EMERGENCY IN THE SECURITY SECTOR
There is chance for improved security if the presidential measures are acted upon
In Nigeria today, the spate of abductions of school children for ransom is frightening, inordinate killings are rife while many people in rural communities now live in terror spaces. A presidential declaration of emergency in the security sector is thus a step in the right direction. But there are questions as to whether the measures announced last week by President Bola Tinubu are far reaching enough, or implementable. There are also mixed messages and incoherence in some of the key policies with senior government officials saying different things depending on their audience.
Part of the new measures announced by the president include calling on the army and the police to recruit more men, with the latter further charged to withdraw and retrain their personnel serving guard duties with political office holders and private citizens. The president has also directed the Department of State Services (DSS) to immediately deploy forest guards to flush out terrorists who inhabit the several ungoverned spaces across the country while charging the National Assembly to put necessary machinery in motion to amend the laws to allow willing states to establish their respective police units. Through their associations, herders are also asked to surrender their illegal arms and end open grazing, with ranching proclaimed as the way forward for sustainable livestock farming and national harmony.
Ordinarily, state police are an extension of true federalism where each of the units is supposed to have control of its security apparatus. Since there is already a national consensus on the issue with the endorsement of all the 36 governors, what remains is for the National Assembly to speed up the process of constitutional amendment. Another aspect of the emergency declaration has to do with the deployment of forest guards. Rather than serve as sanctuaries for endangered plant and animal species, our forests and forests reserves have become the operational headquarters for criminals. But beyond the presidential directive to the DSS, Nigerians know little about this special security unit, especially regarding their standard operating procedures, recruitment of their personnel and other such critical information. In addition, the states where these forest guards will be deployed were also not specified.
Although the speech touched on the contentious issue of open grazing, there is no clarity on the position of the government, especially the deadline to end the practice which is at the heart of the frequent clashes between settler farmers and migrant herders. In recent years, Plateau and Benue States have not only been in constant turmoil but also a graveyard of innocent children, women, and indeed men—victims of incessant conflict and attacks by suspected herders. In the latest of such violence on June 13, suspected armed herders stormed Yelewata village in Guma local government to unleash one of the deadliest assaults that resulted in the death of no fewer than a hundred people. We have made this point several times: In the history of humanity, the stage of development at which man wandered for a livelihood belongs to the stone age.
On the fresh recruitment ordered in both the police and the army, the presidential security emergency declaration is fraught with some obstacles. The president spoke as though the involvement of the armed forces in internal security operations is axiomatic. We subscribe to strengthening the Nigeria police to be effective and efficient–both in terms of its professionalism and structure, so that it sustains the capacity to carry out its constitutional responsibility of maintaining law and order. An additional 50,000 police officers will certainly help, but will still fall short of the required manpower by international standards.
In his inauguration speech on 29th May 2023, the president had promised to make security a top priority and to “effectively tackle this menace, we shall reform both our security doctrine and its architecture.” For this to happen, there must be a change in strategies to keep abreast of the sophistication in the methods of the agents of insecurity. The security emergency declaration is a good political body movement. It is a decisive marching order from the Commander-in-Chief. But translating the wishes in the declaration into practical measures will require commitment and hard work.
