The War in 2011

Comfort Obi

I don’t know how many of you, dear readers, read the lead front page story of the Saturday Punch of February 21. I did. And found it disturbing. With a kicker, 2011 Elections, the bold headline was: Politicians Spend Billions on Armoured Vehicles. Then it had a rider: About 100 armoured vehicles on their way to Nigeria – US company. For those who didn’t read it, I will do a brief re-cap here.
In reaction to the indiscreet revelation by Chief Asara Asara, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Bayelsa State, that his boss, Governor Timipere Sylva, has only (emphasis) two armoured cars in his fleet, and the admission by the Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, that he had placed an order for an armoured car in preparation for 2011 (in his own case, really, it should be 2010) The Punch sent an e-mail to the Texas Armouring Corporation, TAC. It is an American company which speciality is the production of armoured cars. When the reply to the e-mail came, it was a goldmine. According to TAC’s Executive Vice President, Jason Fortson, the company already has 100 orders for armoured cars from Nigeria alone. And who are these Nigerians? TAC: “Politicians, Top Bankers, Businessmen.” The favourite of those Nigerians who had placed orders include, but not limited to, Toyota Camry, Mercedez Benz S555, and large sport utility vehicles like the Toyota Landcruiser and Cadillac Escalade! And the cost ranges from $100,000 to $200,000 US Dollars each. In the Nigerian case, most orders were made for 2-3 units. Interpretation: N60 million to N90 million! The Punch reveals that government officials alone have committed the sum of between N6 billion and N9 billion! At this juncture, you should know a little about the make of these armoured cars. They are capable of stopping bullets. They are built to withstand certain categories of explosives. They have unusual features, including electric shock door handles, and radiator protection.
Dear Readers, how quickly times have changed. Time was when bullet-proof cars was the limit. No longer. In response to the changing times which have translated to sophisticated criminals and crimes, our leaders and the rich have graduated to armoured cars. Indeed, it is the same way a lot of them have also graduated to owning private jets. These, at a time of excruciating suffering and hunger amongst the majority poor. We are in trouble.
The investigations carried out by The Punch shows that the rush for armoured cars is in anticipation of the 2011 general elections. So, our politicians already know that it will be war, that blood will flow. That it will be a do- or-die affair. And so, they want to protect themselves and a few members of their family who would be around then. Usually, they send members of their families out of Nigeria at such times. So, the question then is, whose blood will flow? It is the blood of the children of the poor, the nobodies, who they recruit, and arm as thugs to do their battle. Parents should resist this. And the youths, the unemployed, should resist it also.
It is interesting to note that while the leaders and citizens of other countries are cutting down on excesses as a way of dealing with the global economic meltdown, here in Nigeria, the story is different. Our people are spending money on armoured cars. Just in case anybody thinks I don’t understand why, I do. The crime rate has never been this high. Armed robbers roam the streets day and night. Kidnapping, which was alien to us, is at an all-time high. The problem in the Niger Delta has produced a lot of angry and hungry youths. So, militancy and crime are holding sway. Add to that the hundreds of thousands of unemployed youths. No new jobs are being created. The only place they can easily find jobs is crime. So, obviously, politicians and the stinkingly rich feel threatened. But I’d like to say that buying armoured cars is not the solution. If anything, it will make the poor and the army of unemployed and angry youths more angry than ever. While they stew in squalour, our leaders, on top of everything will be in armoured cars, cruising around. It will not work. Won't they step out of these cars?
Questions arise here. Whose money are these people spending on armoured cars? Don’t they find it obscene that while most Nigerians are hungry, children cannot go to school, teachers cannot get decent salaries, they are spending billions of naira on cars? Can you imagine how many water boreholes the sum of N60 million and/or N90 million spent on one car can sink? Can you imagine the number of mosquito nets that can buy? Can you imagine the number of children whose hospital bills that can pay. Can you imagine the number of university students whose school fees that can pay? A whole lot of our children are studying under trees, and classrooms which are worse than pig’s stye. Can you imagine the number of classrooms the cost of one armoured car can renovate, or even build? This is a country where patients in hospitals use their money to buy injection needles, water for injection, cotton wool, plaster, etc. And it is the same country where an elected official would spend N90 million on one car! This is a country where elected officials would spend less than N300,000 to dig a borehole and spend about N2 million to commission it. Can you imagine how many jobs the billions of Naira they are spending on armoured cars can create for our army of unemployed youths, and reduce the crime level? This is a country where the police has no weapons to protect its citizens, yet people are spending billions on personal armoured cars.
But, perhaps, we should not begrudge them. Indeed, TAC, on its website is asking more Nigerians to place their orders early enough for the 2011 elections. Good for the company. If I know the Nigerian big man, the ownership of armoured cars will now become a status symbol. But the Federal Government can do two things. One: Make sure that those government officials use their personal money to pay for the armoured cars. Two: Make them and their counterparts from the private sector who are buying the armoured cars to pay the equivalent of the cost of the cars into Nigeria’s treasury as tax as soon as they arrive. That will only be fair.