth, especially among couples in
Northern Nigeria. Analyses indicate that the use of
contraceptives varies from state to state across
Nigeria. For instance, the southern part of Nigeria
has a higher prevalence of contraceptives usage
among those of childbearing age; whereas,
contraceptives usage in the Northern part of the
country is abysmally low mainly due to religion;
Culture and Tradition:
the traditional beliefs about the value of children,
particularly sons, as an asset to be relied upon by
their parents in agriculture, protection and to
support them during old age and the polygamous
system of marriage in Africa and low level of female
education which has brought about early marriages
and high fertility have caused a rapid increase in
population. Furthermore, the African culture
measuring a man’s wealth by the number of wives and
children he maintains (not in terms of the money he
has, although it is changing nowadays) is still
prevalent in some parts of Nigeria. This practice
was encouraged by the need for a Nigeria man, who by
occupation is a peasant farmer to have as many hands
as possible to help in the farm work;
Early Marriages:
The support for early marriages in some part of
Nigeria has also contributed to rapid population
growth, especially in the north;
Religion and culture:
Islam permits a man to marry at most four wives.
Undoubtedly, this contributes to the population
explosion problem facing the north and Nigeria
today.
Some of the effects of population
explosion on families include poor educational
attainment for the children, the decline in the
standard of living, and increase in the cost of
living, increased family stress especially on the
breadwinner, malnutrition, health problems,
overcrowding, and an increase in crime rate/social
vices. Still, on the effect of population explosion,
high population exerts pressure on ecosystem leading
to issues around food security, land tenure, water
supply and environmental degradation. On the
economy, rapid population growth will demand that
the government spend more on the provision of
education, health, shelter and other social
facilities. However, in Nigeria, in recent times,
there is a drastic decline in public expenditure on
education, health, and other services in the face of
the overwhelming population growth. This has brought
about a decline in the quality of education, and the
near-collapse of the health care delivery system.
Under certain circumstances, population growth
results in increased production; more people meant
greater productivity. A growing population could
mean more workers and labourers who would increase
overall output. It is fairly simple to understand
that if the economy does not grow as rapidly as the
population; people essentially become poorer and no
economic development. Due to rapid population growth
in Nigeria, those living in rural areas quickly find
themselves landless and possibly without an income.
This likely leads people to migrate to urban areas
in search of jobs. Consequently, urban areas within
Nigeria suffer the double burden of population
growth and the influx of rural migrants. As urban
areas quickly grow, oftentimes without the necessary
infrastructure to support such a population
increase, slums develop around the city, and
poverty, crime, and disease become complications
that hinder future growth within the area.
Youths Drug Abuse
Nigerian criminals have established
drug trafficking conduits that stretch around the
world, trafficking heroin from Asia to Europe and
South American to the U.S, back to Europe and Asia.
And at home, a growing number of idle young
population has made illicit drug trafficking and
consumption thrive unrestricted, especially during
the Covid-19 lockdown. For over a decade, cough
syrups containing codeine were bought and sold in
pharmacies, chemists, and even on the streets by
drug hawkers all over the country. The massive
patronage and consumption of Codeine, Tramadol and
other opioids are usually by teenagers and young
adults insatiably looking for a “quick high”. The
investigation has shown the booming illicit drug
secret market in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja; and all across
the cities in the north like Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto,
Zamfara, Adamawa, Maiduguri; and in the south from
Lagos, Ibadan, Ogun, Benin to the Niger Delta
region. The high level of abuse and addiction was
underestimated until BBC exposé; sweet codeine
uncovered the level of addiction among Nigerians,
especially youths and women including teenage girls
who consume it for non-medical reasons. This led to
the ban on the production and importation of codeine
cough syrup by the Nigerian government.
Unfortunately, the ban on codeine and other abused
opioids may not be enough to curb Nigeria’s
addiction crisis. Two years after the ban, it is
still possible to purchase these drugs illegally as
so many street drug merchants are seriously cashing
in on the banned drugs, which has become more
lucrative since the ban.
