political expert and Opinion Writer, Lucky Vincent, expressed his opinion on Security in Nigeria and how to solve our security challenges. Nigeria remains a funny place to live. It is a country where some of the citizens, though very few, would do everything to thwart popular ideas, cries or opinions as long as such does not match their goal, which often, is aimed at further impoverishing the people. This is why I am sure the clamour for the establishment of state policing for the country would remain elusive until the citizens of Nigeria tear the roof or usher into positions those who truly mean well for the country.
Scenes from bomb blasts. in Kano/ Photo credit: Nigerianewsbulletin.com It is no news any longer that the security of lives and properties is a major reason why any government exists. At least, the Nigerian constitution, even though crafted without the consent of “we the people”, is explicit on this responsibility of the government whether Federal, State or Local. Unfortunately, however, the security of lives and properties of citizens of the country has become a luxury to the same people who stand every four years to elect those they think could help them live peacefully in their own country. Nobody in the country now trusts what could happen to him the next minute. A friend of mine once jokingly told me that by the end of the current administration in Abuja; only half of the about 170 million people in the most populous black nation would remain. As comic as it may seem, the reality has long dawned on us that if nothing urgent is done to stem the spate of killings in the country, we would wake up someday to discover that the ‘end of the world’ has started in Nigeria.
Many incidents in the country now point to the fact that the life of the average Nigerian is not more important than those of lower animals. The Boko Haram insurgency and the high level kidnappings-which of course has trickled to even the downtrodden-in the country are strong pointers to this fact. Then there are rising cases of armed robbery attacks in various communities. Each day you pick up the newspapers, a lot of pages are seen dedicated to crimes. No Nigerian can thump his chest to say any part of the country is safe. In the midst of all these, the Federal Government is very busy successfully achieving nothing, as judged by the average Nigerian. In 2013, the government allocated the largest chunk of the budget at N668.56bn to security. By October, it remains to be seen how much had been assessed by the various security agents. Just as whatever has been made available to the security agencies has not reflected in the security of the nation, so also it has not also reflected on the officials. This is not to condemn security officials, but a look at the average policeman on the street or any police barrack in the country would prove my point. Unfortunately, much of the responsibility to provide facilities for the police to curb crime is heaped on the State governors. In Lagos State, for example, we are witnesses to the assistance of the State Government to the police through the State Security Trust Fund.
State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) The Nigerian government has failed to convincingly explain is why Boko Haram’s unrelenting attacks persist despite all efforts so far made to frustrate the extremists. After President Goodluck Jonathan declared a State of emergency on some Local Governments in the most troubled parts of north-eastern Nigeria. The emergency worked for a while. The Joint Task Force told everyone who cared to listen what level they had made. Nigerians were happy and hoping that the terrorist group had been subdued. Then there came the confusion on whether Abubakar Shekau, the acclaimed leader of the Boko Haram sect was dead or alive. Many Nigerians are of the view that the JTF made a mistake to have announced that it may have killed Shekau when actually it could not provide the corpse. And till today, the corpse has not been found, despite the plea by Labaran Maku, the Minister of Information, for Nigerians to be patient with the JTF to produce the corpse. This is however, an issue for someday.
While the argument was on the state of Shekau, the Boko Haram sect which Nigerians thought had been subdued, struck again, this time, viciously killing over 40 students of a College of Agriculture in Yobe State. Since then, more attacks have been recorded.
