Yakubu Dogara, former speaker of the House of
Representatives, says it appears Nigerians have been accustomed to the killings
happening across the country and have accepted it as the new normal.
Dogara spoke while delivering a keynote address at a summit
organised by the Sultan Maccido Institute for Peace and Development Studies,
University of Abuja, according to ThisDay.
He said the situations have been accepted as part of daily
lives for the Nigerian people.
“Today, Nigeria is faced with an unprecedented crisis, so
much so that nothing in our history prepares us for such a time as this,”
Dogara said.
“We seem to have
accepted killings and mass murder as our new normal and so many cold-blooded
murders of our brothers and sisters no longer make the headlines in the media.
“As students, lecturers, and political leaders, some of us
are complicit, while the few who have dared to speak up are already outraged,
fatigued and have surrendered to fatalism- a feeling that nothing matters
anymore. It is like Nigeria seems to be suffering from some kind of
God-ordained ineluctable fate.
“What we have done before doesn’t matter; all that matters
is our present station. As long as we are not actively engaged in seeking solutions
to these intractable issues, we are actually, wittingly or unwittingly,
actively promoting it.”
Dogara added that Nigerians can only defeat their challenges
if united.
“We’ll be strong and when we strive to keep our bond and
remain undivided, we will be invincible. This is what should concern every
patriotic Nigerian at the moment, not scheming for future elections,” he said.
“All efforts of patriotic citizens must be geared towards
stopping our dear country from the ongoing death by a thousand cuts.
“Attacks are unrelenting and there appears to be no end in
sight. The situation has clearly gotten out of hand, following the repeated
overrun of military formations by Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists, wanton killings
and kidnap for ransom and mass abduction of school children in different parts
of the country.
“For instance, we all
know that the north bears nearly 90 percent of the insecurity brunt of the
country. If estimates are anything to go by, not less than 50,000 northerners
have been killed while over three million have been displaced in the northeast alone.”
He also commented on the number of out-of-school children,
unemployment rate, saying the youth have become frustrated, angry and violent
and that this makes them susceptible to criminal activities.
He enjoined the government and leaders to find solutions to
these problems, saying “there is no hiding place for us anymore because Nigeria
is no longer the same.”
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