Fishers of Men: The Youth, Kidnapping, Political Thuggery and Insecurity in Nigeria
Christian Madubuko · SSRN Electronic Journal · 2013
The Nigerian youth, supposedly the future leaders of the nation have sadly turned against their fatherland. They have become willing instruments in the hands of politicians who engage them in political thuggery and kidnapping of innocent people for ransom. Why have young Nigerians opted for this kind of behaviour? Many reasons such as poverty, unemployment and desire for wealth could account for this. However, the youth are angry with the manner in which the society is structured and governed. Wealthy Nigerians have become big businesses in the hands of the angry youth. These wealthy classes no longer travel home, because the youth have become powerful predators in the watch out for them. These days, the wealthy and the powerful go about with paid armed escorts. This situation has become alarming to the effect that, governments at all levels have become helpless. The youth have turned their homeland into a lawless society and an animal kingdom. Yet, there are governments in Nigeria that collect security votes running into millions of naira. The social artery of any nation that engages in corrupt practices is doomed to collapse. This paper looks at the Nigerias situation that forced the younger generation of the country to take up arms against their society and the general insecurity in the land. The paper argues that, it is the failure of leadership in Nigeria that brought the country to this ugly situation. The paper suggests solutions for the way forward.