US Department of State Travel Warning- Nigeria

A NATIONAL DISGRACE

On August 3rd 2016, The U.S Department of State issue a travel warning to its Citizens traveling to Nigeria and the affected states include Yobe, Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Edo, Gombe, Delta, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto and Zamfara. The department also warned against travel in the Gulf of Guinea because of piracy. The warning further warns U.S citizens to be vigilant around  government security facilities, churches, mosques and other locations where crowds may gather such as hotels, clubs, bars, restaurants, markets, shopping malls and other areas frequented by foreign travellers and expatriates.  The travel warning specifically mentions the terrorist group Boko-Haram as an extremist group designated by the as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the Department of State and should be taken as such. This is a clear indictment of the security situation in the country right now and brings to nought President Buhari’s valiant claim that security had been restored in the country especially in the Northeast and Boko-Haram has been ‘flushed’ out. The warning also mentions the activities of Separatist groups in the Eastern part of the country as well as the twin scourge of militancy and piracy in the Niger Delta. Kidnappings are also mentioned as a security concern throughout the country.

This US Government issued alert shows that there is insecurity in every part of the country and not only in the North as it is widely reported in the press. Boko Haram continues to be a menace in the North although its activities have been curbed somewhat by the present administration. There are however issues of corruption in the procurement and distribution of food supplies in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in the North-east and there have been widespread report of pregnant women and children starving to death because of hunger. The eastern part of the country has always been known to be separatist in nature right from the time of the beginning of the Civil war in 1967 when the Nation of Biafra led by late Dim-Odumegwu Ojukwu opted to secede from Nigeria and this act of treason led to the Civil war between the Nigerian Forces and the Republic of Biafra from 1967-1970. This biafra secessionists have come again in the form of separatists groups led by the imprisoned Ndubuisi Kanu who was the Director of Radio Biafra in the UK and the leader of the Indigenous People for Biafra (IPOB). He used his medium as a radio executive and political activist to call for the secession of the Republic of Biafra from the rest of Nigeria until he was accustomed by government authorities on his arrival to Nigeria some time ago. His imprisonment has led to protests in the South Eastern part of the country and there have been reports of killings and disruption of public property. And lest we forget, the famous militants of the Niger Delta are at it again and this time they have intensified their attacks on Oil facilities on the Niger Delta causing a gas shortage in the country and affecting nationwide power distribution. Many young men now take to kidnapping as a profession because of the harsh unemployment in the country right now as a result of the dwindling economy.

This warning should serve as a time of reflection for Nigerians not only at home but in the diaspora and we must begin to look inward to find solutions to our many problems and I believe the best way to start is to review our constitution and begin talks on restructuring the country so that aggrieved parties can come together and unite as one nation.