The Nigerian government seems to have suggested that it can no longer be relied on to keep citizens safe.
Last week, the minister of defence had a message for communities that have suffered attacks by armed gangs: Defend yourselves, don’t just sit and be slaughtered like chickens.
“We shouldn’t be cowards,” said Bashir Salihi Magashi, a retired major general.
“I don’t know why people are running away from minor, minor, minor things like that. They should stand. Let these people know that even the villagers have the competence and capability to defend themselves.”
Mr Magashi’s statement – which came hours after gunmen abducted dozens of people, including students, from a school in the north-central state of Niger – generated a storm of comments and criticism from Nigerians.
We are already used to taking charge of our affairs in areas where the government has not lived up to its responsibilities.
Many people in the country generate their own electricity, pump their own water, arrange private education for their children and so on.
Source:Fiilafmonline/BBC
