Repositioning Nigeria’s security

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THE fact that Nigeria in the last two decades has been going through unprecedented security challenges is not deniable. The Jos crisis, according to Oladoyinbo (2007), was a violence fueled by land dispute and political rivalry which assumed a very complex dimension. The year 2011 will not be easily forgotten as the activities of Boko Haram in the North-East, North-Central and North-Western parts of Nigeria claimed thousands of lives and property worth billions of naira. At a stage, emergency rule had to be declared in the three mostly troubled states, Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. The high spate of ritual killings, kidnapping for rituals and ransom, armed bandits and banks robbery in the South-East, South-South and South-West is quite disturbing. According to Osungade (2008), the conflict in the Niger Delter (South-South) arose in the early 1990s due to tensions between the foreign oil corporations and some Niger Delter minority groups who felt they were being exploited particularly the Ogonis and the Ijaws.

National security in the 21st century is seen beyond the context of conventional military warfare; it includes non-military missions such as energy security, economic security, political security, human security, environmental security and so on. Ososioma (2005) posits that for a nation to be really secured, it must have a strong military force, strong and buoyant economy, a contended and happy people, and a good government run by a patriotic and democratic leadership. In 2012 while delivering a lecture at the Nigerian-Swidish Chamber of Commerce, the former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Muhammed Abubakar, asserted that national security seeks first and foremost to guarantee internal cohesion, maintain law and order and ensure safety of citizens’ lives and property as well guide against state vulnerability to insurrection and external aggression. To secure is to be free from danger, harm and anxiety. Sometimes, security is not the absence of threat but ability to respond to security breaches and threats with expediency and expertise.

Over the years, security matters in Nigeria have been tied to the apron strings of security agencies like the Armed Forces, the police force, Customs, Immigration, National Directorate of Law Enforcement Agency, Civil Defence Corps and Prison, yet the citizens across the length and breadth of the country do not feel secure. In fact, security cannot be divorced from development issues like poverty, hunger, diseases, exploitation, joblessness and hopelessness. Human security goes hand in hand with peace. Where able-bodied and young people wander in search of jobs that are non-existent, danger abounds as their restless youthful energy will most likely be channelled towards violence and crime, leading to fragility and conflict which ultimately impede development (Development Outreach, 2009). President Tinubu seems to have a reasonable understanding of the concept of national security when, during his first meeting with security organisations, he promised a reform of the doctrine and architecture of national security with a view to investing more in our security personnel and providing better training, equipment and welfare packages. He reiterated the fact that weapons alone do not win battles, but well motivated fighters.

The reformation of NSCDC

Prior to his emergence as the president, the then candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his manifesto during the 2023 general election, promised to free the Nigeria Police from “extraneous duties such as VIP duty and guard duty.” In turn, he laudably wishes to saddle the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) with these additional roles after thorough evaluation and reformation of the Corps. No doubt, President Tinubu is well acquainted with the critical issues bedeviling the security of the nation. There is the capacity and willingness to see the reformation of the security sector through by this new administration. To strengthen and enhance security of lives and property across the country, the omnibus duties of the police need to be reviewed and possibly farmed out by the government. This is where the NSCDC comes in handy. In addition to the roles of the corps in keeping round-the-clock surveillance on government’s critical national assets and infrastructure, providing intelligence to government, as well as monitoring, training and controlling the activities of private guard companies (PGC), the scope of the of NSCDC can be widened by further giving them additional mandates. Doing this will be of great benefits to the Nigerian nation in general and the Nigerian Police in particular.

In 1967 when the Nigerian civil war was raging, the Lagos Civil Defence Committee (LDCC) was established to provide warnings to the civil populace to keep safe against the nightly raids. They were advising and helping the civilian populace turn off their lights so that they did not become victims of the war. Members of the LDCC were volunteers working under the supervision of the Nigerian Army to help citizens. Over time, various administrations provided support to the Committee through out the periods of it’s transition. In May 2003, the Federal Government under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo gave assent to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Bill to become an Act of the National Assembly. Hence, NSCDC became an agency of government saddled with the mandates of securing lives, investments and property of the citizenry. In order to give a bite to the corps, amendment were proposed to make NSCDC personnel bear firearms to combat vandalism of critical national assets and infrastructure, as well as enable them to prosecute criminals in the name of the Attorney General of the Federation. The Ammendment Act of 2007 also made the Commandant General the Chief Accounting Officer of the Corps.

