Kidnapping

07.28. 2010




Wahab Oba, chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Lagos State council, who was one of the three recently and much publicized kidnapped journalists, shed a thought provoking light on the increasingly disturbing phenomenon of kidnapping in Nigeria. He said it would be foolish to think that this is mere criminal activity.

Often out of shear desperation previously respected members of the community, police and traditional rulers are getting involved and see it as their only way of getting their share of the Nigerian profits.

Oba called it a wake up call to the complicated and extensive nature of kidnapping caused by the serious economic problem in Nigeria. He said the kidnappers claimed that they were “led into crime as a result of neglect by government”. To explain this he went on to highlight two aspects of neglect by the government: economic opportunities (jobs and infrastructure) and rewarding the right people for hard work done.

He explained that currently Nigerian society is littered with rich people who have not worked for the money they flaunt, and many poor people who have nothing to show for the hard work they have invested in the society. “It is a lopsided reward system that rewards corruption, waste and inefficiency, but penalizes hard work and diligence. In an environment like this, young people are inclined to look for means of getting rich quickly without working hard for it, and this includes kidnapping.”



My young artist friend Tyna, was saying last week that many young people her age leave the country when they complete their studies. I know this is a simplistic view, but one wonders if some of them end up in other countries not being able to get jobs and are forced into crime. Small wonder then that Nigerians are branded as criminals. A recent South African award winning film was banned in Nigerian because the criminal in it was portrayed as a Nigerian.



With a new president and cabinet and an election coming up next year, the country is hoping and crying for change. Apart from better power supply (electricity) they want, above anything else, the eradicating of corruption with growth of the economy as an outcome, which should benefit the whole population.



Many of the ordinary Nigerians are honest hard working people, with a friendly smile and a readiness to help. Not all of them are corrupt, but that does not mean they are less desperate and unhappy with the situation in the country.



However to change this country will be a bit like turning a huge ship, slow and difficult. We are talking here of a country that is just smaller than South Africa but with a population count of 140 million in comparison to South Africa’s mere 47 million. 70% of the Nigerians live below the breadline while in South Africa 50% live below the breadline.

Although one can only condemn kidnapping, in a climate like this, where people resent the injustice of the system, and have corruption as role models to justify their acts, the practice of kidnapping will be hard to stop. To change the mindset of the youth will be slow and difficult. But they are trying …..Billboards, radios, newspapers even graffiti are almost begging people to become morally accountable. In the newspapers you read about the overhaul of the stock exchange and banking systems which is in the pipeline. One wonders if all this action is not just to impress before the election.

Will change really come to this country that is so desperate for it after fifty years of inefficiency and corruption. Will they one day be a country that can stand proud, a country that can reach the potential it so evidently has. We hope so.