If this goes unchecked, the state can only get weaker. When an individual or a group of individuals assumes the power to “legitimately” use violence to enforce what it sees as law and order, the state is going down.
Max Webber, the German intellectual, defined “state” as a polity that maintains a “monopoly on the legitimate use of violence”. The state is losing its sovereignty in parts of the country, with the vast ungoverned spaces falling under the control of violent non-state actors.
In some ways, Nigeria now has many governments. The basic definition of “state” places emphasis on “one organised territory” under “one government”. They have more faith in Igboho than the Nigerian state. But with unending raping, kidnapping and killing - and with the Nigerian state unable or unwilling to bring the criminals to justice and protect its citizens - Igangan people cried out to Igboho, a “youth leader” who works for politicians during elections, for help.
In my previous article, I argued that no private individual should have such powers in a modern nation-state. The quit notice served on the Fulani community in Igangan, Oyo state, by a non-state actor, Chief Sunday Igboho, is a timely reminder that Nigeria is at the risk of becoming a failed state.