Any keen watcher of events currently taking place in Nigeria will easily attest to the fact that the country’s security system as put in place by our colonial masters before independence in 1960 has outlived its usefulness with regards to curtailing the security threats to all Nigerians on one entity or the other.
The spate of killings and wanton destruction of properties in many communities in the country can only be compared to the acts of war between Biafra and Nigeria from 1967 to 1970.
Until recently when personalities like the former presidential running mate to Buhari, Pastor Tunde Bakare and former president Olusegun Obasanjo added a new dimension to the state of insecurity in our various states, criminal acts have always been tied to unemployment rate amongst the youths, moral decadence in Nigerian schools, declining parental care, greed, corruption, faulty value system and so on.
According to Pastor Bakare, Nigeria is presently under siege. He added that kidnappers, herdsmen, boko haram Islamic fighters and looters of the nation’s treasury are now the commanders-in-chief in the country. SEE ALSO:THE INCREASING INSECURITY OF BANKS’ CUSTOMERS IN NIGERIA
Obasanjo on his part described the criminal acts, especially as perpetrated by the boko haram and the Fulani herdsmen as attempts by some fellows to Islamize not only Nigeria but the whole of Africa. This implies that these men have lost confidence in the ability of the Buhari-led federal government to make us sleep with our two eyes closed.
As usual, notable groups such as Afenifere, Ohaneze Nchigbo, MASSOB and individuals like Mike Ozokhome have risen in support of these claims while the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF and the presidency are of the opinion that Obasanjo and Bakare are raising false alarm. Ijn its reaction to Bakare warning, the presidency was reported to have asked to relocate to other countries if he feels unsafe in Nigeria. In other words, the presidency is of the view that there is no cause for alarm.
The stance of the presidency concerning Bakare’s warning is understandable because admittance will equally suggest that the government has failed to comply with at least a part of the 1999 constitution section 14(b) states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be primary purpose of government”.
Meanwhile, many of the people who see the need for sincere fight against insecurity are of the view that job creation for the youth, education of the youth, especially in the Northern part of Nigeria, adequate funding of the police and creation of state police will go a long way to stemming the tide.
Adequate funding and reorganization of the police along with other recommendations will indeed go a long way to combating crimes. But this must go beyond mere creation of special units without corresponding specialist trainings and modern policing devices to match those of today’s crime perpetrators.
We cannot continue to run our police and the military the way they have always been run and expect magic. According to zig ziglar, ‘repeating the same thing over again, expecting a different result is another definition of insanity”.
This is why our security planners must consider other security options for Nigeria. One of such options is the creation of “police state”. This is different from “state police” in the sense that state police is a expected to be run by state government while police state is a form of coded “enlistment” of many civilians into the force. The working modality of this will ensure that there is no safe place for criminals as one’s next door neighbour may in fact be a specialized “police officer”.
Notwithstanding the claims and counter claims about the defeat of Boko Haram fighters and other criminals by the Federal government, the fact remains that we must ensure the safety of lives and properties in our society before other socio-economic problems can be solved.
When Nigeria becomes the socio-economic problems can be solved with a sound security system, investors like UTC, UAC, Leventis, Kingsway and many more that have partially or completely left our shores will begin to not only come back but also encourage new ones to come. Once again, let us depart from our ugly security past and embrace the introduction of “Police state” as a viable option”.