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Getting it right in a new time horizon such as a new year requires a holistic appraisal of erstwhile activities and planning for a better outcome than previously experienced.
Events that revolve around the entire social and financial class across all individuals are crucial to determining the citizenry’s level of individual and joint wellness within a national cosmos.
Nigeria’s current socio-economic stance is majorly determined by factors that define its poverty level and social cohesion. Increasing poverty levels signify an amplifying inequality crack across the major income classes of the country. At the same time, inconsistency in social restfulness portrays a disaccord among people’s ideological, political or economic lines.
Maximising socio-economic gains in a country, especially when it appears a reset protocol has been initiated, given the opportunity of a new calendar year, will require a deliberate effort to appraise past year’s achievements and failures and then make plans to act appropriately in areas where there seem to have been an under-investment or limited policy focus.
Addressing social coarseness
While there are several areas for which social granularity may be addressed, a crucial point of focus is insecurity.
Insecurity in Nigeria has become a sensitive area of discourse since the outcome of poor sovereign concern in this sector affects all, although disproportionately. Gone are the years when residents in a village or town could leave their homes unlocked without the fear of an intruder. Back then, sellers of various wares could leave their products on the display front and go about doing other things without the fear of losing a sale, getting cheated during a one-sided transaction or getting robbed of their products or loosely kept cash around unsold items.
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In those days, travelling between different states of the country by train or night buses was commonplace, and there was no threat of kidnapping along isolated roads or highways. Trade between the north and east was usually executed smoothly, and southerner’s exploration in the north and east was a delight. It was also easy to send children to boarding houses without the fear of getting ambushed by terrorists or kidnappers. Farmers had no concerns about herders attacking their farmlands or killing them while farming. Also, Nigeria’s military men mainly were deployed outside Nigeria on peacekeeping missions since there was a relative social calmness at home.
Now, the situation is unthinkable. From the core north to the north-east, the south-south and the core east, and then, to some parts of the south-west, ongoing cases of bloody inhumane acts have been recorded so far. Terrorism, banditry, herdsmen killings and kidnapping pervade the northern camp of the country; aggressive ideological separatism has engulfed the east, economic-related aggression and vandalism have corrupted the south-south, and kidnapping is destroying the south-west. Still, the government believes that the country’s social serenity status is bearable.
The assumption that Nigeria’s social unity is still intact can be deemed an unfair and reckless assumption because the current social drama disproportionately affects all; the rich seem to be better protected from negative spill-overs of insecurity while the poor bear the ill consequences. Even when the rich get affected, they have enough economic and political strength to bail themselves out. Still, the poor usually bear the full weight of any unfortunate situation.
Undoubtedly, addressing the insecurity challenge in Nigeria is a non-negotiable cause since the situation exacerbates the social impasse and exalts inequality and poverty.
Creating room for more jobs will enhance productivity, inclusion and engagement while opening up opportunities for self-sufficiency and entrepreneurship, especially among the most viable class of the citizenry. Reducing unemployment to significant levels will help reduce the risk of unproductive and harmful social engagements, thus, enhancing a safer society for all.
Appropriately funding and training the military is another vital way to encourage appropriate repulsion of any social misdemeanour that any deranged set of individuals may carry out. When attacks are properly responded to, the perpetrators of these reprehensible acts will not have a jolly time promoting social discord among Nigerians.
Introducing security reforms at the state and community level is also a meaningful way to decimate unwanted security-related occurrences. State and community-based policing are required to help localise security efforts while allowing central policing to provide support during an escalated outcome. Recruiting from the grassroots will allow for proper nose-sniffing among the affected communities, making the atmosphere uncomfortable for evil perpetrators to act.
Involvement with the headship of interest groups who diverge from popular ideological frameworks by the government should be encouraged. Peaceful resolve among itching groups can be reached during open negotiations, and the outcome of such compromises could be the beginning of a more peaceful and socially inclusive Nigeria.
