It is not supremely surprising that Nigerians are leaving the country in droves because to live in Nigeria these days is a sacrifice. To live in Nigeria is to sacrifice the serenity that comes from living in a country where things are not particularly perfect but where at least one can go about one`s business in peace.
This is a measure of peace Nigerians have not known for long. It may be arguable, but even before Boko Haram escalated their attacks against Nigerians in 2009, many in the country, especially in the countryside, were living in constant fear and insecurity. Since 2009, every pretense of security has been brutally wiped out especially in rural communities around Nigeria.
And if a people cannot live in peace in their own country, what manner of country would that be?
A pregnable center
The thing with insecurity is that it can be quite invasive. Once it begins in a particular place, it quickly spreads to other places until there is nothing left untouched by it. That has well been the case with Nigeria where terrorism started from Borno State but has since spread to other parts of the country leaving Nigerian very much on the edge.
It would appear that all through, the grand design of those whose ultimate goal is to run down Nigeria, is to overrun Abuja. The pattern of terror in recent times shows that it has been steadily building up towards grinding down the Federal Capital Territory.
Indeed, the heinous attacks on the Kuje Prison on June 5 laid bare the real threat facing the country and its key institutions.
In the last few days, some foreign governments have raised the alarm about impending security breaches within the Federal Capital Territory. These security breaches have very much left residents on edge.
Though the Federal Government has come out to say that the threats are unverified and misleading, Nigerians do not know that they are not to be careful.
Nigeria is surely at that point where everything and every day counts. This makes it particularly difficult to discountenance anything, especially something as grave as reports of impending attacks.
There have also been reports that terrorists who have sinister plans to launch attacks within the Federal Capital Territory have since melted into the civilian population and have taken to menial jobs while they perfect their plans.
This would also be easily dismissed were it not for the fact that some of the terrorists who fell upon the Kuje Medium Correctional Facility on June 5 were said to have lived for months in Kuje and environs doing menial jobs.
Nigeria is in a difficult place at the moment and it all has to do with insecurity. How are the citizens of the Giant of Africa to know that they are safe within their own country? In a country unsure of the number or identity of the people within it, how are Nigerians to know who is who, and that they are not in danger from the next person who may be anything?
These are indeed very difficult questions to answer. However, answering them will go a long way in taming the wild fears wriggling through the minds of Nigerians who live in Abuja and its environs.
The truth remains that unless something decisive is done about the insecurity gradually convulsing Nigeria, it will be a long time before Nigerians in any part of the country can sleep with their two eyes closed. The cost of this is well unimaginable.
Kene Obiezu,
Twitter: @keneobiezu
