•states can’t afford to fund separate security architecture ― Uzodinma
•underscores need to tackle youth unemployment
Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State and Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State on Tuesday called for a re-evaluation of the national security architecture as well as adequate funding of existing security agencies.
They gave the charge at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja while addressing returning Governors and Governors-elect during the 2nd day of the induction programme held at the instance of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).
Speaking during his presentation, Governor Soludo acknowledged the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment towards implementing State Police as a crucial step toward effective security in Nigeria.
Soludo’s remarks resonated strongly with the audience, emphasizing the need for urgent and comprehensive action to address security challenges at both the federal and state levels.
In a passionate speech delivered during an induction programme for Governors-elect, Soludo emphasized the urgent need to address the security challenges facing Nigeria and outlined the coping mechanisms his administration has adopted to survive in a dysfunctional system.
While noting that each locality has its own unique set of problems that require local actions, Soludo, however, observed that the current national security architecture places the burden of kinetic security exclusively on the federal government, leaving state governors as “Generals without troops.”
Drawing attention to the issue of funding, Soludo highlighted the financial constraints faced by the federal government in adequately supporting security agencies. Consequently, the responsibility for funding often falls back on the states, creating an accountability challenge within the system.
Reflecting on his first day in office, Soludo shared his immediate actions to tackle the security situation.
He established a Ministry of Homeland Security and appointed a retired Air Vice Marshal as his special adviser on security. Moreover, he revived and reorganized the state Strike Force vigilante service, which proved highly effective in addressing security threats within the state.
Governor Soludo emphasized the importance of both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to security.
He addressed the criminal elements hiding under the guise of agitation by challenging their narrative and unequivocally labelling them as plain criminals and kidnappers.
While appreciating the collaboration between federal agencies and the state government in tackling security challenges, he affirmed that Anambra State had witnessed collaboration in its border areas, resulting in the elimination of a notorious terrorist group that had terrorized both Anambra and neighbouring states for years.
On his part, Governor Hope Uzodinma who aligned with Soludo’s position, maintained that security as it has to do with State Governments and Federal Governments should be defined very properly.
According to him, there’s no part of this country that does not belong to one state or the other inclusive of FCT and the Commander in Chief, who is the head of all the security agencies, President Buhari, is responsible for the provision and management of security in the country.
“What a Governor will do is to take an action as a non-Nigerian owing up to the successes of the Federal Government security architecture. And also joining in taking the blame for their failures.
“And if that is correct, then the right thing to do is to initiate a collaborative approach, bring your ideas as a governor, security peculiarities and the security challenges.”
He also expressed concern over issues bothering the “funding gaps among the agencies. So, in order not to waste our time on too much monitoring of the State Governments, if we can tackle the funding gap that exists among these security agencies and fund them early enough, I think as a matter of fact the idea of having a General without a troop will disappear because you know as we always say, who plays the piper dictates the tune.
“So in that case, you will forge a relationship between the various security agencies in the State.”
In the bid to tackle the myriad of security challenges bedevilling the country, he stressed the need to adopt non-kinetic approaches by “forming an alliance with the traditional rulers and the diverse community of quality intelligence gathering and making this information available to security agencies so they can deploy.
“But what is remotely behind most of the challenges we see is unemployment and hunger. Just like he observed, between last year and this year, we have been to pull out over 200,000 young men and women from the unemployment market through our skilled programme for the digital economy.
“So, if we can employ our young boys and girls and sometimes become employees of Labour, they will be busy because an ideal mind is the devil’s workshop. And when they are busy they will add value to the society. So there’s really a need for a constructive partnership and operational relationship between the Federal Government, sub-national and Local authorities, as long as we’re able to forge this relationship, I am very sure that the current insecurity will disappear.
“I am also aware that given the economy and resources available to the states, it may not be very easy now for some states to fund the cost of setting up an independent security architecture that will be effective and efficient in their various states. Rather, an inter-dependent relationship between the federal establishment and provincial authorities will also work.”
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