The Boko Haram leader speaks Can it be right therefore to say the country’s security agencies have failed woefully? The answer is a big NO! What we are witnessing is not the lack of the our security bodies, in this case the Nigerian police, to act in cases where they have the power, but the lack of the government of the federation to see the glaring need to allow for the establishment of state police as well as the refusal, most unfortunately, of the people to speak with one voice on issues that concern their security and welfare. While many have continued to clamour for the establishment of the State police, some have argued that the country is not ripe for it. Some further believe it would be hijacked by the State governors and become a tool to fight perceived enemies. They argue with incidents that occurred in the country following the 1953 constitution that gave the regional governments powers over their police and how such regional governments used the police to muzzle their opposition. They posit that for a State to be effectively secure, the State governor should work with the Commissioner of Police in the State and where the Commissioner is believed to be inefficient, the governor could lodge a formal complaint to the police hierarchy. Good! For the first set, I often ask what the assessment of maturity is. Yes, the United States of America is over 200 years old and it is thriving when it comes to security. I am not saying there are no crimes committed in the US or that crimes which happen on a massive scale as in the case of Nigeria currently are rare over there. Even when it happens, the speed with which the country’s security agencies tackle such security crisis is always fascinating to the same Nigerians who, over here, kick against state policing. Yet that country started it just one day. So when do they think Nigeria is going to mature for it? Again, for those scared that the state police system may be hijacked by the various State governors, I often ask what has become of the Federal Police in the country. The average Nigerian believes that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) made of policemen (primarily) was established to hunt for enemies of the government. So, once you are seen as an enemy, or anytime the presidency thinks you are no longer as ‘handsome’ or ‘pretty’ as you used to be, be ready to face the EFCC even for issues that the agency knows cannot successfully make a headway. We are all witnesses to the embarrassing situation that occurred in Rivers State where a Police Commissioner become the de facto governor simply because he had the backing from the country’s seat of power. The Police under Joseph Mbu, was used to destroy a constitutionally-backed institution like the State House of Assembly assisting a few renegades to unjustly sack the duly constituted principal office holders. I am not saying it is not possible for some state governors to corner the police for their own sake, but once the it is established, there must be some checks and balances. For the sake of those who may not have known, America does not depend on the Federal Police alone. It has the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and its federating states and the municipal authorities have their variously established police respectively. Apart from the US, countries like Australia, Canada Spain, India and Brazil all state police. President Jonathan once said: “On the issue of state police…there was a time we were frustrated (in Bayelsa) and we felt we should have our police, that…we would be able to manage criminality in our state better…Police from other parts of the country find it difficult to go inside the waters, but for us who were born inside the water, even in the night we can enter ordinary canoe to go anywhere. But when I discussed…state police with former presidents, they said…good idea, which probably one day we will get there. And this is the emphasis I want to make…one day we’ll get to that point.”
President Goodluck Jonathan. In support of President Jonathan’s argument in favour of state police, we are all witnesses to the success achieved by the military in the fight against the Boko Haram sect using a group of youths tagged the Civilian JTF. These groups were relied upon because it was believed they have knowledge of the members, their operations and hideouts unlike the soldiers drafted from other parts of the country with poor knowledge of the terrain of the affected states. Military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, confirmed this when he said the Civilian JTF has been key to the fight against the dreaded sect. They have become very important to the extent that the Borno State governor, Kashim Shema, has started re-training them under his Borno Youth Empowerment Scheme (BOYES). Now, the question to ask is: who is stopping President Jonathan from approving the establishment of the state police? When is that day that he is optimistic about? In what ways are we better than the-above listed countries with our mono police system? We started on the same pedestal with Brazil and India. Since they have now left us behind, I still think it is never too late to start crawling fast. Many state governors, senators and leaders of thought have begun a clamour for the establishment of state police. Governors Liyel Imoke of Cross River and Jonah Jang of Plateau recently joined the clamour. We should not be unmindful of the many benefits of establishing this system-a major one being job creation. I thank God for Lagos which has the State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI). Though they are not police agencies in the true sense, their activities have assisted the State of Excellence to remain on top of its game. Again, like the Bible teaches that we learn from the ants to be wise, we need to learn from successful countries, and if you like, Lagos, so we can begin to crawl faster than this stagnation. Boko Haram began a campaign of terrorism in Nigeria in 2009, attempting to create an Islamic state and to deny Western-style education. Thousands of people have been killed, mostly in northeastern Nigeria since the attacks began.
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