Kano Demolition Spree and the Looming Security Implication, by Mukhtar Ya’u Madobi

Kano Demolition Spree and the Looming Security Implication, by Mukhtar Ya’u Madobi

There are arguments and counter-arguments among the proponents and opponents of the ongoing demolition of structures in Kano State, by the newly-inaugurated administration of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.

While justifying the continuous tearing down of the buildings, the Governor and his political godfather as well as benefactor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, emphasized that they are only fulfilling one of the many campaign promises they made to Kano people – that is ‘demolishing of any illegal structure’ built by the previous administration of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

Many people have expressed their views and opinions on the legality or otherwise of this demolition exercise. Well, that is among the beauty of democracy, which allows citizens to voice out their minds.

This Fundamental Human Right was fully recognized in section 39 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which stated that “every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information without interference …”.

A lot of scholars, pundits and public commentators have made several analyses on the implications of this ongoing demolition on many sectors including commercial activities, direct foreign investment, education, health, socio-economic development among others.

Notwithstanding, this writer deems it imperative and as a matter of utmost urgency to look at it from the security perception, which is justifiable when looking at how Kano metropolis has become a hub for criminals, especially drug abusers and phone snatchers, who do not hesitate to kill their victims in the process of committing such atrocity.

I recently conducted a special investigation on how phone-snatching is taking a toll on the residents of Kano metropolis, with a view to change the ugly trend for better narratives.

The study, titled; “SPECIAL REPORT: Sorrow and Blood; Dehumanizing Tales of ‘Phone Snatching’ in Kano” which was published by PRNIGERIA, revealed that the immediate drivers of this crime include parents having too many household members, which they cannot cater for due to social insecurity and thus the children are left at their own mercy to fend for themselves, which prompts them to join syndicates of bad elements and start terrorizing the society.

In addition to that, the influence of drugs and substance abuse which serve as motivational factor and to some extent, the effect of poverty and unemployment also causes youth restiveness, thus, making them vulnerable to committing this kind of unwholesome act and the likes.

Many people will subscribe to my argument that ever since the inauguration of the new Kano State administration which is accompanied by the demolition of structures, the incidents wave of phone-snatching and killing of victims within Kano metropolis have reduced greatly. In fact, it has gone into hibernation.

And the reason is obvious to every right thinking person not to even talk of the security experts. You will agree with me that the attention of these criminals [phone-snatchers] have now been diverted to looting valuables from the structures that are being demolished by the state government.

This present situation corroborated PRNigeria‘s investigation outcome as to why unemployment and poverty were among the major triggers of various crimes within Kano city. Because, these jobless youth have now regarded ‘plundering from these demolished sites’ as the new blossoming business in town.

It is obvious that the majority of these youth are ‘socially-insecured’ which has become a major driver of the security challenges that we are facing today in Kano State and the country at large.

Because, there is an adage which says that ‘an idle mind is a devil’s workshop.’ By implication, that mind will waste no time in scheming plans on how to engage in illicit activities which is an unjustifiable method of making ends meet.

As envisaged by many public analysts, this lull as related to phone-snatching in Kano metropolis is only a matter of time before it rears back its ugly head, once the demolition exercises are finished off. Because, the restive youths will now be left with no job to attend to, thus will be tempted to embrace their previous heinous act of phone snatching as well as wounding and killing victims.

It has been regarded that, social security is the protection that a society provides to individuals and households to ensure access to health care and to guarantee income security, particularly in cases of old age, unemployment, sickness, invalidity, work injury, maternity or loss of a breadwinner.

That is one of the reasons why the previous administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari had  invested massively in the empowerment of citizens through the National Social Investment Program (NSIP) in order to address poverty and promote economic development.

Since time immemorial, it has been identified that addressing social security is the requisite step towards ensuring and enhancing a formidable national security for any country.

According to a report by a global audit and tax advisory firm, KPMG, Nigeria’s unemployment rate is expected to rise to  40.6% as compared to  37.7% previously observed in 2022. Therefore, this may have a debilitating impact on our collective security set-up unless plausible measures are being rolled up to contain the issue.

At this juncture, I wish to call on Governor Yusuf to channel more efforts in addressing poverty and unemployment among our teeming youth in the state, which by extension will eventually reduce the security challenges facing the state.

Because, it is only a matter of time before these vicious youths return in vigour and swarm Kano metropolis streets to continue holding the residents by the jugulars once the demolition exercises stop, as there will be no more valuables to plunder.

It is gratifying now that the new administration has announced the opening of applications for local and overseas postgraduate studies among the qualified indigenes of Kano State in order to boost their human capacity.

However, it is imperative that this gesture be extended to include provision of empowerment opportunities and skills acquisition training to these jobless youth in order to take them off the streets.

This will go a long way in developing their socio-economic capacities, thereby allowing them to cater for themselves and their families, while on the other hand propagating the economic activities of the state at large. A stitch in time saves nine!

MUKHTAR is the author of a book on “National Security Strategy” and is a staff writer with the Emergency Digest. He wrote from Kano via [email protected]