Have the security chiefs overstayed their welcome?

EARLY in February, precisely on February 13, the Senate went into a 10-hour meeting with security chiefs after which it passed a vote of confidence on the security agencies and resolved to continue its support for their onerous duties. Not a few watchers of the assembly were enraged that the only message that would come to the public after a 10-hour meeting with security chiefs was a “vote of confidence.” The love bond between the lawmakers and the security chiefs must be wrong, you would think.

Barely a month later, the music has changed, as the Senate, last Wednesday, resolved that the nation’s security architecture has failed and that something must be done.

Just as it has been in recent times, where blood has been flowing on the pages of Nigerian newspapers, newspaper headlines of Thursday and Friday last week were no exceptions. One item you cannot but notice on Thursday indicated the Senate’s resolve to meet with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the seemingly endless bloodbath in the country. Senators Ali Ndume, Senate Chief Whip, and the immediate past Senate President, Dr. Ahmed Lawan spoke frankly at the session.

Ndume was categorical that it won’t be palatable for senators to keep turning out on the floor week in, and week out to lament the killing of innocent Nigerians or observe one-minute silence. He said that the Senate had always supported the security chiefs with all they required to succeed in Training, Equipment, and Motivation (TEM).

Immediate past Senate President, Ahmed Lawan also said that the nation’s security architecture has failed the citizens and that urgent actions were needed to tackle the menace. Many of the senators who spoke on the motion agreed that the National Assembly must seek an audience with the President and Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces to seek an end to the needless bloodbath.

Lawal suggested that the Senate make available copies of the resolutions of the security summits held by the 8th and the 9th Senate to President Tinubu for appropriate action. If anyone thinks that the lamentations by the Senate would ginger some actions from the security forces, the headlines of Friday, March 8, 2024, confirmed the opposite. No fewer than 280 pupils and teachers of Government School, Kuriga, in Kaduna State, were abducted by bandits. In scenes that remind one of the 2014 incident at Chibok, Borno State, the bandits carted away their victims with very little resistance. The first time this happened in Borno State, the world practically stood still for Nigeria. World presidents took time out to identify with the #bringbackourgirls outcry. It was a major dent that destabilised the government of President Goodluck Jonathan in the build-up to the 2015 polls. But just before the kidnap of the Kaduna 280, some 300 female IDPs had been rounded up in Borno State by insurgents. The 300 Borno women were Internally Displaced Persons, who were out there to fetch firewood with which they would cook meals for their equally displaced family members in the IDP camps, Then they fell prey to bandits.

The House of Representatives, which took a motion on the 300 Borno women captured by bandits insisted that the security operatives must return them safely.  This case is one incident the late Afrobeat singer, Fela Anikulapo Kuti would easily describe as confusion break bone (CBB). It is instructive that unlike the scenario in 2014 when the world stood still for the Chibok girls, the entire globe appears to be saying it is tired of the bad news from Nigeria, this time.  Too many sad stories are linked to Nigeria these days that the world should be rightly tired of commiseration.

It is sad enough that Nigerians have to live their lives, 365 days and 24/7 in IDP camps but it is far more distressful seeing the already displaced persons snatched away from their equally displaced loved ones.

Some would say that the military is trying its best and the the security operatives are working on a difficult task. But if we may listen to the late General Sani Abacha, any insurgency that lasts more than 24 hours has the hands of some officials. It is time the administration looks inward.

The military and security agencies have been inundating the nation with stories of how they have been neutralising dozens of bandits and insurgents in recent times, but it appears the number of bandits keeps growing.

Since the very first day the current crop of security chiefs came on board, the nation has not known a day without insurgency and stories of bloodbath. From Jos to Borno, Sokoto, Kaduna, Benue, the South East, South-South, and the South West, stories that touch the heart have been endless. The nation was not treated to the usual initial gra gra when this set took over. The chiefs need to check where things have gone wrong.

It appears that the sentiment under the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari, when the lives of Nigerians meant nothing to the government had affected the psyche of the security organisations. That government was more intent on rehabilitating insurgents than ending the evil menace. The security chiefs, however, need to know that a hawk that cannot pick chickens with precision cannot be called by that name.

And that as much as the insurgents continue to find avenues to wreck violence, the names of General Lagbaja and his colleagues would be on our lips.

The last time some lawmakers proposed that the Federal Government should approve the use of guns by citizens, some of our security chiefs and experts were in the public eye, warning of the dangers of gun violence and all that. But which is better? A hapless citizen confronted by A-K 47-bearing bandits or a society troubled by gun proliferation?

The ball is rightly in the court of President Tinubu and also that of his service chiefs and commanders. The nation deserves respite from bandits and insurgents or we say goodbye to those who are not delivering on their assignments.

I will close with the contributions of Senator Ahmed Lawan at the senate plenary, last week.

He said: “Of course, some of our citizens will say they want to defend themselves, but what is the purpose of government? It means we shy away from our responsibilities because the most important purpose of any government is security. Even welfare is second.

“So, we need to insist on getting better outcomes from our security agencies.

I believe that everyone of us here, whether affected now or not, has experiences of insecurity and should insist on getting improvement.

“The constitutional amendment is coming. I don’t know what we can do better, but the security architecture in Nigeria today has failed woefully. I have

said this many times even in the previous assemblies that this thing is not working. We have to find something that works.”