By Bashorun J.K. Randle

On Tuesday, November 16, 2020, Radio France International Hausa Service also aired an interview with a Member of the House of Representatives from Niger state on the state of constant fear, frustrations, terror and hopelessness that his constituents are in due to repeated attacks by bandits.

Abuja-Kaduna highway, a 200km stretch of federal highway has now become the highway to hell because of repeated kidnappings by bandits. This highway is the most important artery in northern Nigeria connecting nine northern states to the federal capital and southern part of the country. Those that can afford to, are avoiding the highway by traveling by train with all it’s limitations.

On Saturday, November 14, 2020, armed men invaded the official staff quarters of Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria, Kaduna state, where they kidnapped a lecturer and two children. On Sunday, November 15, 2020, armed men kidnapped nine students of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria returning from an excursion on the same Kaduna-Abuja highway. These bandits demanded a ransom of N270 million. The students were freed after seven days in captivity.

In a village called Kanoma in Zamfara state on Friday, November 20, 2020, armed bandits stormed the village on motorcycles in broad daylight killing five worshippers and kidnapping the Imam and 40 worshippers during Juma’at prayers at the main mosque. Kanoma is a “community kidnappers” target due to the number of relatively rich sugarcane farmers.

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These stories are but a few that make the news, there are several of such incidents happening all across the rural north that go unreported. The Government’s response to these tragedies have largely been defensive, dismissive and oftentimes trivialisation of people’s sufferings. How else can one explain the Hon. Minister of Police Affairs’ statement that bandits have been “degraded” or the Military leadership visiting the Abuja-Kaduna highway to disprove the news that the highway is deserted due to the activities of bandits?

Whereas six weeks ago Nigeria’s insecurity was predominantly in the three geopolitical zones of the north, the aftermath of #ENDSARS protests have stirred the hornet’s nest and opened up new theatres of insecurity in all the three geopolitical zones in the south resulting in the whole nation being consumed by this national tragedy. Southern Nigeria will see an upsurge of insecurity as an aftermath of #ENDSARS protests for the following reasons:

1. The Police are not fully back on duty following the lynching of their comrades and ransacking of their stations and barracks. B. Criminal elements are now in possession of AK47s that they stole from the ransacked Police stations. C. Convicted criminals that were released from prisons by protesters are still at large. D. Gang wars between Cults will increase as was seen recently in Benin City. E. Armed robberies will flourish as was seen in the daylight robbery of a bullion van in Lagos. F. Non-state actors will fill the vacuum created by the absence of law enforcement agencies resulting in warlords caving out their territories. G. Any attempt to discredit Nigeria’s Police Force and it’s Armed Forces by tribunals, foreign organizations and the media will negatively impact Nigeria’s National Security going forward.

Recommendations: “Government should as a matter of urgency, restrategise the war effort as the status quo is not working. Government should mobilise the whole nation on a war footing to tackle this menace by actively involving all stakeholders: Traditional rulers, Clerics, Community leaders, Youths, Political leaders and Security Agents.

Forest Rangers should be created using the youths in the affected communities who would be trained and supervised by the Military to be the boots on the ground in our unprotected forests where the bandits use as their hideouts. Unregistered SIM Cards: Should as a matter of urgency be blocked because bandits use them to communicate for ransom. There are numerous of them still in circulation, and appropriate sanctions should be meted to mobile operators for non-compliance.

“ NDLEA, Customs and Pharmaceutical regulators should clamp down on illegal importation, sales, distribution and use of Tramadol which is the drug of choice of bandits, Boko haram insurgents, Armed Robbers, kidnappers and Cultists. Sale of Petrol: Bandits use motorcycles that use petrol, so Petrol Stations should be mandated to stop the sale of products in Jerry Cans in affected areas or face stiff sanctions.

Cattle markets: Bandits sell cattle they rustle in local markets, so the sale of cattle should be monitored and certificate of origin provided by local traditional rulers and the Police or DSS. “ Local Intelligence must be cultivated as a vital tool in this fight. Political thuggery and Cultism should be banned and made illegal by the  federal government. Youths Unemployment: Needs to be addressed urgently. ASUU Strike: Government should attend to the legitimate demands of ASUU to enable classes to resume in our Universities. May God Almighty make it easy for us, Amin.”

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He implored me to ensure that the message reaches the powers that be as a special request from him. Then he veered off again on an entirely different subject – a branch of  engineering that is focused on medicine/healthcare. This is his own area of specialisation and he certainly ranks amongst the top ten in the world. He insisted that I must read what he had just sent me:

Death will be optional by the year 2045 – say genetic engineers: “Dying will be ‘optional’ within just 27 years and the ageing process will be ‘reversible’, according to two genetic engineers during the presentation of their new book in Barcelona. José Luis Cordeiro, born in Venezuela to Spanish parents, and Cambridge (UK) mathematician David Wood, founders of the operating system ‘Symbian’, have just published The Death of Death and say immortality is a real and scientific possibility that could come much earlier than originally thought. Humans will only die in accidents, never of natural causes or illness, by around the year 2045, say Cordeiro and Wood, who say it is ‘crucial’ that old age starts to be classified as an ‘illness’ so that publicly-funded research into its ‘cure’ can extend.

Nanotechnology is key, among other new genetic manipulation techniques, the engineers said during the presentation at Barcelona’s Equestrian Circle. The process will involve turning ‘bad’ genes into healthy ones, eliminating dead cells from the body, repairing damaged cells, treatments with stem cells and ‘printing’ vital organs in 3D.

Cordeiro, who is based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA, says he has ‘chosen not to die’ and that in 30 years’ time, he will be ‘younger than he is today’. Ageing is the result of DNA ‘tails’, known as ‘telomeres’, in chromosomes – of which every cell except red blood and sex cells has 23 pairs – becoming shorter, and reversing ageing involves lengthening the telomeres.

Randle, a former President of the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, former Chairman of KPMG Nigeria and Africa Region, and current Chairman, J.K. Randle Professional Services, presented this paper at the seminar by Soroptimist International in Lagos.

Vanguard News Nigeria