Substance abuse in Nigeria and the
new trend is becoming a significant medical,
psychological, social and economic problem facing
the nation. More worrisome is the increasing number
of secondary school and tertiary institution
students that are getting involved in acid drug
abuse. These are the future leaders of Nigeria. A
lot of youths have tried to find solace by using
different drugs to help alleviate or ameliorate some
of the stressful situations they are passing
through. This has consequences on their mental
health. This is an area that needs urgent and
critical intervention by not just the government,
but by society at large. “There are other things we
have to look out for like when your child goes out
and comes back and his or her eyes are red, there is
a problem. When your child goes out and comes back
very late and goes straight to his room and sleeps
off immediately and does not wake up until noon the
next day and that is a signal that there is a
problem” said an
expert with NDLE.
Drinking of palm wine and locally
brewed alcohol such as, in the South, it’s called “ogogoro”,
or in the North, it’s called “burkutu” as well as
chewing of different stimulating plants and their
products and drinking alcoholic beverages and
smoking of
tobacco
is very common in Nigeria. Reports have it that the
use of these substances was more on the increase and
now more of Cannabis or Indian hemp,
Codeine, Tramadol,
Morphine,
ephedrine, barbiturates and other
pharmaceutical
opioids; and
acid drugs like cocaine, heroin, amphetamines,
mushrooms, LSD and even
Fentanyl,
etc.
Research indicates that many Nigerian adolescents
depend on one form of drug or the other for their
daily activities (social, educational, political,
moral etc.). According to the United Nations Office
of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), drug abuse is a growing
problem both in Nigeria and globally. Drug abuse
threatens the social, health, economic fabric of the
families, society and the entire nation. Every
country in the world is affected by one or more
drugs being abused by its citizens, with an
attendant increase in violence and crimes, an
increase in diseases (e.g. hepatitis B and C virus,
HIV/AIDS) and the collapse of the social structure.
According to a UNODC report of 2011, cannabis
(marijuana) appears to be the most commonly abused
drug by adolescents in Nigeria). They decried that
drugs are everywhere in Nigerian cities, including
places like motor parks, street corners, joints on
campuses, uncompleted buildings, under flyovers. To
an extent, drug abuse is determined by the
socio-cultural values of the people. For example,
certain tribes and cultures across Nigeria permit
the consumption of alcohol and marijuana, while
other cultures do not. For instance, among some of
the tribes in Nigeria for example, Edo, Ijaw, Igbo,
Ibibio, Urhobo, Itesekiri and Yoruba, alcohol is
used in cultural activities. On the other hand, in
the northern part of Nigeria, any form of alcohol or
drug is not allowed but people take them in secret.
Available records concerning drugs abuse in Nigeria
indicate that the Northwest has the highest number
of drug victims in the country, (37.47%) followed by
the Southwest (with 17.32%), then the south-East
(with 13.5%), and North-central (with 11.71%), while
the North-east zone had the lowest (8.54%) of the
drug users in the country, according to the United
Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The urban-rural differences in the
use of psychoactive drugs, with higher rates in the
urban areas for some drugs, suggest that
urbanization may positively influence the use of
drugs. This was so in the study (Research Cyber
Team) with regards to the use of alcohol,
tranquillizers, heroin, cannabis and others:
-
Heroin: The use of heroin and other opiates was more common in urban parts
of Northern Nigeria than its
rural areas. However, in the
South, higher prevalence rates
of use of heroin and other
opiates were found, in the rural
regions compared to the urban
localities.
-
Alcohol:
There is a wide variation in alcohol use across the geopolitical
zones in Nigeria. Consistently,
lower rates of drinking were
reported in the North than in
the South. This difference may
be driven by the religious
beliefs of most northern Muslims
against the use of alcohol.
-
Tobacco: The prevalence rate of smoked tobacco in form of the cigarette
remains high compared to
smokeless tobacco. The lower
prevalence rate of cigarettes in
the North compared to the South
can be attributed to the Islamic
injunction against drug use in
the north, especially the use of
alcohol and tobacco.
Drug abuse and substance abuse
constitute one of the major risk behaviour among
adolescents in Nigeria leading to banditry among
other vices. Indeed, drug abuse is an undesirable
feature of our culture. From the foregoing, the
following can be made:
1.
