There must be strong synergy among security agencies to fight insecurity —Retired AIG Bolanta

Baba Adisa Bolanta was Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 6 in Calabar, Cross River State. He also served as Commissioner of Police in Oyo, Sokoto, Kebbi and Imo states. In this interview by BIOLA AZEEZ, retired AIG Bolanta speaks on national security and the challenges before the new Minister of Defence.

I want you to assess the current security architecture which the new Minister of Defence will be inheriting.

What we have on the ground now is a rigid arrangement with predominance of the military. And you know the security issues we are facing are not the type that require purely military solutions. Most of them are acts of criminality, which need agencies trained specifically to handle such matters. So, what I expect now is improved collaboration among the various security agencies and the military.

And that collaboration should not be limited to the agencies alone; there must also be synergy among the ministries. We have the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Police Affairs, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Information, including the National Orientation Agency. There must be increased collaboration. In the Ministry of Interior, we have Immigration; in the Ministry of Finance, we have Customs; and we have the EFCC. All these teams must have a stake in what we are doing to secure the country. It is not something one or two agencies can do. No, no, no, no, no. It has to be a collective fight. And if that fight is to be successful, there must be strong synergy and collaboration among the various agencies and their supervising ministries.

Are you saying the synergy is not there right now?

It is there, but not at the level expected. It is not the kind of synergy that can lead us to greater success in fighting banditry and other forms of criminality.

Where are the bandits from? Are they from outside, or are they among us?

I said earlier that security is not just an agency collaboration issue. Most of the people troubling us in the core North are not Nigerians. Some are foreigners from neighbouring countries. And there are agencies responsible for monitoring the movement of people in and out of the country, and agencies responsible for regulating the inflow of goods and commodities. We must take all these into account. Some of the criminals are local, our own people. Others are foreigners taking advantage of our porous borders. Because of global warming and reduced rainfall in their regions, they are migrating southward to where it is wetter — which is Nigeria. They are moving in unchecked, causing an influx. And with influx comes contraband, including arms and ammunition. Don’t forget that our immediate neighbours, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Libya, are in turmoil. Libya appears to be stabilizing, but it still has two governments. All these factors must be considered when looking at our security problems.

Should feeding of animals by herders become so criminal?

When redefining our national security system, we must factor in environmental issues. Climate change has caused increased rainfall in some places and drastic reduction in others. Naturally, people will migrate to wherever they can survive. Many of our northern neighbours, Niger, Chad, and even areas affected by Boko Haram, are experiencing severe environmental distress. It is natural for people to move towards places where they can sustain their livelihoods. Many are coming because of the conditions in their countries, while others are taking advantage of our generosity to engage in activities harmful to us.

What should Nigerians expect from the new Defence Minister in terms of vision and priorities for national security?

Nigerians should expect strong leadership. Our security problem is multidimensional and persistent. The new minister’s leadership should rest on three pillars. First, better coordination among the military, the police, the DSS, and all other security agencies. Second, defence operations must be proactive, not reactive. We must study what is happening elsewhere and anticipate threats. Many believed what happened in other countries could never happen here — yet it is happening now. Third, operations must be technologically driven — not just deploying troops, but integrating advanced systems. We need an integrated communication system, not the analogue type we used before. Collaboration with service providers like MTN and Airtel is essential. Such systems cannot be easily disrupted. Intelligence gathering must also be technologically driven. We may not achieve this alone; we need support from countries that have succeeded in building such systems. These are the areas the minister should focus on. I am not a military man, but I know these are core issues.

Is Nigeria’s current military capacity, manpower, equipment and intelligence, adequate to address today’s security challenges?

They are adequate but need improvement in manpower, equipment, training, and intelligence networks. Security is not just about manpower. Equipment is critical. Let me take you back to the 1980s, during the Shagari regime. Looking at our environment and neighbours, Shagari upgraded the equipment of the military, police, and other agencies. By the time he finished, the Nigerian military was the best in West Africa. Only Angola could match us in Central Africa. That was why we intervened decisively in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s. So, equipment matters. Intelligence matters. And when dealing with internal security, there must be strong synergy among the military, police, DSS, NIA, and all intelligence-gathering institutions. Locals must also be involved. Look at Ukraine. Russia could have crushed Ukraine in two weeks. But citizens were well-briefed before the war. When the attack came, citizens knew what to do. That is grassroots intelligence.

