THE security situation in the country seems to be getting worse by the day and it looks as if it is intractable. While the leaders keep saying the government is on top of the matter, daily events speak otherwise. The citizens are in a state of apprehension as the phenomenon now stretches across the length and breadth of the country. More worrisome is that the perpetrators are having free rein and becoming more brazen in their acts.
No region is now safe from the foolhardy onslaught of violent criminals. The Northeast is still grappling with the remnants of the Boko Haram insurgency; the Northwest is infested with bandits, the North-central is the epicentre of communal/sectarian crises and kidnappings, the Southeast is the hotbed of violent bloodletting criminals, the South-south is still struggling with militants, pirates and oil thieves, while the Southwest is held to ransom by cultists and other violent criminals.
The massacre on the Plateau on the last Christmas Eve and the rash of abductions in Zamfara, Niger and the outskirts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have brought back the memories of the immediate past when life was cheap and dependent on the whims of violent criminals and their sponsors. The government has a statutory responsibility to protect lives and property and is duly empowered by law to deal with outlaws. That authority has, for a long time now, been called into serious question.
Insecurity has dogged Nigeria for ages but recent developments are assuming a more hydra-headed dimension and violent crime now comes in different dimensions to add to the trauma of the citizens who are already weighed down by the weight of economic hardship. The country’s economy itself is a victim of the debilitating state of insecurity which has affected all sectors. Alhaji Muhammadu Gambo Jimeta, former Inspector General of Police, as chairman of the Security Committee of the 2014 National Conference, had described security as the fulcrum upon which the entire architecture of the state revolves.
Gambo Jimeta explained that security Is the foundation of all governments and without it, no state can carry out the necessary constitutional responsibilities to its citizens which include protection of life, enjoyment of peace and the pursuit of daily activities that bring dignity to man. This is obvious in the Nigerian situation of today as whatever efforts the government is making is diminished by the state of insecurity.
Although efforts have been made to deal with the situation, they do not seem to be good enough as more crisis centres keep sprouting almost everywhere, driven by different actors with differing tendencies. The situation can largely be blamed on systems collapse and lack of willpower to deal frontally with the triggers, political interference in security matters, corruption in the military and frustration within the rank and file of security personnel exposed to unnecessary risk by the complacency, complicity and conspiracy of those in authority.
The causes and sustaining factors of the state of insecurity are well known and documented in various formats by institutions and security entities, but the challenge has been the political will to execute the recommendations and put an end to the scourge. It is obvious that there are vested interests that have been pushing and sustaining the situation for purely selfish ends which bother largely on region, religion and profiteering. We are also not oblivious of imperialists and neo-colonial tendencies that exploit our vulnerabilities and greed to protect their economic and political interests.
Very worrisome is the Federal Government’s seeming incapacity to deal with internal political interference in security matters. Perpetrators of criminal acts, particularly violent crimes, get emboldened by the fact that they can always be protected from arrest and prosecution or would always be left off the hook if at all arrested. The fact that some persons who are obviously aligning with violent criminals and terrorists are doing so openly without compunction gives the impression that either some persons are above the law or the authorities have become helpless.
While, undoubtedly, there are fringe elements that cash in on the existing insecure climate to make money or settle scores, the kidnappings and banditry going on across the country cannot be largely attributed to the prevailing economic situation, especially when the humongous amount of money involved in these transactions and the magnitude of lives lost are considered.
Questions are being asked about the benefit derived from the telephone registration exercise, the National Identification Number (NIN), the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and all. The answers from those in charge are usually escapist. The fact remains that kidnapping and banditry are highly organised crimes in the country today. It would be hard to believe that the Nigerian government cannot genuinely tackle these crimes. The issue might well be the willpower to do so. One of the military chiefs alluded to this recently when he said the security forces are looking up to the political leadership for the necessary directives. To now talk of loss of confidence in the political structures in tackling these monstrous visitations is like singing a routine song.
Although poverty and lack of gainful employment have been fingered as some of the factors that have driven the youthful population into crime and predispose them to easy recruitment by violence-mongers, it would be difficult to address the assumed economic situation and stem the drift into unbecoming means of livelihood if the heightened state of security is not drastically tackled. This requires a comprehensive approach to addressing the social, economic and security challenges through deft political brinkmanship and strengthening of the criminal justice system.
After a thorough assessment of the security situation in the country, which had spiked at the time, the Security Committee of the 2014 National Conference recommended an interface of national economic planning with national security, a comprehensive overhaul of the defence infrastructure to enhance rapid response and operational mobility, defence intelligence gathering capacity and defence information management among others. The committee advised that the armed forces must work around the ethics of the four Ps and two Rs: Prepare, Prevent, Protect, Pursue, Recover and Re-instate.
Unfortunately, the do-or-die brand of politics prevalent in the country has played a leading role in promoting insecurity in the country. Politicians can be said to be the single largest culprit in this regard. They instigate, encourage and sustain violent actions including insurgencies just to ingratiate themselves and sustain territorial relevance. When they lose hold of power, they become sore adversaries and create distractions within the system. They interfere with the criminal justice system to free their wards when nabbed just to protect their interests, even if such is to the detriment of the larger society. Government must seize the bull by the horns and halt this impunity, as lack of punishment for bad behaviour has become a license for impunity.
Lack of coordination and teamwork among security agencies and pervasive corruption within the top echelon of the military has led to avoidable fatal mishaps and frustrations among the rank and file of security agencies, respectively. Stories of diversion of funds meant for weapons and logistics abound and cases of indictment of military top brass caught in fraud nets are legion. This weakens the resolve of the men who risk their lives pursuing criminal elements.
At the level the situation is today, we cannot continue to dwell on the causes and mouthing excuses for failure. It is time to embark on concrete actions to tame the monster and release both the citizens and the country’s economy from the present bondage. There are loads of recommendations from research institutions, intelligence agencies and related conferences to guide the government on what to do. Although it might seem as if the rash of security breaches is a result of intelligence failure, there are indications also that it is more of a lack of political willpower to confront the monster frontally.
It is obvious that the approach consistently adopted by the government in tackling insecurity in the country is simplistic, cosmetic, reactive and narrow; but confronting a dire situation like this requires a realistic assessment of the vulnerabilities of the country and the tendencies – both internal and external – that convert these vulnerabilities into national security threats and challenges.
The situation requires more strategic imagination, deep interrogation and a tactical approach to the issues. Government has a fundamental duty to protect the territorial integrity of the country and strengthen its border controls as some criminal agents and groups are known to have taken advantage of our porous and deeply compromised borders to wreak havoc within. Dealing with the current situation might seem herculean, but government has a constitutional responsibility that it must discharge, by all means.
