Urgent need for security overhaul in Nigeria

BY KAYODE ADEBIYI

The recent security situation in Nigeria, which peaked with the killing and kidnapping of worshippers in Kwara and the abduction of school girls in Kebbi and Niger States, has again highlighted the need for overhauling the nation’s security architecture.

President Bola Tinubu, had while presenting the 2024 budget estimate before the joint sitting of the Senate and House of Representatives in November 2023, harped on the imperative of revamping the national security design.

“Defence and internal security are accorded top priority.

“The internal security architecture will be overhauled to enhance law enforcement capabilities and safeguard lives, property and investments across the country,’’ he said.

Tinubu said overhauling the national security architecture was in tandem with the National Security section of the Renewed Hope Agenda, in which the president promised to “accelerate reforms in building more robust, re-energised armed forces”.

But security experts say successive governments have repeatedly vowed to reform the nation’s security architecture, a term which means different things to different administrations.

They observe that, under the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, “an immediate re-engineering of the entire security apparatus” was ordered at the National Security Council in August 2020.

“However, we all know that since 1986, no administration has altered the system beyond replacing service chiefs and other security heads.

“Many governments all over the world have had to reform their security architecture, which means reviewing laws and policies and not replacing institutions as insinuated.

“If the present administration is poised to add value to the security system and genuinely face the country’s many security challenges squarely, there is a need for reforms,” an analyst said.

Some stakeholders note that the president has taken some key actions in implementing a multifaceted approach to addressing Nigeria’s security challenges.

For instance, in October, the National Economic Council (NEC) endorsed the president’s proposal for a complete revamp of training institutions for security agencies nationwide.

The initiative aims to improve the quality of personnel through better training, improved living conditions, enhanced equipment, and a boost to the welfare of police and military personnel.

Also, the administration is either in the process of establishing or has established specialised security formations to address specific threats.

Some of the specialised security formations are: the Maritime Police, established to secure Nigeria’s extensive marine economy, and the Solid Minerals Police, formed to protect the solid minerals sector from illegal mining and theft.

The National Forest Guards, a 130,000 armed and well-trained corps approved by the president, was established to reclaim the nation’s 1,129 forest reserves from bandits and terrorists, a joint effort between the federal and state governments.

However, due to the physical nature of Nigeria’s security system, some stakeholders say these measures have not gone far enough and merely scratch the surface of a complete overhaul of the security architecture.

“In almost all the security policies and strategies designed and being implemented by the government, there is emphasis on the importance of coordination, collaboration and cooperation in the discharge of various functions that have a bearing on national security.

“Talk about the National Security Strategy, National Counter-Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST), the Policy Framework and National Action Plan for Prevention and Countering Violent Extremism and the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy…

“Therefore, understanding that intelligence coordination is as vital to national security as intelligence gathering itself, and de-emphasising rivalry and fostering synergy among the nation’s security outfits are first steps towards reforms,” an expert said.

He also said that, on many occasions, the failure of a country to properly coordinate all its security agencies could signal greater danger than any internal or external security threat.

Another component identified by experts as crucial to overhauling national security is public-private partnerships.

They said, since threats to national security have evolved and are becoming even more insidious, the public and private sectors must engage in effective partnership to protect people, facilities and national infrastructure assets.

“In a modern security atmosphere, partnerships are needed to mutually share information, people, processes, technologies, innovations and ideas across private sector entities such as industry, think tanks and academic institutions, the financial sector and technology institutions.

“One crucial way the private sector can play a part in national security is by embed- ding national security-value projects in their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes,” an expert said.

Perhaps the aspect where stakeholders want to see the biggest change in overhauling the nation’s security architecture is the counter-terrorism strategy.

According to the immediate-past Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Chris Musa (retired), the military currently uses a force-based approach (kinetic) about 25 per cent of the time, suggesting non-kinetic efforts make up the remaining 75 per cent.

A kinetic approach is an aggressive and direct method that uses physical force, military action, or confrontation to deal with security threats.

Non-kinetic operations support military and broader national security objectives, focusing on degrading and or destroying enemy capabilities without the application of physical effects.