A think-tank and non profit organization, Agora Policy, has recommended possible solutions to overcoming worsening insecurity in Nigeria.
This was contained in a press release made available to the NPO Reports on Sunday on the occasion of the release of its latest report which focuses on insecurity.
The report stated that Nigeria must adopt a more holistic approach that simultaneously combats security threats effectively to overcome the widespread and growing insecurity in the country while also addressing the root cause of the problems.
“To stand a fighting chance with overcoming widespread and growing insecurity within its borders, Nigeria must adopt a more holistic approach that simultaneously combines combatting security threats more effectively with addressing the root causes of conflicts and agitations in the country.”
“Addressing only the manifestations of insecurity without tackling its drivers is akin to merely cutting off the tail of a dangerous snake while keeping intact its head and the rest of its body.”
It further added that all geo-political zones are confronted with one form of insecurity or the other and there is hardly any zone in the country that is spared.
“With all its six geo-political zones contending with one form or multiple forms of insecurity, Nigeria is “currently battling generalised insecurity” where hardly any zone of the country is spared.”
It was further explained that there are dominant security challenges in form of terrorism in the North East, banditry and terrorism in the North West, herder-farmer clashes and terrorism in the North Central, militancy in the South South, insurgency and separatist agitations in the South East, farmer-herder/communal clashes and even a sprinkle of terrorism in the South West.
“The report identifies the dominant security challenges as terrorism in the North East, banditry and terrorism in the North West, herder-farmer clashes and terrorism in the North Central, militancy in the South South, insurgency and separatist agitations in the South East, farmer-herder/communal clashes and even a sprinkle of terrorism in the South West.“
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It warned that “allowing the prevailing security challenges to fester will hasten Nigeria’s slide to the league of failed states similar to the circumstances in Iraq and Syria.
“The preponderance of groups with territorial ambitions means increased threat to the territorial integrity of the country.”
According to the statement, “Insecurity in Nigeria is multi-dimensional, as such, for any attempt at addressing the growing menace to be effective and sustainable, it needs to be holistic, deftly combining ‘hard’, military solutions with ‘soft’ approaches aimed at tackling the socio-economic underpinnings of conflict and crime. Insecurity does not thrive in a vacuum.”
The statement therefore identified 11 drivers of insecurity in Nigeria which include, ineffective and inadequate security architecture, ineffective and insufficient criminal justice system, easy access to small arms and light weapons, the existence of porous borders, easy access to illicit drugs, prevalence of poverty and unemployment, impact of climate change, multiplication of unaddressed socio-political and economic grievances, poor land use policies, agitations over resource control, and failure to address structural and constitutional deficiencies.
According to the statement, these measures should be implemented alongside interventions that will enhance the capacity of the security forces to defeat and deter the terrorists, bandits and others who pose security threats to the country. In this wise, the report recommends a root-and-branch reform of the country’s security architecture to ensure that its security forces are fit-for-purpose and can adequately rise up to current and future challenges.
“The current security architecture of Nigeria may have once been effective in tackling the challenges at their time of institution,” the report states.
“However, the challenges across the country have evolved significantly. There are new domains of security threats, while smaller and largely benign groups have evolved into well-armed transnational insurgent groups.
“This means the security and defence structures that worked in prior dispensations are currently struggling to keep up with the evolved challenges. The need for a defence and security sector reform is imperative.”
According to the report, such a reform should start with a comprehensive and consultative audit of the missions, doctrines, trainings and staffing of all the military, paramilitary and other security forces and agencies in the country to ensure an alignment with current and future security threats. The result of the audit, the report adds, should provide a guide to how to better streamline, resource, staff and coordinate security agencies in the country.
The outcome of the comprehensive reform should incorporate mechanisms for significant boost in the number of security personnel, increased focus on accountability, more respect for rules of engagement and monitoring and evaluation, and greater coordination of intelligence gathering and usage.
The report also recommends the mop up and control of the flow of small arms and light weapons, recruitment of more women in the security forces and introduction of more gender-sensitive policies, regulation of irregular security outfits across the country, and the introduction of a dedicated border patrol force to contain the unchecked flow of arms and terrorists/bandits across the country’s extensive borders.
“We recommend the creation of a border guard force focused on providing border security, as the current role is being performed by the Nigerian Customs Service which considers border security a secondary priority to its primary focus of revenue generation,” the report states. “Nigeria can look at examples such as the Border Security Force and the Frontier Force in India, the Pakistan Rangers in Pakistan, and the Border Security Agency in Malaysia, among others.”
The statement also recommends the use of private security contractors but in a specified and controlled manner.
“It is a known fact that Nigeria’s security personnel are overstretched due to the persistent and widespread nature of current security challenges.
“This deficiency has allowed insecurity to fester. To relieve the security forces and to enable significant efforts to be applied to degrade the threats, the government should consider inviting private security contractors as it was done shortly before the general election in 2015 [and use them] to confront armed banditry in the North-West and North-Central regions.”
“The engagement should be handled through the security forces to assuage concerns in some quarters that the private military contractors are an indication of the non-appreciation by the political class of the security forces’ contribution and sacrifice. Clear objectives and measurement parameters should be set and monitored closely.”