There is a need for
parents to sincerely re-orient their children on the
dangers of drug abuse on their health;
2.
There is the need for
the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLE) to
intensify their anti-drug campaigns to have a drug
free Nigerian society with a special focus on the
youths and adolescents;
3.
There is a need for the
Ministry of Education (Federal and State) to add to
their curricula a Drug-Education for both the
primary and post-primary schools, along with
lectures, seminars, rallies, and film shows for the
youths and adolescents on the adverse effects of
drug abuse.
Drug Trafficking:
A review of drug seizures in the
first half of 2009 shows that Nigerians are
continuously been arrested for drug trafficking
incidents around the world. In India, Pakistan,
Malta, Spain, and other countries, Nigerians are
swallowing cocaine or heroin packages, hiding them
in their luggage or concealing them in their
clothes. Nigerian criminal groups are also coercing
gullible young people or prostitutes into
transporting or shipping drugs to other countries.
As recently as 1984, drug trafficking was a capital
offence in Nigeria but public outcry caused a repeal
of this law. Nigerian citizens are often found to be
involved in drug trafficking inside the U.S., mostly
in Eastern and North-eastern cities. They are also
detected moving multi-ton quantities of drugs across
the U.S.-Mexico border.
In November 2009, a Narconon drug
educator joined with government officials and
educators to bring a drug-free message to youths.
The occasion was the International Day against Drug
Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Organized by Narconon
Nigeria, the public lectures held in Lagos brought
together the Representative of Oshodi-Isolo Federal
Constituency 1, a lecturer from the Department of
Political Science in the Lagos State University, a
representative of the Daystar Christian Centre and
the Executive Director of the local Narconon drug
education and prevention office. Together, these
concerned public service officials spread the
message that a drug-free life is the best kind of
life. In other events, government officials team up
with Nigerian drug educators to visit secondary
schools to continue the anti-drug and anti-addiction
education. If Nigerian children learn to make
drug-free decisions, then the entire country
benefits from having an ever-increasing drug-free
population.
Two Nigerians were, in Sept 2020,
arrested by Anti-narcotics police in Ho Chi Minh
City, for trafficking methamphetamine. The suspects:
Ochie Paul Ejike, and his 35-year-old Vietnamese
wife and business partner Ly Moc Kiu, along with
fellow Nigerian Chukwuemeka Confidence Onyiriuka
before their arrest were identified as “major
figures” in a drug trafficking ring monitored by
police for several months. The South African Foreign
Affairs Minister, Naledi Pandor, has accused
Nigerians of dealing in drugs, human trafficking and
other related criminal activities in their country.
A 35-year old Nigerian was executed for drug
trafficking in Indonesia, Michael Titus and 2 other
Nigerians were convicted and executed by firing
squad. Tochi, born in Nigeria was a 21-year-old who
was hanged after he was arrested for drug
trafficking in Indonesia. Tochi was deceived by one
Mr. Smith to deliver some herbs to someone unknown
to him that he was carrying tons of heroines into
that country. Nelson was found guilty and was later
convicted in Singapore by the government, he was
said to have been involved with Amara Tochi who was
said to have brought the drugs without knowing that
they were drugs, Nelson was the person whom Tochi’s
was meant to deliver the drugs to. Sylvester was a
Nigerian man who was born on 7th of July 1965, he
was convicted and sentenced to death in 2004 and it
was also reported that his clemency (appealing,
begging) were rejected. He was charged for
trafficking about 2.61b of heroin through Sukarno
Hatta airport in 2002. The Saudi Arabian authority
said, “We have 20 Nigerians (on death row) in Saudi;
this is the eighth to be executed and so, it is
pathetic, it is tragic but we will continue to
appeal to Nigerians to obey the laws of the land
where they are and not traffic drugs”. Dabiri-Erewa
said in some cases, drugs were stealthily put in the
bags of unsuspecting pilgrims by the cartels only
for them to be picked up on arrival in Saudi Arabia.
Cases like these are endless, many Nigerian are in
jail, some have been executed, some pending court
cases all drug smuggling related cases across
Europe, Middle East, North and South America and in
Asia.
