By Clement Ehis Iluiomine
It did not come as a surprise when the president Bola Ahmed Tinubu replaced the service chiefs and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) with new ones. As a general feature and character of any new administration, in tandem with its campaign promises of new hopes, expectations and aspirations, it is expected that such an administration commences on a new slate. Such new appointments tend to usher in a sense of renewal and demand of a new level of loyalty from such appointees.
The appointment of the new service chiefs and IGP is particularly of intense focus by Nigerians, given the seemingly insurmountable security challenges that the nation has endured for so long.
Nigeria as a nation has always had its fair share of security unheavals, ranging from ethno-religious squabbles that had most times snowballed into massive loss of lives and property, to armed robberies and thuggery across the nation. The metamorphosis of Nigeria”s security challenges from ethno-religious crises to terrorism, kidnappings and bandictary in the recent past, has opened a new vista in the unending security challenges bedevilling the nation.
The bloody END-SARS protests which swept across the nation in year 2020, leaving in its wake sorrows, tears and Blood, was also a landmark in the mountains of security challenges and the citizens perception of the poor handling of the nation’s security architecture.
At the various ceremonies of the swearing in of the security chiefs, beautiful and lofty remarks and statements were made by the new appointees. The bottom-line of the renditions was a resolve by the new chiefs to give their best in making Nigeria a better secure nation, with a promise to rid the nation of terrorism, kidnappings, banditry , armed robberies and other crimes. Good as the promises sounded, we need to ask ourselves if a change of personnel only is enough to surmount these plethora of security problems.
Beyond the rhetorics, the president needs to look at the underlying factors responsible for the near complete destruction of the security apparatus of the nation. The president needs to find out why insurgency and terrorism in the North-East of the country continue to fester and linger after so much resources ( human and capital) have been expended to nip it in the bud without much success. Are some individuals or group profiting from the insurgency? Is there a grand conspiracy by a few, who are bent on scuttling the Nigeria project?
The president must find out why “unknown gunmen” hold Sway in the south-east, taking lives at their behest, unchallenged. He must find out the underbelly of these ugly phenomenon, rather than just going around a circus of unproductivity.
The president must find out why kidnapping has become a thriving business for a cartel of criminals. He should be willing to muster the political will to weed out security officials who are complicit in this regard and prosecute them according to the law.
The president must find out why banditry has become economically viable and attractive to youths who are otherwise supposed to positively contribute to the growth of our dear nation. He must find out why terrorists, bandits and kidnappers have a superior fire power than the security agents, whenever they engage in a duel.
He must find out why, in spite of the various processes of linking the national identity number (NIN) to telephone numbers across the country, security agents still find it difficult to track down kidnappers who negotiate ransoms with relatives of their captors on phone.
He must find out why citizens are made to pay for stationery and “mobilization fees’ at police stations when they lodge complaints. The president must find out why most police barracks across the nation have become unpleasant sights of dilapidated and sordid relics, not fit for human habitation. The president must find out why police patrol vehicles are fuelled and maintained with funds raised from complainants and bail money from accused.
In order for the president turn the corner in his quest to return Nigeria to a secure nation, there is the need for him to empower the Nigerian police. The Nigerian police force, as at today, lacks the capacity to carry outs it’s statutory functions. These functions have been inadvertently reassigned to the millitary. This needs to be reversed.
The personnel strength of the Nigerian police and it’s attendant equipment and infrastructure are abysmally inadequate. Nigeria falls short of the United Nations recommendation the number of people to be policed by a single police officer. This narrative is a recipe for inneficiency and failure in policing the nation.
The president needs to de-millitarize the country. The millitary must return to their barracks to face their core mandate of protecting the territorial integrity of the nation, rather than allow them to dabble into civil issues.
There is no gain-saying the fact that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has hit the ground running, with it’s attendant renewed hope, but the president must understand that the abysmal security situation in Nigeria, was a major factor that unseated the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2015, when Nigerians decided to show their discontentment with the government at the polls. Also, the immediate past administration of Mohmmadu Buhari administration is also generally assessed as a failure in the area of security, given its poor showing in check-mating the security challenges. There is therefore the need for this administratio cann to adopt a holistic approach for an unprecedented success.
Clement Ehis Iuleomien is a public affairs analyst, he also engages in public legislative education, a member of Legislative Revolution Network Len. He is the author of the book titled: THE NIGERIAN LEGISLATURE (An Educational Guide). He wrote via email: clemehis@gmail.com
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