THE APOTHEOSIS OF ANARCHISM IN NIGER-AREA: THE LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR EVERY NIGER-AREAN POSSESSING A GUN

 In what appears to be a tragicomic spiral of our national reality, some legislators in Nigeria are now seriously contemplating the legalisation of firearms for every adult citizen. What is their justification? To enable Nigerians defend themselves – yes, defend themselves – against what is now a state-sanctioned silence in the face of Fulani terrorism and unrelenting banditry.

 The very suggestion that Nigerians should arm themselves marks not only a new low in legislative desperation, but it also signals the first full-blown stage of the collapse of the Nigerian state – what we might now call the descent from Nigeria to Niger-area, a crumbling caricature of a republic once paid for in the blood of nationalists and visionaries.

 A Gun for Every Citizen?

It is no longer hearsay. Senator Ned Nwoko recently moved to sponsor a bill that would legalise gun ownership for every Nigerian adult, citing the need for self-defence. He is not alone. Other voices in the legislature are beginning to echo the same thought: let the people bear arms, since the government can no longer guarantee their safety.

 Let us be clear: this is the beginning of total anarchy. We are watching the formal abdication of responsibility by those sworn to protect the populace. If this law passes, it will mark the ultimate betrayal of the Nigerian people by their own leaders. If indeed it comes to pass, chaos, anarchy, normlessness and cataclysm will have been apotheosized.

Who Will Afford the Guns?

In a nation where millions sleep on empty stomachs, where inflation and naira devaluation have made even bread a luxury, who exactly will afford these guns? A pump-action shotgun now costs over ₦350,000. What of a pistol? Over ₦500,000 on the black market. Meanwhile, hunger is weaponised, the cost of living has skyrocketed, and basic healthcare and education have vanished for the poor.

So the rich, as always, will arm themselves to the teeth behind their high gates, while the poor scramble for crumbs and sticks. This is not security. This is the Hobbesian nightmare where life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

 Hunger + Guns = Self-Destruction

Do the lawmakers not realise the ticking time bomb they are about to ignite? With a gun in the hands of every hungry Nigerian, what you will see is not defence against Fulani invaders. What you will witness is brother shooting brother over a loaf of bread, neighbour lynching neighbour over spilled garri. As it stands in the Tinubu government, what a hungry and distraught Nigerian cannot do does not exist!

 We are watching our family members unalived daily, our mothers, sisters, and daughters raped, our ancestral lands taken, our hopes choked out like smoke in a burning hut. And now, the same state that has failed to secure us wants to hand us weapons, so we can wage our final war – not against terrorists, but against ourselves.

 The Fulani agenda, indeed, would need no further execution. They would only have to wait. We would have done their job for them!

 Leadership in a Drunken Dance

It is as if our leaders are drunk – drunk on the wine of delusion and intoxicated with irresponsibility. And we, the people, are the ground upon which they dance, as we bleed cry, and die.

 Why are they afraid of the real solution? The answer is not more guns. The answer is the political will to crush terrorism, disarm bandits, and take back the land from violent invaders. That is the constitutional duty of the government – not arming the victims to fight for themselves like savages in a collapsed state. 

But why does it seem as though they do not want this solution? Why the stunning acquiescence to evil? Unless, perhaps, some of these blood-soaked criminals are being shielded or even sponsored by those in high places? If not, then why the complicity? Why the silence in the face of mass murder? Why the ever-ready willingness to pretend that all is well – while the country burns to ashes and our people die screaming in the dark?

A Nullified Social Contract

When leaders propose arming the citizenry instead of protecting them, they have voided the social contract; they have shown that our initial individual wills we pulled together into a government, strong enough to pull down even the skies, is now too weak to crush a bunch of foreign terrorists from distant lands. This is a mockery of the Social Contract, proposed by Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. The omnipotent Leviathan has abandoned its protective role, and democracy becomes a ticking time bomb, waiting to blow us all to smithereens. Hah, fellow Niger-areans! The country is not just "not working" – it is actively dying.

We can no longer continue with this LIE called Nigeria. We must confront the stubborn truth head on, and rid ourselves of the illusions of a few gourmands claiming ownership of the land our forefathers bequeathed to us all. 

Nigeria, if it allows this stunt of mass armament to pass, becomes the greatest fraud ever visited on its people.

Ujamaa or Death

We were meant to live in Ujamaa – brotherhood, community, solidarity. That is the ideal. That is the future Julius Nyerere dreamed of for post-colonial Africa. 

But today, we are staring into the abyss of Armageddon. The choice is before us: to face the truth, dismantle the structures of impunity, and reclaim our Republic or to perish as tribes of a broken people led by visionless men dancing on our graves. 

The Final Word

Honourable Senators, Distinguished Representatives, Mr. President: This is your moment. This is your test. This is your failure!

If you arm us all, we will not defeat Fulani terrorism – we will destroy ourselves, and they will simply walk in and take over the ashes. (You may also want to read: COMPLICITY OF THE POWER ELITE, AND THE GRADUAL FULANISATION OF NIGERIA.)

Choose wisely! The soul of Nigeria is in your hands.

                               OKOM, Emmanuel Njor (PhD)