Tackling Nigeria’s Security Challenge

By most accounts, the current security challenges facing the
country make this period one of the most critical periods which Nigeria has
passed through as a sovereign nation.

Observers maintain that the period is somewhat akin to the
30-month old Nigerian civil war, adding, however, that the marked point of
departure is that the war was a conventional war, with known and identifiable
enemies.

In the recent armed struggle in the Niger Delta area, the
dramatis personae were known and this made it possible for the Federal
Government to introduce the Amnesty Programme for Niger Delta militants and
other programmes to boost the area’s development.

The leaders of the Niger Delta militants made known their
demands and entered into dialogue with the government and the discourse
resulted in the apparent peace in the region.

For Boko Haram insurgency, however, the situation is
entirely different. Though opinions are divided on whether to dialogue with
them or not, the main question is: “How does one dialogue with a masked group?’’

Moreover, analysts say that the country’s security agencies,
especially the army, have to devise innovative means of confronting the Boko
Haram challenge.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika,
alluded to this fact when he spoke at the 2012 Army Day Celebration.

The army chief stressed that the current security situation
necessitated a paradigm shift from the conventional warfare role of the army to
counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency roles, among others.

“The changes in our force structure, necessitated by spate
of security threats in the country, call for greater emphasis on functional and
mission-oriented training in order to improve Nigerian Army’s operational
efficiency,’’ he said.

Ihejirika also likened the current security situation in the
country to the Nigerian civil war, which threatened the existence of the
country.

“Apart from the civil war, at no other time in our nation’s
history has the army been tasked as in the current security situation in the
country,’’ he added.

He, nonetheless, gave the assurance that in spite of the
security challenges facing Nigeria, the country would not disintegrate.

Ihejirika noted that the army had always been in the
forefront of efforts to keep Nigeria as one country since independence in 1960.

“The army is still ready to pay the supreme sacrifice to
keep the country as one united entity.

“So, we should forget about any talk of Nigeria breaking up;
the army will never agree to that,’’ he stressed.

President Goodluck Jonathan also conceded that the country
had been facing serious security challenges, particularly in the last one year.

The president, who also spoke at the Army Day Celebration,
challenged the army high command to re-engineer and re-train the soldiers so as
to reposition them to effectively tackle the emerging security challenges
facing the nation.

He vowed that the Federal Government would use all  resources at its disposal to provide adequate
security for the citizens.

Jonathan, who lauded the current interface existing among
the security agencies, stressed that a national anti-terrorism policy was now
in place.

All the same, opinion leaders and security experts hold
divergent opinions on the kind of approach that should be adopted to handle the
Boko Haram insurgency, the main security problem currently confronting the
nation.

Alhaji Hamma Misau, a retired Assistant Inspector-General of
Police, suggested that security agencies should make efforts to get across to
the sect’s leaders.

The retired police officer, however, advised security
operatives to desist from unduly harassing members of the public.

“If they treat the public in a civil manner, some of them
will be willing to feed the security operatives with important intelligence
data which can give a lead on how to reach the Boko Haram leaders for dialogue.

“Members of the Boko Haram sect are part of us; they live
among us. Therefore, it is important to reach them and dialogue with them so as
to know their grievances and address them,’’ he said.

Nevertheless, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, a former
Inspector-General of Police, blamed the security agencies for their inability
to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency and other security challenges facing the
country efficiently.

He blamed the current security challenges facing the country
on the inability of the security agencies to have accurate intelligence on
activities of militant groups.

“In the past, we have dealt with militant groups such as
Maitatsine in Kano and other parts of the country with the aid of efficient
intelligence,’’ he noted.

Coomassie claimed that the Boko Haram insurgency could be
addressed via “restricted dialogue’’ with the members of the sect, once the
government was able to ascertain its leadership.

However, Dr Lateef Adegbite, the Secretary-General, Nigerian
Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, said that the Federal Government should
establish an amnesty programme for members of the Boko Haram sect.

He said that the sect’s members should be pacified rather
than punished.

“The Federal Government should do everything possible to
curtail their excesses; while those of them who are ready to embrace peace
should be granted amnesty,’’ he stressed.

Adegbite, who attributed the current security challenges
facing the country to poverty, illiteracy and unemployment, stressed that these
factors were usually responsible for armed struggles in any society.

The current security situation in the country was also
exhaustively discussed at the 8th All Nigerian Editors Conference, recently
held in Uyo.

Various speakers and contributors at the conference, whose
theme was “The Nigerian Editor and National Security’’, underscored the need
for editors not to publish themes that could jeopardise national security.

Mr Gbenga Adefaye, the President of the Nigerian Guild of
Editors, bemoaned a situation in which the country’s media had become targets
of terrorist attacks.

He, however, appealed to media practitioners to look beyond
their traditional information gathering and dissemination roles.

“Today, the main topic of national discourse is security,
even President Goodluck Jonathan publicly admitted that the security concern
has been a major distraction in his efforts to fulfil his campaign promise of
job creation,’’ he said.

Sharing similar sentiments, Mr Labaran Maku, the Minister of
Information, urged the media to rise above religious and ethnic sentiments in
their reportage.

“As a reporter in government, I am encouraged when I read
you but at times, I am also depressed.

“Whenever there is a major communal crisis in the country;
that is when I test the efficacy, nationalism and judgments of the press.

“You can read and know from newspapers which one is for
which camp; you can decipher from the front page which paper has some sympathy
for certain religious or ethnic groups.”

The minister appealed to editors to put the interest of the
nation above any selfish considerations.

Senate President David Mark, who was the guest of honour,
also advised editors to play down issues which had the tendency of jeopardising
national stability.

He opined that if journalists were mindful of sensitive
national issues, their reportage would not constitute threats to national
security.

Mark appealed to editors to always refer to the Freedom of
Information Act whenever they were in doubt about certain issues so as to know
which one constituted a threat to national security.

Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, noted that the conference’s theme aptly reflected the editors’
concern over the security challenges facing the country.

The Speaker, who was represented by his deputy, Rep. Emeka
Ihedioha, advised editors not to place the media owners’ interests above
national security issues.

The National Security Adviser, Alhaji Sambo Dasuki, however,
called for a total redefinition of the role of the media to make them more
responsive to issues affecting national security, without necessarily
jeopardising their commercial interests.

He urged journalists to strike a balance between national
security issues and the need to make profits.

“While I understand that the purpose of the media is to sell
their publications, it is also important to strike a balance when it comes to
reporting national security concerns,’’ he said.

Dasuki appealed to the media to refrain from heightening the
level of fear and insecurity in the country through sensational reportage.

Mr Ita Ekpeyong, the Director-General, State Security
Service (SSS), appealed to journalists not to encourage acts of terrorism in
the country via their reportage.

In his paper entitled: “Architecture of Terror”, Ekpeyong noted that most terrorists needed publicity for their nefarious activities, stressing that the media should refrain from giving undue publicity to acts of terror so as to promote national security.

“Since terrorists need sympathy, media reportage should not
aim at encouraging their despicable acts. The press should not give prominence
to issues which ought to be buried.

“National interest must be taken into consideration whenever
the press is reporting terrorism,’’ he stressed.

In spite of the current security challenges facing Nigeria,
many observers believe that the country has a lot to celebrate as it marks its
52nd independence anniversary.

“For a country that survived a civil war as a fledgling
nation, no security challenge can be insurmountable,’’ some of them add.

They, however, urge all the citizens to assist the security
agencies in efforts to contain the activities of some anti-social groups which
are currently posing threats to the country’s security.

Obike Ukoh, is of
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Obike Ukoh