Gun Crisis in Nigeria
A United Nations (UN) report
indicated that as of 2010, more than 70 percent of
the 500 million illegal small arms and light weapons
(SALW) in the West African sub-Region are in
Nigeria. Director of United Nations Regional Centre
for Peace and Disarmament in Africa, UNREC, Ms.
Olatokunbo Ige, who gave the shocking figure, said
such arms were in unauthorized hands of non-state
actors threatening the existence of the country, as
well as lives and properties of the people. Lately,
the country has been battling with serious security
challenges evident in the spate of violent killings,
involving herdsmen, rival cult groups, as well as
kidnapping and armed banditry in various cities:
Niger Delta - cities like Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa,
Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo, and Rivers to
other cities like Lagos, Port Harcourt, Ibadan,
Benin City and Warri to cities in the north
like Maiduguri, Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Abuja to
Kano, Adamawa, Kebbi, Sokoto, Niger and Benue. One
reads daily dangerous exploits of gruesome reports
of bloody violent shooting and attacks. This is
aside from the battle against the insurgent and
terrorist groups, Boko Haram that has resorted to
suicide bombing in states in the North-East. The
port town of Warri in Southern Nigeria plays a vital
unacknowledged function: It is the hub of the gun
trade in the Niger Delta. The prevalence of light
arms in that part of the country is not a new
phenomenon. It has been known for years that sailors
trade in guns at the ports. Warri sits on the bank
of River Warri which joined River Forcados and River
Escravos through Jones Creek in the lower Niger
Delta Region. Warri is garrisoned by the Amphibious
Infantry battalion (Effurun Army Base) located in
Effurun, a [twin city] to Warri and is
administratively under the Brigade HQ in [Port
Harcourt]. The Nigerian Navy operates from its
facilities in Warri. The 61 Nigerian Air force
Detachment also operates from its facilities in
Jeddo, close to Warri. There is the Warri Refinery
and Petrochemicals located at Ekpan, with the
majority of international and local oil companies
operating in Nigeria having their operational
offices close by. One of the nation's major seaports
is sited within Ugbuwangue, Warri. Delta Steel
Company is located at Aladja and Otorogu Gas Plants
at Otu-Jeremi, near Warri but after the crisis in
1999, most of the oil companies relocate out of the
town.
The rise in the number of ethnic
clashes in the Niger Delta has expanded the
frontiers of the gun trade and sparked an increase
in the number of gun owners. Supply has since leapt
to include smugglers from countries in the
sub-region of Guinea-Bissau, Gabon, and Cameroon.
Using fast boats, these smugglers cruise to ships
anchored in the high seas and obtain guns the
origins of which may be as far afield as Eastern
Europe and Asia.
Hardly a week passes without gruesome
reports of abduction for ransom and robberies
targeting mostly banks, bureaux de changes and other
profitable businesses, these hardened armed robbers
leave no one in doubt of their sophistication,
determination and dare-devilry.
Arms and ammunition from at least 21
different nations, including the United States,
Israel, Iran and 18 other countries are used in the
farmer-herder crisis in Nigeria, a report by SB
Morgan (SBM) Intelligence. Using data sources and
research, there is a clear movement of arms from the
south to the north; and its relationship with mass
atrocities as seen today within Nigeria. Findings
from the report revealed that the proliferation of
small arms in southern and northern Nigeria is
responsible for the mass atrocities in the different
parts of the country. In the southern region, it
said instances of such atrocities “include communal
clashes, cultism, kidnappings, ethnic and religious
clashes as well as militancy in the Niger Delta”.
