A few days ago, the Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Salihi Magashi (rtd), was reported to have charged Nigerians to always be at alert and defend themselves amid the growing insecurity by bandits in the country.
He claimed that the operations of the bandits were sometimes carried out with about three rounds of ammunition to cause fear in the citizenry.
According to the report, Magashi gave the charge in a chat with journalists as relayed in a video posted on Twitter by a credible television station in Nigeria. His words:
“It is the responsibility of everybody to keep alert and to find safety when necessary. But we shouldn’t be cowards…
“In our younger days, we stand to fight any aggression coming for us.
“I don’t know why people are running from minor things like that. They should stand and let these people know that even the villagers have the competence and capabilities to defend themselves.
“Our own duty is to ensure that no Nigerian is hurt, and we are capable of protecting the integrity of this nation and we’ll continue to do it even though we are so stretched.”
On the question of whether ordinary citizens should be permitted to carry arms for self defence, the minister reportedly said, “Even in the developed countries, they are still debating on it, whether to continue or not. But I don’t advise Nigeria to start issuing firearms for personal use.”
Frankly, I do not understand where this is coming from because President Muhammadu Buhari who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces had earlier appealed to the citizens to learn to accommodate one another and to arrest anyone carrying arms illegally. And now, we have his defence minister encouraging the very same citizens to stop complaining and begin to resort to self-help in defending themselves against rampaging armed bandits in the country.
Even as one is still at a loss as to how Mr. President expected an unarmed law-abiding citizen to arrest (apparently with bare hands or even if using a policeman) an AK-47 wielding bandit, the latest charge by Magashi seems to rather aggravate my already pitiable situation.
Again, even as it is now evident that the government is already overwhelmed by armed banditry and Boko Haram insurgency, I think there are still better face-saving ways of expressing exasperation than what some of our national leaders are doing.
There seems to be so much feeling of paranoia in the land with almost everybody speaking carelessly and out of turn, including those who previously lacked the gut to even cough in public.
And until something develops to prove otherwise, I am tempted to believe that Magashi’s call is a grand ploy to lure unarmed Nigerians out of their homes and into the hands of some heavily armed aliens for a clean sweep as to quicken the quest to overrun the nation and establish a new homeland for themselves down here.
Surely, the former military governor of Sokoto State cannot claim not to know that these armed bandits or killer herdsmen may have few rounds of ammunition but they always call for immediate assistance from the nearest mobile gang of armed fighters who often sack entire communities if any harm befell their caller or his herd. A retired Army colonel and security expert in Rivers State once pointed this out on radio and the colour of recent happenings across the country seems to prove him right. Who these stand-by mercenary fighters are and their sponsors still remain elusive.
In lay terms, what the defence minister was trying to say is that the federal government is already overstretched to simultaneously wage war against Boko Haram insurgents, armed bandits and criminal herdsmen. Therefore, it has now opted to face only the external aggressors while the citizens should fight the killer herders and bandits in their midst.
But whereas the government is equipping its soldiers with sophisticated war materiel to confront Boko Haram, it expects its citizens to resist the equally armed herdsmen and bandits with bare hands. Spare me this, please!
The same government that is so reluctant to approve the formation of state police and even vigilante groups is rather urging hapless citizens to file out and be massacred by some marauding killer herders, kidnappers, rapists, cattle rustlers and outright bandits.
Whoever needs self defence? Just permit our local hunters the use of their spears, machetes and Awka-brands and watch them launch offensives to comb out all the killer herdsmen and their roving gang of protectors from our forests.
Over time, herders’ livestock have strayed into church premises and other sacred grounds while grazing on nearby school fields and often dropping their dungs on such temples of worship. All this without a real hullabaloo from any quarters. But it is anybody’s guess what would have since resulted had the reverse been the case in some other parts of this same country. Intolerance!
In fact, nobody needs to defend themselves against anyone if only the government will accept to do the needful by simply encouraging cattle ranching. This is because only a few diehards, if not criminals, will still venture to hide under the guise of migrant cattle herders to perpetrate any more of these evils.
Finally, kudos must reach the few core northern governors who are openly and consistently raising their voices in support of ranching as a way of curbing insecurity while also averting an impending national calamity.

By: Ibelema Jumbo