Since its establishment, the agency has contributed to securing lives and property. As a grass-roots organisation, the richness of its intelligence gathering network is quite good. The fact that the personnel of the corps are approachable make them the first security agency to approach, especially in the rural areas. Also, the NSCDC, through the Anti-Vandalism Squad, has made appreciable efforts in stemming the tide of oil theft across the country. Officers and men of the corps have also contributed to the fight against insurgency and banditry. The golden era of the organisation coincided with the administration of the first Commandant General, Dr. Ade Abolurin. His tenure witnessed robust welfare package for the ranks and file of NSCDC. Promotion, though a little delayed at the beginning, was impartially conducted.

The corps was able to contain indiscipline and disaffection among its officers. Subsequent leaderships have not been able to tackle the myriad of problems confronting the agency headlong.

Therefore, it is fitting and proper that President Tinubu rises to the occasion to breathe life into the corps.

Training and manpower development of thousands of the personnel have to be looked into and designed to meet the modern day security challenges confronting the nation. Unlike what is the case at the moment, whereby officers have to pay out of their salaries to undergo training at the various colleges of the corps, government needs to ensure that personnel are impartially selected for training and seminars. Selection should be based on their ability to cope, deliver on the job and cascade the training received when they go back to their various formations.

It is needless to say all officers from ‘Oga’ at the top to the least ranks need to be given adequate training on the mandate of the agency, modern policing techniques, weapon handling and human rights.

In 2022, officers of the Corps on the ranks of Assistant Commandant (ACC) and Deputy Commandant of Corps (DCC) were transferred across the country without paying them the entitlements stipulated in the Public Service Rules. Higher National Diploma (HND) holders and 2012 intakes had been stagnated for years. This has led to malcontent and indiscipline, so much so that, without any known justification, an officer who got enlisted later in the Corps are becoming seniors to those already in service. Harmonisation of the salaries of personnel of the Nigerian Police was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari with effect from January 2023, yet their counterparts in the Ministry of Interior are yet to be paid. Despite the fact that the schedule of duties of these agencies are almost similar and the challenges confronting the personnel on the job are the same too, government has to look into the welfare package for the NSCDC to be able to motivate the personnel to rise to the occasion.

If you gather ten officers of the NSCDC in a place, you will see ten shades of blue uniforms (sky blue, aquamarine, cobalt blue, indigo, Navy blue, Egyptian blue, etc). The essence of uniform is its sameness but over the years the agency has failed to identify which shade of blue to adopt, easy as this seems. Ditto the patterns of personnel’s insignias differ from state to state. Federal government should begin it’s repositioning of the Corps by reviewing the uniform and divesting it from all vestiges of its volunteer past.

A conducive environment is a prerequisite for better job performance. Critical observation has revealed that few state commands of NSCDC have what is called “administrative buildings” erected by the Federal Government. The rest occupy decrepit and makeshifts as their state command offices. Many of these buildings are given to the commands by the state governments and public spirited individuals. In Nigeria some public spirited individuals are not always altruistic. Therefore, if there are few permanent offices for the state commandants one can imagine what the fate of the Corps divisional offices would be. For this agency to perform optimally, befitting office accommodation should be constructed across the country for the Corps. This will also boost the morale of the personnel in no small measure.

Finally, beyond the present sloganeering by the top echelon to revamp and rejig the service, the top brass are offering their best. However, to sanitize the system, an external experienced retired military personnel should be brought in to clean the Augean stable at NSCDC. Such a neutral person will be better able to dispassionately operationalize the Corps in line with the President’s vision.