By Olakunle Olafioye and Daniel Kanu
As the National Assembly confirmed last week the new Service Chiefs appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, security experts and well-meaning Nigerians have set agenda for them, urging them to find lasting solutions to the security challenges bedeviling the country.
Expectations ahead of the coming of the Tinubu administration were high as most Nigerians eagerly anticipated immediate solution to the nation’s debilitating security situation, but the hope of a more secure Nigeria appears wavering as reports continue to indicate that the security situation in the country remains as worrisome as it was under the immediate past Muhammadu Buhari administration.
A report last week had claimed that no fewer than 555 Nigerians were killed while 267 others were kidnapped across the country in the first month of the new administration.
The report by a body, Global Rights entitled: “Mass Atrocities in Nigeria from 2019 to 2023,” claimed that the North-central geopolitical zone ravaged by banditry had been the worst hit with 312 deaths in the first 35 days of the Tinubu-led administration.
The Northwest, according to the report, accounted for 123 deaths while the Southeast and the Northeast accounted for 66 and 38 deaths respectively. Eleven lives were said to have been lost in South-south within the period under review while the Southwest lost five lives.
Dr Fidelis Enang Egbe, vice president (Southwest), Historical Society of Nigeria, however, expressed optimism that the current administration has what it takes to reverse the trend if only it will demonstrate the willingness to insulate the operations and the activity of the nation’s security agencies from politics.
Egbe, who lauded the choice of the new Security Chiefs appointed by the president charged the new administration to avoid the pitfalls of the last administration.
“Findings have shown that the appointed Security Chiefs are serious-minded security personnel with very rich resume. But the current security situation in the country requires more actions. History, especially during the administration of the immediate past president, has shown that security in the country was clouded with political manouvering.
“Our security operatives have not been given the free hand to carry out their duties. A situation where operatives apprehend criminals, but always have order from above from top political echelon who would direct that the suspects be released in the name of having subjected them to undergo rehabilitation or that they are now repentant. What kind of repentance is that? These are people who have murdered other people and rendered many children orphans and many women turned widows. Don’t forget that our military personnel are also killed during the murderous activities of the so-called repentant terrorists.
“Now that we have new Security Chiefs, my expectation from them is to look at the historical antecedents of our past Service Chiefs to be able to understand the reasons behind their inability to succeed in their assignments. It is because of the politicisation of their activities. So, the new administration and the new Security Chiefs will succeed more than their predecessors in tackling the security challenges if they are ready to be pure professionals and do away with politicisation of the military operations. But if the Service Chiefs are unable to impress it on the Commander-in-Chief that politics should be separated from military function, they will not perform well. If the president gives them the free hand to carry out their duties, they will succeed in tackling this challenge. I know it could be difficult to eradicate security challenge in the country totally, but I am so sure we will achieve appreciable improvement in dealing with the situation.
“We don’t want a repeat of what happened under the past administration where the then Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, would come out to tell Nigerians ‘we are on top of the situation’ whereas, they were on top of nothing. If you check the statistics of invasions in certain parts of Plateau State and Benue State, it shows that this security challenges are still on. And then if you go to the Southeast people are scared of going out and the economy of that region is down because people are scared of going out because of the fear of unknown gunmen. So, the president must give the Security Chiefs the free hand to put down their foot as military men,” Egbe noted.
Rotimi Aromolaran, a security expert, wants the Federal Government to invest more in technology to enable the nation’s security agencies perform optimally.
According to him, crime is being fought these days with technology, and Nigeria should not lag behind in these area. Drones, CCTV, communication gadgets, satellites, helicopters, aircraft and lately AIs are some of the equipment that serious security-conscious countries avail themselves of. “Proactive CISOs have their eyes on emerging tools, techniques, and regulations; moreover, they incorporate them into their strategies and their security programmes,” he noted.
He also urged the Service Chiefs to work in synergy, saying that “as far as I am concerned, the security agencies need to be synergistic, proactive and connective. Being proactive helps the Armed Forces to predict what kind of attack can occur in your environment and find your vulnerabilities ahead, so you reduce criminal activities before the materialize.”
Aromolaran enjoined the government to also give the welfare of the nation’s security operatives the urgent and serious attention it demands, noting that, “providing military personnel with quality living standard, attractive family insurance, constant training and drilling with modern military hardware and weapons would go a long way in boosting their morals, and bring out the best in them.”
Also expressing his view on the issue, Martin Onovo, the presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) in the 2015 elections, told Sunday Sun that there is no magic the President Tinubu administration will bring to bear to put an end to insecurity.
This, according to him, is given the background of his emergence, in terms of the illegitimacy burden surrounding the government.
He said that the Security Chiefs are not given the free hand to put their professionalism in action, rather “security issues have been politicized.
“Insecurity in recent times has become worse in Nigeria particularly in Plateau, Enugu, Benue and in some other states with the apparently unlawful inauguration of the Tinubu regime.”
He said that contrary to expectation in some quarters that insecurity will subside after President Tinubu’s take over, the reality is that insecurity will persist until key fundamental issues are resolved.
According to Onovo, “we had no optimism that the Tinubu regime will mitigate insecurity in Nigeria because Tinubu lacks the legitimacy, moral authority and even the competence to be in office.
“His ‘Emi lo kan’ philosophy is selfish, unpatriotic and corrupt.
“His regime is rightly branded as illegitimate, corrupt and dictatorial. He has already failed in governance with the fuel subsidy removal and can only continue to fail.
“Nigerians were right to reject him at the election. It is the INEC that is imposing him on Nigerians.
“The Service Chiefs are properly trained professionals and they know their tasks. However, they must follow the directions of a Comnander-in-Chief that is overwhelmed with bias, illegitimacy, corruption, incompetence and tyranny.
“That will make it extremely difficult if not impossible for the Service Chiefs to perform well.”
The Director General, International Institute of Professional Security (IIPS), Dr Tony Ofoyetan, said that the government has failed in providing adequately, the needed security infrastructure to execute the “war against bandits, terrorists, kidnappers.”
Ofoyetan told Sunday Sun that there is need to be proactive rather than merely reacting to attacks when it has happened.
“You must have a fire power that must have the capacity to subdue them, a superior fire power.
“You must be aggressive in your attack to convey the message to them that you can decimate or wipe them out.
‘’When you are coming from the point of strength they will be ready, willing to dialogue with you and to quit because they know you can track them down and eliminate them. The government must equip its security agencies with capacity, both on land, air and sea.
“There is urgent need to critically look into the security architecture, fine tune things and ensure that things are put right,” he said.
For Senator Diket Plang, who represents Plateau Central Federal Constituency, the present state of insecurity can be tackled by the Tinubu-led government.
He said that Tinubu has the political will, adding that the new security leadership has what it takes to tackle the scourge.
“I think it’s early to assess President Bola Tinubu. The truth is that he has provided the political will. Also the new security leadership I think is capable. We only have to key into the opportunity presented by the Tinubu-led government and things will get better,” he said.
Plang believes that insecurity would subside given the commitment and political will presented by President Tinubu.
A security expert, Dr Linux Mbose, said that the nation’s insecurity index would continue to get worse until security is left in the control of the people through community policing.
Mbose told Sunday Sun: “Nigeria’s insecurity will continue to get worse until you establish state policing which trickles down to community policing.
“There is no way we can secure Nigeria with the present security set up. We must restructure Nigeria, resort to state and community policing.
“Communities know the criminals in their areas and if you do not involve the communities you may just be walking in circles’’.