A deep look at Nigeria’s security challenges

In Nigeria, rising insecurity is the order of the day. No day passes without reports of kidnapping, banditry, robbery, murder and wanton killings. More worrying is the fact that, in spite of huge resources being injected into the defense sector, the Nigerian government seems unable to curb this menace that has been troubling the well-being of the nation for a long time.

The country is currently grappling with security hitches cutting across the six geo-political regions, particularly in the North-East, North-Central, Northwest and Southeast regions. Residents in these regions now hardly sleep with both eyes closed while the government that is normally entrusted with the security of their life and properties seems to be helpless.

In the National Security Strategy 2019, a document released by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Retired Major General Babagana Monguno, it was highlighted clearly that, “security is the cornerstone of development and progress in a free society, and that security is a guarantee of the well-being of citizens and stability of the state. It also noted that the nature of security challenges facing Nigeria today is more complex than in the past. Therefore, this calls for a robust, dynamic and proactive national security framework and infrastructure capable of dealing with these growing threats in real time.”

The National Security Strategy 2019 aims at ensuring that Nigeria’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, national interests, the well-being of the people and the country’s institutions are preserved, protected and enhanced.

Nigeria which is perceived as the giant of Africa has been witnessing unprecedented insecurity fueled by activities of Fulani herdsmen; Boko Haram, armed robbery, kidnapping, banditry, political/religious/communal crisis, murder, destruction of oil facilities by Niger Delta militants, Child Abduction/ Trafficking, secessionists’ movements etc.

The quagmire in which security challenges has placed Nigeria as a nation is unquantifiable. A nation endowed with both human and natural resources, but is suffering from severe pangs of hunger to the detriment of the citizenry. Nigeria continues to be a developing country struggling to find its feet among other nations. This is apparently due to numerous factors including the prevalent insecurity that have continued to present a challenge to its development and growth.

Myriads of factors have contributed to the magnitude of insecurity in Nigeria. Many erudite scholars have identified several causes of insecurity in Nigeria that are inimical to socio-economic growth and development. These factors have bedeviled the smooth flow of business activities in Nigeria.

It is obvious that unemployment causes extreme poverty which further instigates crime that gives rise to insecurity. As a result of the high level of unemployment and poverty among Nigerians, youths are adversely attracted to committing violent crimes such as kidnapping, robbery, child abduction, and other nefarious activities in an attempt to make ends meet.

However, the country’s diverse ethnic make-up is not itself a cause of insecurity in Nigeria, but rather the political, traditional and religious leaders across the nation who sometimes use ethnic sentiments to achieve their selfish ambitions. Throughout this way, the elites exploit people’s minds to stir up mistrust and resentment among different ethnic groups and among the country’s major religions which cause insecurity.

Meanwhile, the state of insecurity in Nigeria is unquestionably the outcome of government failure to checkmate widespread corruption. Corruption is responsible for Nigeria’s massive unemployment. It’s the reason Nigerian youth and businessmen lack electricity to run their businesses which lead to its subsequent crash. By creating unemployment and poverty, corruption leads to instability in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s security system seems to be very poor in both personnel and equipment. Security officers are poorly trained and remunerated. As a result, the requisite expertise is not available to meet modern security challenges. This weak security system can be due to a number of factors including corruption, poor funding, lack of modern equipment, poor safety personnel health, and inadequate staff among others.

Additionally, the porosity of Nigeria’s border paves way for inflow of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALWs) into the country which has enabled and continues to aid militancy and other sorts of crimes in Nigeria. It was reported that Nigeria hosts over 70% of about 8million illegal weapons being circulated in west Africa. This has contributed to the uncontrollable influx of migrants, predominantly young people, from nearby countries which account for some of the insecurity promoting criminal activities in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s current government has been strongly charged with ethnic disparity, deprivation, oppression, and the marginalization of some sections of the country in the provision of basic infrastructure and official appointments.  These have significantly compounded Nigeria’s security woes.

Thus, this may explain the agitation for the Biafra Republic in Southeast, Oduduwa nation in Southwest and Shi’a sect recurrent tussle, popularly known as the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN). Actually, several breaches of security followed these kinds of agitations.

The issue of bad governance and poor leadership also remains Nigeria’s fundamental cause of insecurity from the past till now. Every government has the primary function of providing basic social amenities and general infrastructure to its citizens. Ironically, these basic things are not there in Nigeria and the people, in general, are frustrated and demoralized. Demoralization and anger logically provide a strong fertile ground for aggression and general insecurity.

Having outlined all these countless factors that trigger insecurity in Nigeria, the lingering question that is still seeking for answer is, who will save us?

Mukhtar sent this piece from Kano [email protected]

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The concessionaires complained of poor cooperation from state governments who mostly delay in meeting their own part of the agreement, for instance in the area of land provision.

Another major challenge they emphasised was the lack of narrow gauge rail lines in and out of the dry ports which they noted was important to make the operation of the ports efficient.

They added that access to funds also remained a major issue even as banks and foreign investors make unreasonable demands for assets and bank bonds before the release of funds.

The concessionaires unanimously stressed the need for the ports being constructed to be given the status of port of origin and destination and also to be registered with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) upon completion.

In view of the delay in execution, the concessionaires stressed the need for a new agreement, pointing out that an agreement started in 2017 between them and the NSC but it was yet to be cleared by the Federal Ministry of Justice on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transportation.

They however commended the ICRC for its intervention and also appreciated the NSC for their support so far, noting that they were confident that under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the contracts will be sorted out.

The concessionaires pledged their commitment to see the concession to conclusion and the ports operational even as two of the concessionaires, Equatorial Marine Oil and Gas Ltd for the Katsina ports and Dala Inland Dry Port for the Kano Ports declared that their ports will commence operation before the third quarter of 2022.

Managing Director of Equatorial Marine Oil and Gas Ltd, Mr Usman Iya Abbas, informed the ICRC team that the Funtua port was already at over 85 per cent completion and was ready to launch before the end of the second quarter of 2022.

“We hope to commission this project before the end of the second quarter and the ports will become functional immediately. We are lucky to have great relationships in the shipping industry and with major shipping lines.

Managing Director, Dala Inland Dry Port Ltd., Hon. Ahmed Rabiu, concessionaires of the Kano Inland Port also hinted that the construction of the container depot was already nearing completion.

He assured that the company was working assiduously to ensure project completion and take off before the end of March 2022.

On his part, ICRC’s Director of Contract Compliance Department, Dr Ewalefoh who chaired the technical session of the meeting assured the concessionaires of the continuous support of the Commission, charging them however to send a detailed update of the contract status reports to the ICRC.

The Ag. Head, Media and Publicity of ICRC, Manji Yarling said he further enjoined the other four concessionaires who were yet to make remarkable progress in their contract execution to emulate the milestone recorded by the other two who were finalizing their constructions, so that the ports can yield the economic benefits for which the concessions were granted.

While thanking the stakeholders for honouring the invitation of the ICRC, it was resolved that going forward, there will be periodic meetings to ensure that the projects are speedily completed.