To put the horse before the cart, I want to quickly tell some and remind many that the most efficient way to get rid of an evil plant is rooting it out and not cutting it from the stem. The truth is that most of the strategies that been applied in getting rid of insecurity and chaos has proved abortive because those strategies only succeed in cutting them from the stem while the root remains firmly grounded, so that evil plant of insecurity and chaos buds again even producing more branches and fruits thus the increase in all forms of corruption and terrorist groups in different parts of the world, I stand to be corrected.
At this juncture I want to quickly go into what I had earlier introduced as what would be my way of fostering peace and security in my country Nigeria if I were the president. I termed it the elimination of the four seats of insecurity and chaos on which terrorism, wars, killings and all other forms of conflict and social unrest are sitting, these four seats includes;
Racism
Over population
Broken homes and
Sexual immorality
I strongly believe that any country that succeeds in destroying these four seats will definitely enjoy a lasting peace and security because all other forms of insecurity will crumble consequent upon the fall of the four evil seats.
Beginning with racism, I agree with the words of Robert Ebert that racism and if I may add, all the ‘isms’ grow from primitive tribalism, the instinct hostility against those of another tribe, race, religion, nationality, class or whatever leading to all forms of marginalization, discrimination and maltreatment. If I may define it further I will simply say racism is a maximum cruelty for a minimum reason, and when people are subjected to such great a wickedness what do we expect them to do than retaliate?, Oh! See how true the words of William Shakespeare are- if you wrong us shall we not avenge?.
A proper understanding of racism and her son terrorism has gives us a clue of the appropriate way to tackle them. The proper understanding I mean is the understanding of the fact that the duo are ideological problems which the shooting of guns and wielding of governmental power will do little about. Alveda Kings was quit right when he said that racism springs from the lie that certain human beings are less than fully humans. It is a self centered falsehood that corrupts our minds into believing we are right to treat others as we would not want to be treated. This racists and terrorists has bought the idea that some people are dogs, monkeys etc and wielding of power against them will little good about this, for there is one thing stronger than all the armies of the world, and that is an idea whose time has come- Victor Hugo. You can kill a man but you cannot kill an idea says Medger Evers.
Seeing it is only an idea that can kill an idea, I would therefore fight racism and terrorism with counter ideas, solidarity and enlightenment. I would through words, actions and everything within my disposal write into the minds of the people that we are all humans, no body is a dog, no body is a monkey, we all are in one way or the other dependent on one another. All the people- religious leaders, community leaders, sect leaders, parents, school managements etc must hear, accept and impart into those under them the words of Donald Trump- whether we are black, or brown, or white, we all bleed the same red blood. With this I believe most people in Nigeria and the whole world will come to embrace unity in diversity, and where there is unity there is peace.
Secondly, I want to expose the fact that broken homes is one of the deadly cankerworms that has eaten deep into the fabrics of Nigeria’s peace and security. It is quite obvious that the devastation of our society is owning to the devastation of our homes, divorce and disorganized families give the society children that lack basic moral principles, who have no clue of what family life and relationship is all about, as such they are less aware or completely ignorant of the value of life and human feelings. These exposed youths are the ones who readily buy into the idea of racism and terrorism. The terrorist groups radicalize them through some deadly ideas and beliefs so much so that they pick up guns to kill and even go the extents of perpetrating suicide bombing simply because they do not place any value on life and feelings. No body that comes from a good home and enjoys family relationship will buy into the idea of killing people for whatever reason. Therefore if I were the president I would do everything within my power to discourage divorce and irresponsible parenting. I would establish a PICK UP MISSION (PUM) to pick up those children and youths that have been exposed to the streets, give them free education and good standard of living. I believe this will also help to foster peace and unity in Nigeria.
The next thing I would do is to deal with the alarming issue of over population. The increasing birth rate has imperceptibly contributed a lot to insecurity and chaos in Nigeria. This increasing population leads to increasing competition for resources, bringing about social unrest.The weaker people and minorities are defeated every day in the battle for resources plunging them into poverty, hunger, lack of basic education, unemployment, diseases etc and the presence of such omens force people into doing anything even if they are not lawful just to make ends meet. This explains the reason for the proliferation of crimes and corruptions that fill Nigeria. There are many neglected, marginalized, relegated and maltreated people in Nigeria owing to over population. Overpopulation has also increased the rate of disease spread making people to live in fear. You can agree with me that the havoc of Ebola virus that struck Africa would have been less if Africa is not over populated. Over population has also made governance and control a hard nut to crack in Nigeria, it’s difficult to track down criminals, cultists and other law breakers because people fill everywhere. If I were the president I would be very serious with population control, I would enlighten parents on the need to give birth to the number of children they would be able to carter for and if possible make a law that would limit parents to giving birth to a given maximum number of children (at most 5 children).
Finally, one of the things I must fight is that of sexual misconduct among the married, unmarried especially the youths. This is a bit difficult but can be conquered through consistency. It is very incontrovertible that sexual immorality especially among young people has contributed a great quota in pushing Nigeria and in fact the whole world into the bottomless pit of insecurity and chaos. It’s obvious that sexual immorality has led to many unwanted pregnancies and of course giving birth to unwanted children, vagabonds, liabilities to the society. Many children in Nigeria are bastards just walking about this big world without proper parenting and training. These are the ones you see in the bad and rough places that fill Nigeria. Who are the armed robbers, trouble makers, drug addicts, drug pushers, terrorists, fighters that we see in our streets? , are they not those children that were brought into this world through illicit sex and left to their fate? Sexual immorality is indeed are a great canker-worm that has done a great harm to the entire world in this matter of peace and security and the worst part of it is that our governments seem to be blind to it thus making little or no effort to curb it. The sharing of condoms has done more harm than good as it is only further encouraging premature sex among young people and that to our detriment.
Sexual immorality is the father of terrorism and sexually transmitted diseases, this proliferation of disease in the world has kept many in the bondage of great sense of insecurity and fear.
The issue of over population is also owing to this act of sexual immorality among young people thus there is need to nip the problem in the bud so as to avoid further fruition. If I were the president I would organize periodic enlightenment programs to enlighten the people on the deadly effects of sexual immorality to them and the society. I would storm every available media with the message of abstinence from premarital sex and by the law of repetition get it programmed in the minds of the people.
I am convinced beyond every reasonable doubt that these strategies I have revealed will do a great work in achieving lasting peace and security in Nigeria and the entire world. I strongly believe that if the present leaders in the world will start implementing these strategies there will indeed be absolute peace, tranquility and security in the world in the next one decade. It’s just a matter of time. Let's join our hands together and fight for our peace
SHALOM