It goes without saying that in the past few years, the perpetrators of gang violence, armed robbery, kidnapping, assassination, religious crisis, community conflicts, terrorism, and other forms of heinous crime and insecurity have gone wild in Nigeria. As I watched the gory news on the bomb explosions at St Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State; Jos, Plateau State; and Damaturu, Yobe State on the Christmas Day, December 25, 2011, I stared round-eyed in wonder and with indignation.

Infact, my eyes turned bright with unshed tears as I saw fellow human beings including several families roasted like animals by the inferno that followed the bomb blast. Watching the film clip, my conjecture was that over 100 persons, 25 vehicles, and at least 20 houses were consumed by the explosions that rocked the Madalla Catholic Church. But according to the Head of Operations of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Labraran Ahman on the date of the ill-fated incident: “so many people were affected. By our account, 25 people died, although we had many mutilated bodies. But out of the 25, we had 19 bodies intact and about six mutilated. But the casualty figure may increase”.

There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigerians have become weary over the worsening barbaric and dispiriting security situation in the country.

As leaders and other well-meaning individuals joined Nigerians on October 1, last year to celebrate the country’s golden Jubilee independence anniversary, Abuja was bombed by a group which claimed to be the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). Since then, the spate of bombing especially in the Northern parts of the country has continued to rise unabated to the bewilderment of the people and government of the federation.

Today, the Islamic sect called Bokom Haram has swamped the Nigerian state with violence and other acts of insecurity, claiming responsibility for the bombings of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Suleja, the Louis Edet House Police Headquarters in Abuja, the UN building in Abuja, churches, market stalls, recreational centres, wedding ceremonies, and several other public places and establishments. The dreaded group has also been  reported to have attacked some civil rights activists, religious and political leaders and other innocent citizens with guns, cudgels and other weapons.

Apparently, the appointment of a seven-man committee by the Federal Government in July this year to proffer solution to the security challenges facing the nation especially the North-East Zone of the country has become a futile exercise.

The committee headed by Ambassador Usman Gaji Galtimari submitted its report on September 26 with several recommendations, some of which were that government should dialogue with the sect, rehabilitate its members, and generate employment in the zone.

Yes, the country has experienced several violent conflicts that have threatened its peace, unity, and security in the past. Many Nigerians still remember the Ife-Modakeke feud that was re-ignited by party politics in 1979, the Zangon Kataf crisis that broke out in 1992 following a decision to relocate the market in the area, the Maitatsine riots of 1980 in Kano, and several other community clashes, religious conflicts and urban violence that have caused terrible political and socio-economic damage to the country. But the colours, shapes, and sizes of these crises differ significantly from the deadly rampage of Boko Haram which has continued to spread like the harmattan fire across the northern states of the country.

And even as the hideous operations of Boko Haram are hitting mainly the North now, the entire country has been gripped by the horror and menace of the murderous group which claims to be an Islamic sect.

The horror is real because the group appears to be increasing in their spread and membership and it is hitting its targets with ease and professional efficiency. And the northern elders and leaders who are expected to call the group to order appear not to be doing so because of fear of being attacked or killed by the terrorists.

Besides, it has been widely reported that members of the Boko Haram sect have been receiving training and support from international terrorist organisations including al-Qaeda.

In fact, the al-Qaeda late leader, Osama Bin Laden, who was killed on May 1, this year in Abbottab, Pakistan by an American strike force was said to have some adherents in Nigeria.

But why has Nigeria become a fertile ground for terrorism, religious crises, militancy, kidnapping, and other grusesome acts of insecurity?

Nigeria is a plural society with numerous ethnic nationalities and several religious and political beliefs. Thus, the country is bound to have one form of crisis or the other.

But experts in crimes and economic development studies posit that a country’s crime rate is a function of its level of political and socio-economic development. This is to say that as long as Nigeria remains poor with an army of unemployed youths, deprived rural people, and several agitated groups who are looking for an improved condition of living, it will continue to breed all sorts of crimes including armed robbery, assault, assassination, kidnapping, militancy, and bombing.

So in the final analysis, it is rapid industrialisation targetted at addressing the problems of rural poverty, illiteracy, youth unemployment, infrastructural decay, etc. that can extricate the country from its quagmire of full spate of crisis and insecurity.

In the short run, it has become imperative for President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s administration to come up with multi-agency strategy to deal with the security challenge of the land. This will involve consultation, cooperation, and interdependency among the various security agencies, the media, community development committees, youth bodies, clubs, associations, traditional rulers, political leaders and other well-meaning individuals across the country.

It behoves all patriots to rise now to the challenge of democratic consolidation and peaceful co-existence in the Nigerian nation.