Armed robbery is on the increase, and we all seem to be so helpless in the face of the failure of the state to address the menace. Last month, armed robbers went to Ladipo, a famous part of the city of Lagos where there is a busy vehicle spare parts market, and laid siege on three banks in the neighbourhood. The robbers arrived around 1 am and they didn't leave until 5 am. They reportedly shot into the air, turning the serenity of that hour into a staccato of frightening gun-fire. People cowered in their homes. Reporters who were still on duty at a nearby newspaper house could not summon the courage to go out to report what was obviously a big story.

The robbers could be heard singing and dancing as they carried out their task. Neighbours phoned the police, but the men who are paid to protect life and property did not show up until the robbers had finished robbing and dancing and gone their way. When the police were queried on their tardiness: they responded that they did not have a vehicle to ferry officers to the scene of the crime. So, in the morning, the police joined everyone else as spectators. The robbers had managed to enter the vault of one of the banks and carted away substantial money. No newspaper mentioned the name of the affected bank, in order not to cause panic among its customers.

Barely two weeks after the Ladipo incident, armed robbers attacked the Hajj camp at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos to raid the bureaux de change there. Ladipo may have been a residential neighbourhood and a market, but the airport is a strategic national security environment. It is surrounded by at least four police stations, all of them, less than 10 minutes away from the scene of the robbery. But this did not deter the robbers. They spent four hours at the Hajj camp and looted about N150 million denominated in different foreign currencies. That was quite a heist.

The security men at the hajj camp took to their heels the moment the robbers arrived. They confessed later that the robbers had sophisticated guns which could spray a round of more than 30 bullets in different directions in less than a minute. The police within the vicinity must also have heard the sound of the guns in the hands of the robbers, and they must have realised that their Ak-47 and is it Mark IV arsenal (?) would be of no match in the event of a confrontation. When the reports appeared in the news later, the only thing we could all do was sigh and console ourselves with the fact that no lives were lost in the incident.

In other parts of the country, the story is the same. On the Lagos-Benin Expressway, robbers routinely hold up traffic for hours and move from one vehicle to the other robbing innocent passengers. At such moments, no security agency, many of which litter the expressway at ordinary times, is seen. Across the country, many of our compatriots are afraid to get onto the highway, not too sure of what awaits them, especially now that the end-of-the-year season is upon us. One theory is that armed robbers are now on the prowl because they and their families also need money to meet the various commitments that people are faced with at a time like this. They are not targeting homes as in the past because that could be too stressful, many residential neighbourhoods now have locked up gates which could make escape difficult. But banks are in open places, and the money is insured anyway. The highway is also an open route where people can be waylaid and robbed of their possessions. .

Our policemen are completely helpless. What we are faced with is the veritable sign of a failing state. The Nigerian government wants foreign investors, we are in Europe promoting what is called the Heart of Africa project. But is Nigeria truly the heart of Africa? Ghana, Mali, Gambia, Togo are much safer countries. In Accra you can walk about at any hour of the day. Here in Lagos, your car must not break down anywhere in the city anytime after 7 pm. You must immediately prepare for a visit from the robbers in the neighbourhood who will relieve you of your personal belongings, if not your life. On the expressways, should you have a flat tyre, you can only stop to look at it at your own risk. Where are the police? Always they give the same excuses.

They do not have vehicles. The robbers are better equipped. No policeman wants to die for Nigeria. Why should he or she be a martyr? The average policeman earns less than N10, 000 per month. If he dies on duty, his family may not be paid his entitlements until after much agony. The Nigeria police is a collection of maiguards, wearing a poor uniform, having no facilities, earning starvation wages, and hoping that one day he would find a more fulfilling job. The senior officers in the police who are better off, have since been promoted to a level of incompetence where all they do is to enjoy the perks of the office that they occupy.

