By Amawu Cletus Albert Amawu Publisher, EpistleNews.
SELECTIVE OUTREACH AND INSTITUTIONAL INSINCERITY: A LOOMING TRAGEDY FOR ALL NIGERIANS.
Nigeria, the so-called “Giant of Africa”, continues to lurch from one crisis to another, not for lack of resources or intelligence, but due to a persistent culture of selective outreach and systemic insincerity at every tier of government. The implications are dire, and unless urgent steps are taken, the country may find itself engulfed in consequences too severe to ignore.
Selective outreach, in this context, refers to the disturbing trend where governmental and security responses are determined not by the universality of need or the rule of law, but by ethno-religious, political, or sectional considerations. Insecurity festers in one part of the country and is met with silence, but the same challenge elsewhere triggers overwhelming mobilisation. Government patronage follows similar patterns, leaving swathes of the population disenfranchised and disillusioned.
This approach does more than merely reinforce existing fault lines; it breeds resentment, distrust, and in the most extreme cases, rebellion. Citizens begin to see the state not as a neutral arbiter or protector, but as a partisan actor, wielding power to favour a few while marginalising the rest. The effects of such policies do not remain contained; they ripple outward, eroding national unity and undermining collective security.
Even more damaging is the insincerity that pervades government at all levels. Empty promises, hollow rhetoric, and the habitual recycling of failed initiatives have become standard practice. Reports of insecurity are dismissed or downplayed until tragedies unfold on live television. Committees are set up, but recommendations are rarely implemented. Corruption investigations end in media fanfare but no convictions. The people are watching, and they are losing faith.
This insincerity is not just a moral failing; it is a strategic blunder. A nation cannot fight insecurity with lies, nor can it build a future on half-truths and propaganda. As trust evaporates, communities will turn inward, forming parallel structures of self-defence and governance. This, in turn, will invite more chaos, more violence, and the gradual disintegration of a shared national identity.
All of us, regardless of ethnicity, faith, or political allegiance will ultimately be casualties of this dysfunction. The flames of selective injustice do not discriminate when they rage out of control. The very institutions that today seem immune to scrutiny or consequence will find themselves engulfed tomorrow. No one will be spared.
What Nigeria needs is a radical re-commitment to equity, transparency, and justice. Security must be holistic and impartial. Outreach efforts must be inclusive. Government officials must be held to account not just by watchdog agencies, but by the people they serve.
Anything less is a betrayal of the Nigerian project and a clear invitation to national collapse.
It is not too late to turn the tide. But time, like public trust, is running out.
