BETWEEN February and March this year, President Muhammadu Buhari told the presidents of Burkina Faso and Ghana that the closure of the country’s borders had been immensely helpful in the fight against terrorism. But recently, he enquired from the country’s service chiefs during a virtual meeting, how light arms had been infiltrating the country despite the subsisting border closure. At the virtual meeting organised by the Presidency were the various heads of security and intelligence agencies and representatives of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF). The meeting focused on the need to end the daunting security challenges facing the country.
Truth be told, Buhari’s statement sounds very hollow. As President and Commander-in-Chief, he knows full well that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) are the agencies that bear full responsibility for the movement of light arms, ammunition and persons into the country. Was the cheeky question asked in jest, knowing that these agencies had defaulted on their respective statutory mandates? To be sure, the virtual meeting did not give Nigerians any impression of seriousness. It did not suggest that there had been a meaningful focus on the extant security challenges in the country. This is saddening because substantial numbers of Nigerians are dying on a regular basis through the illegal importation of light arms and ammunition.
As a matter of fact, the highlights of the meeting under reference seemed to be unduly focused on dispelling the notion that terrorists and bandits in their quest to actualise their bloody mandates are in possession of better and more sophisticated weapons than the security agencies. The government needed to get cracking in confronting terror, but all it cared to do was to use the opportunity of a virtual meeting to launder its image. The issue of insecurity in the country must be treated with more seriousness. The president must be reminded that he had made allusions to the merits of border closure while addressing the governments of the country’s neighbours, Burkina Faso and Ghana, early this year. The challenge thrown to the service chiefs on matters that are beyond their purview suggests a lack of coordination in the activities of the Federal Government.
The importance of security of life and property as the fundamental mandate of the government cannot be overemphasised. This was one key issue which Buhari as presidential candidate was always at pains to stress and amplify. Sadly, however, his administration has consistently adopted a lackadaisical and desultory approach to security issues. This has to change, and very fast. It is impossible for Nigerians to feel secure in the current circumstances.
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