COMBATING CRIME IN THE SOCIETY

BY
FABIAN AWHEN

It was the Irish statesman and conservative political theorist Edmund Burke, who in his approach to the question of good and evil said all that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing. This political philosopher who lived during the period of the French revolution and the American war of Independence was greatly disturbed at the atrocities committed by the people of his time and the non-chalant attitude of those responsible for sanitizing the society but failed to do so. His call on people with transparent integrity to check the excesses of the period goes a long way to confirm Nehru’s avowed philosophy of good and evil, when he postulated that evil unchecked grows; evil tolerated poisons the whole system.
This may have explained the reason successive governments in the country have championed the crusade against corruption, although the fight is yet to be brought to a logical conclusion. In other words, the problem is still widespread, with tax revenues, monies approved for infrastructural development and even constituency allowances ending up in private pockets. This invariably over the years has slowed down investment in public services, raised the cost of living and doing business in the country. Today, with democracy which has come to stay in the country, the government has instituted some legislations at the federal and State levels to contain the nefarious activities of fraudsters and criminals who have continued to wreck havoc on the country’s economic fortunes. In this regards, checks and balances have been instituted to protect individual rights, combat crime wave and check the excesses of economic saboteurs in the country.

It is therefore regrettable to know that in spite of all these, there still exists a group of people whose daily vocation is to deceive innocent persons, popularly called four-one-nine, commit rape, armed robbery , just to mention a few. Painfully this has become a daily occurrence in our society. It is regrettable also that at this time the country is going through national rebirth, some people are trying to try the its name into the mud. This ugly behaviour was exhibited during the just concluded voter registration as some dubious character decided to cart away the direct data capture machine and materials meant for the exercise nation-wide. Such act should not be permitted to continue . We should always remember that the only true gift a generation can give to itself is a good example. Therefore ,we all have a moral and ethnical duty to perform, by not allowing these group of persons to soil the country’s image.


Habits they say die-hard, this is why the government and indeed all Nigerians should spare no effort in curbing the nefarious atrocities of fraudsters, impersonators, bag snatchers, rapists, ballot box snatchers and armed robbers who are contributing to the economic adversity and social morass of the country.

Source: Recorded live from FRCN daily commentary