INSECURITY IN THE LAND
Society for Ethics in Nigeria
understands insecurity to mean police accidental discharges and cases
of armed robbery, which when occassionally the Police decides to do
their bit, gets reduced. This means that to some extent, the average
citizen can still go about his/her business without fear of
molestation or harrassment.
Since 1999 however, especially in the Lagos metropolis, a new
dimension has been added to the word. Everywhere you go in the state,
the one conspicuous and annoying phenomenom that accosts you, is the
presence of some dirty, die-hard, extortionists and drug addicts
called Area-Boys who have gradually become masters of the streets and
now engage the police and other law enforcement agents in free for all
fights anytime their activities are challenged.
The Area Boys syndrome is a new thing, though its forerunner has been
with us for as long as there has been Motor Parks in the country.
Initially, they are known as Motor Park Touts or in the local
parlance, "Agberos". Their major function at the parks was to assist
drivers to load their fares for which they are given a token for their
troubles. These touts are usually unemployed drivers and assistants
who are also sometimes co-opted by officials of the National Union of
Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to help in collecting revenues from the
drivers. In short, the "agbero" operates only within the confines of
various bus terminals and restrict their activities to these places.
With the advent of politics however, these touts were employed by
unscrupulous politicians to intimidate their opponnents. And in order
to perform their assignments properly, they were financed and in some
cases armed by these politicians. These armed touts or thugs go about
with the politicians during their campaigns and provide security for
them. They also engage in disrupting opponnents' rallies and campaigns
and generally thrive on the intimidation of their employer's
opponents.
At the end of the campaigns, the winner suddenly discovers that he has
a standing army which in some cases refuses to surrender their arms.
The Politicians now look for avenues to pacify these unemployed
bodyguards.
In Lagos for instance, there seem to be an organised group responsible
for coordinating the work of these "agberos". Known as Committee for
Monitoring of Motor Parks, this committee even had vehicles assigned
to them and all they do is go about the motor Parks. What they are
monitoring, no one knows. Suffice to say that a glimpse at the
characters inside these vehicles leaves one without doubt that they
are mere thugs given a semblance of civility.
These are the lucky ones. Other groups resort to extorting money from
hapless individuals in the markets and drivers on the highways. The
practice has become so rampant that virtually every bus stop in Lagos
has a group of Area Boys extorting money under one guise or the other.
Any attempt to complain by the drivers or even passengers is met with
violence and the unfortunate commuter or driver may be beaten to a
coma by three or four persons with no one lifting a finger to help.
Not even the police.
Another group specialises in operating in the market places. In
Idumota and other markets in the Lagos metropolis for example, these
Area Boys have become a law to themselves that no one dares to buy
goods without paying toll to these faceless people. The government of
the day appears helpless to do anything in this regard. It has gotten
so much nowadays that the Police has become silent collaborators with
them. They use these boys to extort money from motorists and share the
proceeds with them. Or how else is one to explain a clear offense of
extortion being committed right in the presence of a Police officer,
who refuses to act or arrest the culprit.? And woe unto any motorist
who refuses to "settle", Such is even arrested by the Police and
detained indefinitely without charge until he understands that the
Area Boy is not to be triffled with.
The Society for Ethics in Nigeria have observed that this trend has
now spread to other states of the Federation with a little finetuning.
In Delta State for example, the Area Boys syndrome has manifested in
what is called the "Youth" phenomenon. Youths are now everywhere
extorting money from everybody. The Police in these areas often
collaborate with them. This has so emboldened them that they now carry
arms for their operations and resort to armed robbery and lately to
kidnappings among other artrocities, under the name of the Niger Delta
agitations. The incidences at Agbarho and Ughelli in recent times,
which ordinarily are peaceful communities are manifestations of the
Area Boys and Youth syndrome.
It is our view that the Area Boys and Youth syndrome are
manifestations of managerial incopmpetence, bad work ethics and lack
of political will on the part of the variuos governments of the
States. For example, during the Military era, Brigadier Buba Marwa,
the then Administrator of Lagos State, outlawed the Area Boys.
Throughout his regime, there was relative peace and calm all over he
State. Till date, Brigadier Marwa still enjoys the goodwill of the
people of Lagos State for this bold move. One wonders if the same can
be said of this outgoing administration?
The essence of any government is to protect its people from undue
stress and insecurity which has characterised the operations of the
Area Boys and Youths. That any government has failed to do anything
about it, speaks volume of such a government. The fact is, because of
the inability, reluctance or refusal of the government to act, these
people get more and more enboldened by the day, and are now expanding
their empire all over the States they control. For the avoidance of
doubt, just oppsite the Area "C" Police Headquarters in Surulere,
Lagos, just as one climbs the Ojuelegba overhead bridge is a new and
bugdeoning motor park, being operated by these Area Boys. Ordinarily,
this entrance to the bridge is a source of traffic holdups along the
Western Avenue and the police together with officials of LASTMA used
to be constant features on this spot. How a motor park comes to be
operated just on this bridge with the police and LASTMA officials
suddenly disappearing into thin air, and the police Area HQ less than
a few metres away, leaves one with no doubt as to the power these boys
now possess or command.
Our concern therefore is the fact that the Nigerian State has come to
this level because each and every one of our past leaders and
administrators, down to the smallest manager of resources and
apparatus of power has chosen to ignore good work ethics and instead,
chose to satisfy his/her own self at the expense of all else. This is
what has led to the systemic failure of our infrastructures and
apparatus of state to date. This trend has continued and now the Area
Boys and Youth syndrome is slowly creeping in and threatening to
overtake us all with the same lukewarm attitude by our leaders and
lack of political will by our leaders.
The Society believes that this will nor help our cause. We must all
change our attitudes to our work and embrace good work ethics to
guarantee a return to normalcy. Government should without dealy
establish an Ethics Agency, charged with creating the ethics
consciousness in the Nigerian to forestall the dire consequences of
the United States prediction that this country will be a failed state
by the year 2015. It may yet come to pass sooner than we think
continue in our present trend and fail to act and do the right thing
now.
A word they say is enopugh for the wise.
Regards
Whiskey, I.U.
President/Coordinator