Arase Calls for Strong Internal Security Architecture

By Emmanuel Olorunda-Otaru

A former Inspector General of Police (IG), Dr. Solomon Arase, has called for urgent actions that would stem the slide of Nigeria to Hobbesian state of nature where life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

Arase said that even though “absolute security may not be attainable, but increase in insecurity, especially as a result of violent crimes and conflicts can be mitigated. This requires that the internal security architecture be strengthened.”

He gave this admonition recently in a paper he delivered as the guest speaker at the 11th Annual CEOs Dinner/Awards Nite of the Academy for Entrepreneurial Studies (AES) Excellence Club, with the theme: “Peace and Security Imperatives to National Development,” which took place in Lagos.

He said: “Globally, there is increase in insecurity and general lack of peace. Nigeria has a large share in rising state of insecurity world-wide. As at March 26, 2021, Nigeria ranked as the third most terrorised country in the world for the sixth time.

“It is a truism that Nigeria is currently a victim of criminality. Crimes have risen to a crescendo. These crimes, be they violent or not, undermine safety, security, liberty, development and image of the country. By their nature, these crimes further undermine economic investment and activities with attendant consequences as poor quality of life, mass poverty, widespread unemployment and dearth of basic infrastructures required for sustainable human and national development.

“Since returning to civil rule in 1999, Nigeria has been faced with several security challenges, especially violent crimes and conflicts in different parts of the country and by different groups that claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced millions of citizens, and undermined national unity, security, and wellbeing of citizens”.

The former IGP said that peace should be understood from a broad perspective because no country could be said “to be at peace if there are pervasive poverty, oppression of the poor by the rich, or by reason of gender, police brutality, intimidation of citizens by those in power, monopolisation of resources and power by some cleavages in the country.”