A banker summarised the seriousness of the matter the other day when he reported that the DPO in charge of the area where his bank is located summoned a meeting of the bank managers in his jurisdiction and delivered what seemed like a message of abandonment. This was shortly after the incident at the Hajj camp. The DPO told his guests not to expect too much from the police. "Bank robbery is on the increase" he allegedly affirmed. "But there is little that the police can do. We don't have equipment. Those boys (meaning the robbers) have sophisticated guns. We can't match them. And I don't know of any policeman who wants to die on duty. If he has an option, he will rather stay alive. So, we are appealing to you people to help us. Don't keep too much money in your vaults at the end of the day. Don't keep more than two million naira at least, so that even if the robbers come and they take that, your bank won't feel it. But to expect that the police will help you look after your branches every night, well, I think we should be realistic."

This idea of leaving something for the bank robber is surely a classic and ingenuous case of realism. The bankers did not argue with the DPO. They understood his message. They even sympathized with him. There is a culture of impunity in the land which advertises the impotence of the system. Crime is on the increase because there is a breakdown of controls, a failure of institutions. The police are overwhelmed; the other security agencies have been reduced to hollow bureaucracies. There are too many guns, bombs and weapons of mass destruction in too many wrong hands in Nigeria. The borders are porous, we are in a country where anything is possible. The armed robber who targets a particular location is certain that he could get way with the crime. Once at Abule Egba, also in Lagos, one of the robbers was a woman and she it was who stood on the main road holding the traffic to a stop as her colleagues robbed a nearby bank. She did not even wear a mask, but she had her hands on the trigger, and a shot of cruelty in her eyes.

But there are other armed robbers in our midst. These other ones can be found in the civil service, in public office and in the professional political class. These other robbers may not carry guns or take lives, or hold up traffic, but the impact of their actions is just as deadly and ominous. Every country that is able to grow its economy and institutions tends to rely on its bureaucracy. It is civil servants, not Ministers, commissioners or special advisers or chairmen of boards who run the machinery of state. You can change public office holders twenty times a year, once the bureaucracy is in place and it is effective and transparent, the state can run without any hitch. A strong and patriotic civil service is central to the process of national growth and development. In Nigeria, what we have is a civil service that is made up of armed robbers at all levels. One Pastor Akanni died the other day, he had managed in his position as a Finance Officer in INEC, to amass stupendous wealth running into billions. He is an archetype. Civil servants hustle not to offer service but to be posted to profit-oriented sections of the state. When housing projects are initiated, it is civil servants and their relations who buy up all the available units. Go to any housing scheme in the country, half of it is owned by civil servants, the other half must have been bought from civil servants! It is the same with land allocation. There are professional robbers in every government office perpetually looking for what to steal.

They may dress shabbily and pretend to be more religious than the Pope, but do not be fooled, they own mansions, they have children in the most expensive schools abroad and they do not care whether Nigeria fails or not. At the local government level, the officials share money every Friday evening, money that is meant for government treasury. And in fact, these civil servants can kill too if their position is threatened. The EFCC has been investigating some public officials, but the word among the guilty is that even the EFCC will soon pass away. Everyone is hoping that when a new government comes to power both the EFCC and the ICPC will be dismantled and it will be business as usual. In spite of both the EFCC and the ICPC, the civil service is not being subjected to enough scrutiny. The country needs strong gatekeepers who can clean up the civil service. When Dr. Oby Ezekwesili took over as Minister of Education, one of the first things she tried to do was to re-organise the bureaucracy in the Ministry. She met with stiff resistance from the civil servants who have been occupying sinecure positions and standing in the way of growth in the education sector.

When Nigerian civil servants are asked to be patriotic, they behave unfortunately like policemen. They point to poor salaries and conditions of service. They complain about a future that holds no promise, they point to pensioners and their agony. So, the serving civil servant also adopts a method of realism. "Heavens help those who help themselves". "Self-preservation is the first law of survival". And the country suffers. When civil servants are probed further, they point to the political elite: those who are supposed to provide leadership but are themselves morally compromised. Public office has become an arena for corrupt self-enrichment. Civil servants are ever-ready to help the boss to cook the books, but they help themselves too in the process. The political elite rob the people of their votes and resources. They rob the state of its value. And like the ordinary armed robber wielding guns on the highway, our political leaders are ready and willing to kill.