In that wise, are you supporting traditional rulers getting more constitutional roles in national security?

There is a need for that. Traditional rulers are closest to the grassroots. When someone has a problem, the first place they go is the palace before even considering the court. That institution should be recognised in the constitution, given roles and responsibilities and sanctioned when they fail.

The North East insurgency, or banditry, has persisted for over a decade. What should be done differently under the new leadership?

The insurgency has an international dimension. It is not just Nigeria versus Boko Haram. There are global links, Somalia and others. We must think beyond what we are doing. Beyond field operations, we must look at financial flows. Terrorists cannot operate without money, and their funding is not from Nigeria alone. We must track their financial sources. A nation at war whose income is cut off cannot function. It’s the same here. If we eliminate their funding sources, the conflict will gradually die down.

Why has insecurity persisted in the North West too?

Our security problems are multidimensional. Complex threats require diverse strategies. Counterterrorism, banditry, communal violence, and criminality have different approaches. Not everything is a military matter. The military is trained differently from police and immigration. What we see in the North West is criminality that was left unchecked for too long. That is why it seems uncontrollable today. The military has been overburdened.

Military intervention in internal security has two aspects: MACA (military assistance to civil authority) during natural disasters requiring specialized equipment; and MACP (military assistance to civil power) when disturbances exceed the police’s capacity like elections or insurgency. Military involvement is not permanent. After operations, who remains? The police. To end the crisis, we need collaboration among the military, state governments, police, and judiciary.

Since this crisis started over a decade ago, we have not heard of bandits being charged to court or sentenced. There is no consequence. People kill and go free. Without consequence, crime continues. We need comprehensive changes in operations across the North West—a collective effort by military, police, state governments, and judiciary.

Talking about collaboration with police, but fingers are being pointed at police officers for engaging in corruption. How do you defend that?

When people say the police are not fighting corruption, I disagree. The Nigerian Police Force is the only agency with an in-house system to try its personnel—like a formal court.

Views are being expressed that foreign collaborations are behind insurgency in Nigeria. Do you subscribe to that?

Of course. You cannot rule it out. Nigeria is the most prosperous nation in Africa. Across our borders, you find the same ethnic groups. We are a potential global power, one of the top 10 or nine richest countries if we harness our resources. That makes Nigeria a threat to some developed countries. Even in 1990, when our troops went to Liberia, our military operated like the Americans or British. Are we not a threat? Yes, we are. So destabilizing us is in some interests. And remember: when insurgency began, Nigeria struggled to buy weapons despite having money. It was not until Buhari came in that we started getting arms. Why? It shows foreign factors cannot be ruled out.

As insecurity now crosses borders across Africa, how important is collaboration with ECOWAS and neighbouring countries?

It is extremely important. We need strong cooperation not only with neighbours but across the West and Central African sub-regions, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, etc. ECOWAS has a military wing that deploys assets to assist member states. Recently, Nigerian troops helped foil a coup in Benin. That shows the importance of regional cooperation. It also highlights the need to further enhance our military capability. We should be able to intervene even in faraway Senegal. Our fighter aircraft should strike anywhere necessary, and we should have naval and air platforms to move troops. We have capacity, but it is not enough. We must enhance it.

As a retired AIG who served in major regions of Nigeria, please share your experience.

It is good to leave your local area; that’s when you understand others. When I was going for NYSC in Igboland, my mother begged me not to talk to any girl because of stereotypes about cutting noses. But when I got there, I found friendly, loving people who embraced non-indigenes. In the North, I found the same. Nigeria is blessed to be united. Our diversity is our strength. I have travelled everywhere and discovered that aside from language, we are the same people. All we need is to do more to unite and improve our relationships.