Our failed security architecture, by Adekunle Adekoya

“There are no poor countries- only failed systems for managing resources. “ –‘ Avram Noam Chomsky

My discourse this week is inspired by the quote above, credited to Avram Noam Chomsky (born 1928), an American intellectual and professor known and celebrated for his work in social critivism, liguistics and political activism.

He, according to Wikipedia, describes himself as an anarcho-syndicalist and libertarian socialist. But I am not concerned with his leanings here and now, but focused on the wisdom in his words and applications to the situation in our dear country, Nigeria, which at the moment, is simply fearful, to cut a long story short. 

There are quite a number of countries that are wealthy by any definition. These countries became wealthy nations despite the absence of any significant natural resource. Key among these countries are Japan, Switzerland, South Korea and Singapore. With the benefit of hindsight it can be seen that these countries achieved significant prosperity by putting in place efficient systems of managing their resources, and in the case of Japan and Singapore, it was heavy investment in their people through education.

Right now, our country is battling with a self-inflicted cancer of insecurity on a scale never seen before. Not even during the civil war have Nigerians felt so insecure. And Chomsky’s quote nags at my mind again, leading me to the conclusion that Nigeria is not an insecure country, activities of marauding jihadists and other terrorists notwithstanding.

The real problem is that we have a security architecture that has collapsed entirely. If the truth be told, we have a failed system of managing our security and it didn’t happen overnight. It is a cumulation of many factors, some obvious, others not so obvious over the years. For example, look around our towns and cities, traffic control is done mainly as a 9-5 thing. But it is a security activity, which is a 24-hour billet. But the reality and result of actions not taken over the years is staring us all in the face today and is in fact threatening our very existence.

What is needed at the moment is for the power elite, led by the faction in power at the moment, to see the problem for what it is — a malignant tumour that needs excission through surgery as fast as possible.

Changing service chiefs will not and cannot solve the problem; that is like doing the same thing the same way and expecting different results. Some say this is madness, and the only result we’ll get is that by 2031, today’s subalterns would have become four-star generals and the problem would not only have remained, but festered and worsened. 

Service chiefs, except the Police Inspector-General have been changed. The president alone knows why. 

The recent killing of a brigadier-general, abduction of Kebbi schoolgirls and the attack on a church in the Ekiti area of Kwara are indicators that the problem is worsening and the terrorists are getting bolder. One senator remarked that government has lost grip of security in the North. Wrong. Government has lost grip of security nationwide and it MUST reclaim that grip. 

At this time, decisive action ought to be taken about the terrorist sympathisers in our midst. The late General Abacha was quoted as having once said that “if insurgency lasts beyond 24 hours, a government official has a hand in it.”

Now, the onus is on government to prove Abacha wrong by ensuring that no one, either in government, out of it, in or out of the military has hands in the growth and sustenance of our insecurity problem. Let it be said that the Abacha quote frequently comes up in discussions about terrorists and their activities and calls to question the effectiveness and sincerity of counter-terrorism efforts.

Naming and shaming would be a good departure point, supported by special courts to try funders and sympathisers of terrorists, including operators of their supply chain. Surely we can, with good Intel, get their supply chains, sources of funds and the like. That will be like going to the root of the problem. But here, we just play. Too much politicking at the expense of the people’s welfare. When terrorists take over the country, we’ll see who the politicians will rule over.

Since we’re all in this together, and we have no other country to call ours, this is a CLARION call on security specialists, including retired officers of our armed forces to come together, rework our security architecture that has failed, and present a new format to government for immediate implementation. Another thing government can do is to adopt the security format of a well-policed, secure country and implement immediately. There is no shame in copying, so long as we get visibly working solutions. The fate and future of more than 200 million Nigerians, as well as the continued fidelity of the Nigerian state depends on this. TGIF.

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