Incitive Tantrum On Southeast Youths: Arase Should Apologize.

The baseless and provocative allegation of the former Inspector-general of Police and current chairman of Police Service Commission, PSC, Mr. Solomon Ehigiator Arase, against youths of the Southeast on November 19 is condemnable. In a press release signed by the Head, Press and Public Relations of PSC, Ikechukwu Ani, PSC reviewed the statistics of applicants in the ongoing recruitment of constables into the Nigeria Police Force. Anambra State with 1664 applicants was said to be the least among the states of the federation. From the rear, Ebonyi State with 2134 applicants came second; Lagos State with 2324 applicants was third; while Bayelsa State which had 2651 applicants and Abia State with 2796 applicants ranked fourth and fifth respectively. Imo State was not mentioned probably because from the Buhari presidency, Nigerian security agencies had allegedly declared war against youths in Imo State who are not members of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC. Furthermore, Mr. Ani stated that the PSC chairman, Arase, "... appealed once again to the youths of the South-East to change its (sic) indifference to police work, insisting that embracing anti-government criminal gangs will not lead them anywhere ..."

This criminal allegation against, and blanket criminal profiling of, the entire youth constituency of the Southeast is as unfounded as it is unfortunate. People have expressed disappointment over the gaffe of Arase who, before the bogus and insensitive outburst, was allegedly mistaken for a responsible statesman. It is trite that given the statistics of the recruitment applications as put forward by the commission, Arase had no justification for his incitive tantrum against Southeast youths: One, the PSC cannot recruit up to 1000 applicants from each state of the federation! So, Arase already had more applicants than necessary from states of the Southeast. He was merely out to play on the emotions of the teeming unemployed Nigerian youths. Two, the population of Lagos State is about that of the entire Southeast put together. If Lagos State whose former governor is President Tinubu, Arase's principal, had only 2324 applicants, Arase should equally tell the world the criminal gang that Lagos youths had embraced. Arase should give same explanation for his native Edo State which did not record any number worthy of mention in the PSC recruitment data review. Three, that Lagos, Bayelsa and Arase's native Edo States were equally indifferent to the police recruitment exercise as other states of the federation including those of the Southeast all amount to a deafening vote of no confidence in the police force which Arase claimed to be building.

Which youth will truly want to pursue a career in Arase's police force which in the 21st century lacks basic technological equipment and so relies on manual and analogue methods of crime prevention and investigation which expose personnel to avoidable harm and unwarranted deaths? How many Nigerian youths will want to join a police force which will retire him at the prime of his/her career just to prevent him from reaching peak ranks forbidden for people from his part of the country? Which youth will want to pursue a career in a force where retirees pass through the eye of the needle to access their gratuities and pensions while no insurance policies exist for families of those killed in active service? Which Nigerian youth will want to pursue a career where Arase beats his chest for "approving the promotion of deserving officers" as if he did an unmerited favour? Singling out Southeast youths for attack over a collective apathy for the police recruitment gives Mr. Arase out as an incorrigible ethnic bigot who rather than look inwards for solutions to the battered confidence of Nigerian youths in the force over which service he superintends, chose to pass the blame on some tribes and generate security tensions in the country in order to divert attention from his shortcomings and frustrations in the PSC. All that the resilient Nigerian youths need to thrive are good roads, improved power supply, security of lives and properties, good healthcare, functional education etc.

For the records, youths of the Southeast who are unassailably the most decorous in Nigeria have the opportunity of a globally-recognized traditional business mentorship programme which have become a subject of study of various universities including the Havards Business School. The autochthonous opportunities it presents are more attractive and rewarding than a career in the regimented police service under an ethnic bigot which Arase seemingly personifies; and Arase's infantile blackmail further compounds the repugnance of the police service. Arase's tantrum merely betrayed his base tribal bias against the Southeast!

This piece shares the stern condemnation of Arase's unwarranted criminal profiling of Southeast youths as contained in the rejoinder of Mr. Moses Idika, convener of Worried Nigerian Citizens, WNC, a civil rights group, on November 20. Mr. Idika urged President Tinubu to call Mr. Arase to order. In Idika's words, "Nigeria is currently divided along ethnic lines due to the ... utterances of the likes of Mr. Arase who have arrogated to themselves the right to classify Nigerians and their behaviour along ethnic and regional lines even when such classifications are squarely rooted in crass prejudices and lies." I dare to add that Mr. Arase should withdraw his baseless criminal allegations against youths of the Southeast and tender unreserved public apology to them.