Please Tinubu, why can’t we all own rifles?

The Nigerian government, led by President Tinubu, is failing to protect its citizens, according to columnist Ugoji Egbujo. The author argues that the president "cannot protect citizens, and he shows neither anger nor remorse," advocating for the right of ordinary Nigerians to own rifles for self-defense.

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It’s glaring that Tinubu cannot protect citizens, and he shows neither anger nor remorse. He has to allow people to protect themselves.

Egbujo points to a stark imbalance: "All the bad people in Nigeria own rifles. Good people are not allowed to have them." Politicians, she notes, are protected by police and army detachments, while ordinary citizens are left "hapless prey." The recent killing of General Rabe, who was allegedly slaughtered by bandits while unarmed, serves as a tragic example of this vulnerability.

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All the bad people in Nigeria own rifles. Good people are not allowed to have them.

The article criticizes the government's repeated "unworkable strategies" and "fickle hopes," citing excuses like "Libya" or "global phenomenon." It dismisses these as "fatuous promises" and "trite platitudes." The author contends that the Nigerian state's weakness and porous borders, not external factors like Libya, enable the influx of arms.

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If General Rabe had possessed a rifle, he might have died a more dignified death. Instead, he was taken like a chicken and slaughtered by rag-tag bandits, while the nation wallowed in utter helplessness.

Furthermore, the piece dismisses "cheap conspiracy theorising and finger-pointing" as a reason for the lack of innovative solutions. Even proposed measures like state policing are questioned, with concerns that they might not be more effective than existing informal security groups and could proliferate poorly trained personnel without reforming the federal police.

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For over sixteen years, since these insurgencies began, our governments have repeated the same unworkable strategies and served us the same fickle hopes, the same fatuous promises, and the same concocted excuses.