IS it possible that Nigeria is tired of news of killings in Jos? Have these killings become too many that they are significant only when the figures are higher than 100?  Is criminality now determined by intensity rather than the fact that crimes are committed in the first?

Whatever the reasons, government’s attitude to the wanton loss of lives governments swear to defend, is abominable. To governments, lives are worth only a few lines to condemn new killings. These days the condemnations are rare, in the same way that promises of better security and prosecution of the killers are dying.

Governments are only interested in elections. They want to return to power without guarantees that they will work for basic things as security of the people. Since the widely condemned killings last December, there are daily reports of riots, killings, and more strangely text messages that are flying around warning of more attacks.

Insecurity is on the increase. Governments offer no succour. As people were dying in Jos, delegates from Plateau State lined up at the Peoples Democratic Party presidential primaries in Abuja . Jos, only 313 kilometres away was burning. It was not mentioned.

Delegates from a place under senseless siege of varying degrees since 2001 joined in the gaiety of the occasion. They were the symbol of the chaotic normalcy of Jos.

On Sunday another eight people joined the 84 hundred who lost their lives in Christmas eve blasts. Riots and killings in Jos are the most mismanaged security situation in Nigeria outside the Niger Delta. The more stunning aspect of this situation is that governments no longer care.

What difference does it make if few of Nigeria’s 150 million people die? It will not matter if more die, and more are dying as the attackers invade villages killing mostly the most vulnerable – old people, children and women. Who will defend them?

There is a discernible pattern to the attacks. Text messages warn of impeding attacks, the attacks take place, sometimes within earshot of security people, government issues rehashed statements, some arrests are made, nobody is punished, then another attack and the circle continues.

Panels of enquiry have not helped. Since the attack of November 2008 that claimed hundreds of lives, attacks have become monthly. No month, from January 2010, passed without people being killed. This year is assuming the same pattern.

Complaints are mounting against the security agencies. The army comes up for particular criticism. Soldiers watch as attacks take place claiming they have no instructions to respond. What are they doing all over Plateau State at great cost to the people?

Patience is running out. If governments continue to ignore Jos, the lawlessness will increase. If the people decide to defend themselves, the anarchy will be endless. It is dangerous to make the bedlam in Jos seen normal, it is a prescription for unprecedented confusion. Is that what governments want?

Governments must act decisively to stop these killings. “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government,” says Section 14 (2b) of the 1999 Constitution.