This is why Nigerian politics is characterised by assassinations, bomb explosions and thuggery. The on-going party primaries and congresses are at best armed robbery operations. In Oyo state, we are currently faced with an even worse variant of armed robbery in politics. The anti-Ladoja group led by Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu is now concocting every possible means to rob the state of electoral and judicial victory; those guys have launched an "armed robbery attack" on the Supreme Court of the land. They want to overrule the Supreme Court and they are not joking about it. But are there still officers in the temple of justice and men and women of conscience who can stand up to this particular case of armed robbery? For: how much longer can we remain at the mercy of armed robbers, especially the ones in politics and public life?

Robot  # 1 | 10.12.2006 08:08

The on-going party primaries and congresses are at best armed robbery operations. In Oyo state,...Read the full article.

Don Limpopo  # 2 | 10.12.2006 09:15

Please, my friends read the article below. By the way, who is this Umaru Yaradua? Does he have a University degree? What is his pedigree? I met him twice in Katsina state in 2000 and he doesn't radiates any confidence or hope. I was even told that he is very sickly and visits hospitals very frequently for treatment. Why is Obasanjo trying to impose this relatively unknown guy on us? Don Limpopo Who will be Nigeria's president? Nov 28th 2006 From the Economist Intelligence Unit ViewsWire The incumbent wants anyone who can stop his deputy The contest to succeed Olusegun Obasanjo as the presidential candidate of ruling People Democratic Party (PDP) has reached a critical juncture. Prospective candidates must submit their applications by November 28th, prior to an internal party screening process in early December and a vote at the PDP's congress later that month. The race is already throwing up some surprises, since Umaru Yar’Adua, the governor of Katsina State, has apparently secured the support of Mr Obasanjo. Mr Yar’Adua has hardly been mentioned as a possible candidate to date, but a number of factors seem to have combined to convince Mr Obasanjo to throw his political weight behind the Katsina governor. Crucially, Mr Yar’Adua seems to have emerged relatively unscathed from investigations by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) into alleged corrupt practices. This is more than can be said for many state governors. In addition, Mr Yar’Adua appears most committed to continuing with the reform programme that has been the central feature of Mr Obasanjo’s second term in office. Some political analysts have also argued that, as a somewhat reluctant candidate, he is also one of the few incumbent governors who would continue to accept guidance from Mr Obasanjo once the president has left office. In part this reflects the long-standing links between Mr Obasanjo and the Yar’Adua family: the governor's oldest brother, Major-General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, was Mr Obasanjo’s second-in-command when he was military ruler in the late 1970s. There is also a shrewd political dimension to the choice. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua—a hugely symbolic figure in Nigeria—built a powerful political network in the north of the country before dying while in prison (where he was held along with Mr Obasanjo) in 1997 during Sani Abacha's military rule. This network played a crucial role in delivering President Obasanjo’s election victories in both 1999 and 2003, and is now headed by Atiku Abubakar—the vice-president, and a would-be presidential candidate who most definitely does not have Olusegun Obasanjo's support. By choosing Umaru Yar’Adua, therefore, Mr Obasanjo is deliberately dividing the political loyalties of the network and hence its potential to influence the outcome of the April 2007 poll. However, this does not mean that Mr Yar’Adua is in for an easy ride. Mr Atiku may be suspended from the PDP and facing corruption charges, but he is not going to stand by and allow Mr Yar’Adua to split his political power base. Thus the vice-president has announced that he will stand for the top job in 2007—without stating which party he will represent. He may seek to stand for the Action Congress, an alliance of opposition parties, or try to ensure that Mr Yar’Adua is at least sidelined in favour of another moderate northern governor, such as Adamu Muazu of Bauchi State or Ahmed Makarfi (Kaduna State). It still seems unlikely that a southern candidate will be selected as the PDP's presidential candidate, but Mr Atiku could also seek to achieve this as a spoiling tactic. In other words, the political situation remains highly changeable. Nonetheless, it currently seems most likely that the PDP ticket will comprise Umaru Yar’Adua as presidential candidate, with Donald Duke of Cross Rivers State as his running mate. Given the financial and logistical support enjoyed by the PDP, such a moderate north-south combination will be in a very strong position to win the April polls.