African Leaders And Insensitivity
It is no longer news that what has bedeviled almost all the African countries is corruption occasioned by greed and lack of patriotism.
With the exception of few of them like South Africa which could be said to have relative development in all spheres of life and its economy, most of the African Leaders have continued to behave as if there is no tomorrow nor history.
All that this points to is the lack of patriotism in the leadership which has invariably found its way in the psyche of an average African citizen.
Unfortunately, while efforts are being made to bring Africans in terms with the present realities, some of its Leaders and citizens wore lukewarm attitude towards imbibing the new change.
Just in one of the sessions of the Pan African Parliament held in Midrand, Johannesburg- South Africa, what took the front burner was the relatively high level of corruption in the African continent.
This apparently has drawn the attention of the International Criminal Court whose activities in Africa has become worrisome to all and sundry. But most of the crimes which take place in other European nationalists has been so neglected to the chagrin of Africans.
So, the big question now is whether the ICC is not a deliberate formation targeted at Africans and their Leaders.
Invariably, African Union is deliberately taking advantage of our weakness to put African Heads of States on their toes through the International Criminal Court.
The obvious is that Africans have failed themselves otherwise how come that our various Heads of States are being humiliated by the Western Nations through ICC.
In all and all, the PAP 2013 Women Conference after looking at the various violence against women and girls in Africa including female gender mutilation and forced early marriages came up with recommendations on the way forward in stopping further humiliations against African women and girls.
Giving the fact that the problems of Africans are multi-faceted, PAP saw the need to urge African States to focus on the policy of reform and enhancing development in their areas in order to create within African Countries conditions and contexts that attract young people in the diaspora.
It further stressed the need for African Heads of States to create employment opportunities in youth venture funds in order to curb poverty and unemployment on the African continent as well as African States sensitization of youths from their countries on the serious risks involved in African illegal migration.
It is our strong hope and belief that Africans need a general re-orientation and the time for that is now.
The Sliding Fortunes of SouthEast Nigeria
The release of CLEEN Foundation’s annual survey on National Crime victimization and safety 2013 has brought out Southeastern Nigeria, the only zone with five states, as very high on crime and insecurity.
It is a well-known fact that crime has organic link with poor governance and inequitable distribution/application of public resources in any society. Corruption has also been associated to high rate of crime and criminality in any clime. There is no doubt that crime is very high in southeastern Nigeria because of present and previous years of mismanagement of public resources by past and present governors whose development is mostly in the passages of newspapers and television screens.
It is alarming and shocking to observe that Enugu state, where the government is said to be doing well, has the highest rate of crime in Nigeria. It is also alarming and utterly embarrassing that three out of the five states in the southeast are on the other side of the red pillars, indicating that crime is unimaginably high in the entire southeast.Who can esoterically proclaim that it is not the portion of Enugu state to scored 70%,, thereby taking the first position in criminality in Nigeria. What have they done to score fewer marks in crime and more marks in development and good governance? Was it by accident that Ebonyi and Anambra scored 61% and 60% respectively, to occupy 3rd and 4th positions ahead of Imo state (20%) that sits on 22nd position out of the 36 states and Abuja? The notorious first and second positions that Enugu and Ebonyi on physical assault while Anambra state took the 4th position, will not require citizens to approach a prophet for the confirmation of the result.If there could have been any opening to doubt the outcome of this survey, the scores ofAnambra (32%) ,Abia (27%) and Imo state (26%) which is nationally 4th, 7th and 9th position on incidence of robbery nationally, further confirms that crime is at its all-time high in the southeast.
It was not as bad in 2012 as it is in 2013. Which means that the southeast is indeed growing in crime and insecurity instead of development and good governance?One is tempted to ask whether there is a causal relationship between the ownership of guns, which is highest in the southeast (3%) and the level of crime in that zone. However, the position of the southeast on armed violence (1%) which is the least shows that the type of crime may not be too far from bad governance induced types which find expression on poor economy, poor infrastructure, high unemployment, politically instigated crime as well as stealing, cheating and looting of public resources meant for southeast citizens.
This is really a sad time for Ndigbo and our elected representatives, who hold public resources in trust, should be held accountable while the citizens should be blamed for not calling on their elected representatives to account. If the region, with just 5 states, took these high positions in crime, what would have been their position if they have seven or six states? That reflects the characters that are leading or representing the southeast region. It is also a wakeup call for Ndigbo to step up accountability demands from their leaders particularly the governors and members of states Houses of Assemblies. It is a national embarrassment that requires urgent solution before the region is consumed by bad governance induced insecurity.
One thing is sure. The level of poverty will remain high as investment in the zone will continue to dwindle due to fear of crime and insecurity. As poverty increases the level of criminality will not abate. This is a special call on the Chime’s. Obi’s Okorocha’s, Elechi’s and Orji’s to response to this survey outcome, which contains impeccable information for our good, by submitting themselves to public scrutiny. I don’t see any other business the occupants of each of the five state government houses have other than the production of good governance and provision of security to lives and properties.
Who can take the first shot among the five governors? Only tomorrow will tell.
Emeka Ononamadu is the Executive Director Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights, Owerri.
