Insecurity: Where is the hope? -By Kareem Abdulrasaq

With reference to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as
amended), the primary responsibility of the government is the security of life and
property of Nigerians. In contextual terms, the word security comes with a lot of
attributes which when breached could lead to unending warfare visible and invisible.
Part of these attributes is the welfare of the people. When this is not provided, a
nation is at the risk of collapse.

The institution saddles with this responsibility executive, legislative and the judiciary
have failed in their responsibility of taking care of Nigerians welfare. Thus, managing
the security crisis ravaging the country becomes a difficult task. I feel so displeased
like millions of Nigerians across the globe who hear and watch their kith and kin
being slaughtered daily. We should not pretend not to know how we got to this level
of insecurity.

History has shown us how we politized security issues due to power struggle. How
we underfunded our security sector for decades. How we refused to recruit able body
men and women in all the security outfits. How we created hundreds of thousands of
ghost security personnel to which salaries allowances and other bonuses are
received by the few senior officers.

History will not be so kind to us because we brought unqualified men and women to
manage our treasures, security system, and other critical sectors in the name of
federal character. Have we forgotten how we created artificial poverty, how we
deliberately refused to educate and enroll poor children in the modern educational
system in the name of culture and religion? How we deliberately created ethno-
religion politics to which its consequence we are suffering.

With the various security, outfits comprise of Army, Navy, Air force, Police, NSCDC,
Nigeria immigration, Custom Service, Office of the National Security Adviser, and the
Department of State Security Service, Nigeria should have a sophisticated security
architecture which should have the potential to defeat the insurgency but the reverse
is the case because of the internal and external divisions among the security
agencies. Unfortunately, they never work as a team. Self-ego, grand corruption,
and lack of proper supervision by the Presidency and the National Assembly have
created a serious setback on their functioning.

Within the month of July alone, hundreds of innocent Nigerians have lost their lives.
About 1,165 persons were killed from January to August 2020 (NDOM report, 2020).
While the killers and their accomplices within the security agencies walk freely,
victims die without justice. Villages, communities, and local government areas are
taken over by bandits who rob, kill and maim without being checked. Reconciling the
number of security agencies with the current insecurity calls for concerns.

The neighborhood security groups are overpowered with no hope for reinforcement
from any quarters. Children become orphans, wives become widows and husbands
become widowers. Villages become deserted with no hope of ever seeing the
inhabitants so soon. We should begin to ask ourselves wherever we are on what can
we do to stop the series of killings in our dear country “Nigeria”. This is our land we
must make it better and secure for our kith and kin and unborn generation. No
economy develops when the country is in the midst of war. While there is no future
for a country that is at war against itself, the psychological impacts of insecurity are
devastating.

There is no doubt, the current security situation was born out of the mistake of the
past made by both the leaders and the followers by not uniting against a common
enemy. History will tell and the current efforts will determine how safe we would be
tomorrow.

While celebrating 60 years of independence, we should ask ourselves, what we have
done, what we are doing, what we will be doing to avert the current security crises
bewildering Nigeria. We should also ask what can we do as individuals? What can
we make the government do more? How do we make the government create an

enabling environment for our people? How do we make the security policy framework
preventive and devoid of reactionary as we currently operate? Note that we may not
be victims today but there is no guarantee that we and our family members would not
be victims tomorrow except we also act within our capability to stop the killings.
How to support the peace effort:

Pressurize your elective representatives, support and empower young men and
women, engage in peace walks, generate public discussion in the media both
traditional (radio, television, newspaper, etc.) and social media (Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.) frequently on the need for peace. The purpose is to make
the government and other authorities concerned to act without delay.

As Nigerians, we must do our part in whatever forms because only Nigerians know
where it pinches, and we must take the responsibility of finding a lasting solution to
the killing and other predicaments we face today. Let support the peace effort by
being a peacebuilder rather than a peace destroyer in our various communities. Let
support the displaced group in the interest of peace.

Lastly, the government must improve her security strategy because culprits will not
stop trying to take advantage of loopholes in our security system. This is key in
reviving the lost hope in the current administration.

Kareem Abdulrasaq writes from Ilorin, Kwara State
Kareem21r@gmail.com