By Ahmad Khalil
My dear Gen. Muhammad Buhari (rtd), GCFR. I have sensed that you might have been taken aback by the caption of my letter. As a retired General who fought a civil war to keep Nigeria as a single indivisible entity, it seems like an affront on your rich CV for some “bloody” civilians to write national security tips for you. I must start by apologizing that my piece does not intend to question your expertise here. You are certainly more than competent, but as the saying of the holy exegesis goes: “Wa zakkir fa innaz zikraa tanfa’ul mu’mineen (And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the believers)”.
It is a trite repeating that the security situation in Nigeria is appalling. The crime landscape has been deregulated to the extent that even at home, with gates locked, one is at risk of getting abducted by some vicious, unkempt, and ragtag bandits. I am sure, Mr. President, you have read about instances like that occurring in Zaria, Zamfara, and even your home state Katsina. These stories mustn’t escape the news cuts Malam Garba and Mr. Femi prepare daily for you. But par chance it did- I am willing to paint the real picture for you. To make it clearer, the audacity of the bandits that grew bold under your watch is unimaginably profound. Remember when they abducted hundreds of schoolboys, right under your nose, in Kankara Local Government, while you were vacationing at the neighboring Daura with full paraphernalia of colorful Brigade of Guards? This is how bad the situation has been, Mr. President. I don’t want to remind you about the horror experienced by the internally displaced people of Sokoto who were burnt to ashes while attempting to flee away from unremitted banditry. My expectation of you is that this sad story would completely melt your empathetic heart- so don’t just skip this part and assume it is just not real.
Having analyzed your frustrations and helplessness with this precarious Nigeria situation, I feel like igniting a conversation with you. Sir, I am a student of system thinking. In our school of thought, we try to infuse a little logic model in x-raying challenging phenomena by beaming searchlight both proximally and distally. At the root of escalating tensions, restiveness and pervasive insecurity is a failure of governance and social justice. We may continue to use Super Tucano to bombard settlements of suspected bandits, but that would not end the problem. Even for the security measures, it appears that militarization did not and will not help internal security. Police are the main drivers of internal security but what we have now is just a mockery of that system. For a long, I have toiled with the idea of reforming the policing infrastructure of this country. I think now, more than ever, is the right time to have this conversation. Take a look at the number of organizations that have one thing or another with our internal security: Nigerian Police Force (NPF), Department of State Security Services (DSS), Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency …. The list pales into an endless void.
Mr. President, I am submitting that you should organize a national security summit to discuss how best to reform these disparate organizations with a view of having a single and efficient one. We all agree that professionalism is lacking in most of these organizations; thus, the new brand that would emerge from them must be nurtured with this hindsight. The thousands of FRSC officials to be absorbed into NPF can be saddled with ensuring safety along our highways against the current trend where they hide in the cities and towns to be searching for a Driver’s license. If there is any incident along the highways, heads must roll since we know exactly the people deployed to protect us on major roads. The NSCDC staff shall add to the strength of the currently weak police manpower; as such every nook and cranny of the country ought not to be left ungovernable at the mercy of local bandits who can decide to impose taxes on the law-abiding rural citizens. For the NDLEA staff, their division in the branded NPF will be charged with tackling supply and logistics chains of illegal drugs. For this task, they must work with local community leaders to get the pulse and act on tips to protect youth from taking that dangerous path. Mr. President, DSS gathers a lot of data but the seemingly fractious nature of these organizations makes it difficult to share intelligence and work harmoniously for a common goal. If you can have DSS as a department under the newly branded Nigerian Police, everything will come under one roof. With the support of information technology, there can be one source of data from all criminal records in Nigeria. As obtained in serious climes, with just a click the system can find out what is at stake.
At this juncture, I want to resign to the background and allow you to rummage and ruminate on this proposal. I promise to be back soon to continue with the conversation on how you can infuse modern techniques, including body cameras, GPS, AI, forensic science, and behavioral change communication strategies to refocus the proposed new NPF. For now, I will leave you in peace to join the #SecureNorth street protests.
May Nigeria have peace and prosperity!
