Patriotism Has Its Definition

For over two weeks, the United States of America has been inundated with media reports of the abduction of an 84-year-old woman named Nancy Guthrie from her home in Tucson, Arizona, in the early hours of February 1.

That is not the news. What is instructive is the effort already ongoing to find and bring her back home alive. As soon as her family raised the alarm about her disappearance, the security agencies from the county sheriff to the metropolitan police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are pulling all stops to enable her to regain her freedom.

In the process, even her children were considered the prime suspects until they were recently cleared. As we write, that effort is unrelenting. The FBI has released video recordings of the suspect, who is yet to be identified, even with the recovery of hand gloves believed to belong to the character in question.  Examination of the gloves for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has yet to prove helpful.

The remarkable development in the search for Guthrie is the teamwork among the security officials, the coordination and the up-to-date release of information to the public who are encouraged to get involved in the search. Neighbours are persuaded to check their home security system for any suspicious movement around the scene of crime or information that can help the investigation.

What is so impressive, in the opinion of this newspaper, is the extent the security agencies are deploying technology and other resources in their search for the victim of that kidnapping incident. The synergy between them makes the difference in comparison with other countries battling with the scourge of criminality.

That is a country where every life matters to the state. The search was not left to the families, and the security agencies did not ask for a mobilisation fee before stepping out of their offices to make initial enquiries about the whereabouts of the victim of that anti-social behaviour. On the part of the media, one can not but appreciate their professionalism.

If eventually that old lady is rescued and brought home, she will not need anyone to talk to her about the need to be patriotic because her country was there in her moment of dire need.

Actually, President Donald Trump himself came out to promise the criminals behind the act real hard time when they are caught. That, in our opinion, is the real definition of patriotism where the country takes the citizen’s wellbeing seriously at no personal cost to the victim or her family. And this is regardless of the fact that Mrs Guthrie’s family, out of anxiety for the safety of their mother, had offered to pay the ransom if that was what was needed to get her back safe and sound.

Compare this situation with what is happening in Nigeria where a whole population of a school, staff and students, would be carried away right under the nose of the security apparatus. Instead of addressing the real issue of rescuing the victims there would be a resort to blame game.

In some cases, allegations might begin to emerge that the security system could possibly be complicit in the whole criminal arrangement. That is not what patriotism demands.

We are not unaware of the advancement in development of the American society vis-à-vis her Nigerian counterpart. Some may wish to argue that United States has all the resources they need to fight crime at any level.

As a newspaper, we refuse to buy this position because no agency of government anywhere ever has all the resources it requires to carry out its assigned role diligently. The difference is the willingness and determination to apply what is available for the general good.

In those places, there is less corruption and, where it exits, the law frowns at it. What it means is that the little that is available is judiciously made use of. It is also rare to find state security officials following around members of families of presumed very important personalities (VIPs) who, in any case, can afford to hire personal guards on their own but prefer to take advantage of the so-called sweets of office.

The lesson to be learnt from what is happening in Arizona is that a lot is possible when a system is working efficiently. It is a given that every society has its own fair share of the bad guys. But that is not the main issue. The point is what measures are in place to check the illicit conduct of those undesirable elements.

It must be accepted that even in that advanced society, there are those regarded as dirty cops who make deals with criminals. The society has also designed ways of dealing with them painlessly unlike in Nigeria where the emphasis is the protection of the image of the security organisation through deliberate cover-ups even as the system suffers. That is not patriotic enough.