“Southern Nigeria has established local arms
manufacturing sector and there is also significant
importation/smuggling from international sources,”
it said. The report said nations in East Europe and
Asia “are the major sources of illegal arms in
southern Nigeria”. In northern Nigeria, the report
identified the rise in small arms from its
neighbouring states and smuggling from south to
north, mass unemployment as well as corruption as
the cause of the high rate of criminality and
violence in the region. “Locally manufactured arms,
which are normally fabricated in small-scale
factories, without legal permits, contribute to a
large percentage of arms in circulation in northern
Nigeria (especially in North-Central Nigeria,” it
said. It said in Benue and Plateau states “locally
made weapons are estimated to be used in over 50% of
crimes committed”. The report revealed that
Nigeria’s porous borders with neighbouring countries
like Chad and the Niger Republic facilitate the
sourcing of weapons externally in the northern
region. “Ammunition from at least 21 different
nations have been used in the herder versus farmer
conflicts in north-central Nigeria (some of these
nations include Israel, Poland, Brazil, Iran, USA,
Czech Republic, Algeria and Egypt,” it said. The
report added that the mass atrocities have led to a
rise in the number of internally displaced people (IDPs)
in the country.
In the Niger Delta alone, for many
years, the trade-in arms have fuelled ethnic clashes
between the Ijaws and their neighbours, the Urhobos,
as well as between the Urhobos and their western
neighbours the Itsekiris. This is not to say that
everyone in this area has access to weapons. But
agents, who are often prominent men in their
communities, buy guns from the sailors and sell them
to the youths who fight the wars. When there are no
battles to fight, these weapons find their way into
the hands of bandits and robbers who terrorize
people on highways and in cities. An AK-14 rifle
sells for the equivalent of 100 dollars. Very few
people in Nigeria own guns legally, a greater
percentage of those who carry firearms, however,
never submitted to any scrutiny. In the police
armoury in Lagos, there are no fewer than 6,000
types of automatic guns and rifles on exhibition,
representing just a fraction of the weapons in
circulation today. Many Nigerians, particularly if
they are wealthy, keep guns in their homes in case
they are attacked by armed robbers in the middle of
the night. In July 2013, an ex-Niger Delta militant,
Anietie Etim and four others who allegedly
specialized in buying arms in Bakassi Peninsula for
supply to Boko Haram insurgents were arrested by the
police.
The traffickers carefully constructed
a special tank at the booth of an Audi salon car
where they conceal arms for shipment to the north.
The car also had an extra tank constructed for fuel
to ensure enough fuel that will take them to their
destination. A police raid in Orilowo-Ejigbo, a
Lagos suburb, showed a sizeable amount of arms that
was sufficient to outfit a 20-man army is one single
example out of many. In another incident, at the
border town of Seme, bandits overwhelmed the huge
security presence at the border post, laid in wait
for traders and robbed them. Many lives were lost.
As an officer testified after the incident, it
wasn't the boldness of the robbers that unnerved him
and his colleagues, but the sophistication of the
arms they used.
This kind of violence is the flipside
of Nigeria's involvement in the wars in Liberia and
Sierra-Leone. Although they are not being fought on
Nigerian soil, these wars have provided the Nigerian
black market with a ready source of assault weapons.
Investigations have revealed that 21 million arms
were smuggled into the country within seven years,
with indications that the overflow was usually at
the dawn of major general election in the country.
In the north, however, hundreds of
weapons including RPGs, rocket launchers,
anti-aircraft missiles, and AK 47 rifles have been
intercepted by security operatives in various
locations in north-eastern Nigeria. It is widely
believed that these weapons found their way to
Nigeria from Libya and Mali.
RPGs are explosive projectile weapons
used by insurgents to attack or destroy targets from
long distances, while rocket launchers are devices
that are used to propel missiles or explosives from
long ranges. Some of the launchers can go as far as
900 meters. Possession of these high calibre weapons
not only confers on Boko Haram's deadly firepower
but also enables fighters to hit targets from long
distance. During the Libyan uprising, for instance,
state armoury was either ordered opened (in February
2011) by Muammar Gaddafi or looted by rebel forces
and mercenaries, and the majority of these weapons
were never recovered. Terrorist groups like AQIM
acquired these heavy weapons such as SAM-7
anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles, transporting
them back to the Sahel region. They were either
surreptitiously obtained by posing as Gaddafi’s
supporters or indirectly purchased from mercenaries
who had acquired these arms from Libyan
depositories.
Courtesy of the AQIM, these arms have
been transferred to groups such as Ansar Dine, Boko
Haram and MUJAO, emboldening and enabling them to
mount more deadly and audacious attacks. Thus, the
audacity of Boko Haram grew with the proliferation
of weapons in the Sahara-Sahel region. The porous
borders in Borno and Yobe States, which are the
strongholds of the sect, made it possible for Boko
Haram to smuggle arms into Nigeria. They have been
able to smuggle arms into Nigeria using various
methods such as the use of specially crafted skin or
thatched bags attached to camels, donkeys and cows
where arms are concealed and moved across the
borders with the aid of nomadic pastoralists or
herders. Its members are known to connive with
merchants involved in cross-border trade to help
stuff their arms and weapons in goods that are
transported via heavy trucks, trailers, and Lorries.
Given the huge size of the goods loaded on these
vehicles, very little or no scrutiny is conducted on
them by security and border officials. Arms can also
be hidden in improvised compartments in a vehicle
designed to evade detection by security agents. Cars
used for such operations are constructed with
chambers for concealing arms or additional fuel
tanks to minimize the rate of refuelling. Another
method used by Boko Haram is tunnelling - using
tunnels to traffic arms, drugs and other substances
is not a new tactic among terrorist groups. They
used such tunnels for arms trafficking, especially
in Borno State. In July 2013, for instance, security
forces discovered a vast network of underground
tunnels connecting houses and many bunkers used by
Boko Haram for trafficking SALWs in the Bulabulin
area. Some of the tunnels and bunkers can
accommodate over 100 persons, enabling its fighters
to hide and move SALWs around the area.
The ECOWAS Protocol on the free
movement of persons, goods and services, has thus
created a space that criminals exploit to facilitate
cross-border trafficking. These traffickers exploit
loopholes in state capacity in monitoring
cross-border trade in the region and relaxation of
national borders intended to enhance regional
integration, to perpetuate their nefarious
activities. Since corruption is endemic and systemic
in Nigeria, cross-border arms trafficking is
sometimes facilitated by security agents. In May
2013, for instance, senior customs personnel were
arrested for allegedly assisting Boko Haram
insurgents to smuggle several trucks loaded with a
large cache of arms and ammunition into Nigeria.
As security agents tighten the noose
around known smuggling methods, Boko Haram militants
have resorted to disguising themselves as women to
evade the attention of security forces while
transporting arms. They have equally recruited women
(sometimes wives of members) as arms couriers. The
women hide AK47 rifles on their backs covered with
their veils or conceal improvised explosive devices
(IEDs) on their backs as if they were carrying their
babies. Such women arms couriers receive between
N10, 000 and N 50,000 ($28 and $139), depending on
the mission and the location for the delivery of the
guns and IEDs. They have equally concealed guns and
ammunition inside grains in plastic buckets and
sacks in their homes. Beyond SALWs smuggled into
Nigeria from outside, the sect also obtains arms by
breaking into the armoury of police stations. On
another account,
a gunrunner confessed “I have been
doing this for 15 years. I am not the one that
brings them [the arms] into Nigeria. I have contacts
in Burkina Faso and Ghana… They conceal it in a
vehicle, under the floor of the vehicle. Perfectly
concealed and sometimes they use hides and skins
which they have it more in Burkina Faso and the
Sahara areas,” one of the suspects said. Presently
in all across the northern region, Armed-robbers
operate often for hours without police or security
intervention, kidnappers attack for hours and
sometimes two days in a row without any security
intervention and bandits storm towns and villages
un-averted and almost always get away without being
caught.
This gun revolution in Nigeria has
thrown up many questions. Questions like: how did it
get to this breaking point? Has life any value in
Nigeria? When will the police live up to its
responsibility of protecting lives and property? How
far can people be more traumatized to reach the very
limit of tolerance? Why is there so much violence in
the streets and so many sophisticated guns
available? What is the price of crime and
criminality? Who cares; does the government care for
the people? Should the government grant amnesty to
the militants to disarm them? Armed to the teeth
with sophisticated weapons, is amnesty the only way
out or what can the Military and the Civil Defence
Corps do to support the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) Small Arms Control Program?
One area where the military may assist is the task
for peacebuilding in the disarmament and
demobilization of rival regular and irregular
militant groups, and for the government to address
the issue of poverty, hopelessness and despair.