Insecurity: Need for government, citizens synergy

The lingering insecurity in Nigeria has continued to create a public discourse around the globe. This has been observed both in mainstream and social media.

It is not unusual to see people criticising Nigerian government and its officials over the development. It’s sad that most of the comments are bitterly written, full of diatribe without complimenting the government’s efforts in the fight against insecurity in the nation.

Yes, it’s something unusual, before 2015 general elections, there’s nothing like harsh words whenever a picture or statement about President Muhammadu Buhari is posted on Facebook, Twitter or other social media platforms (including the mainstream media) and most of them are embracing the movement by chanting “Sai Baba”. Unfortunately, some of these interesting comments have reduced after his first tenure as president.

Could this be because we had high demand and expectations on the president or not? Though our parents and grandparents told us President Buhari was someone that had principles and took actions on time, he was a hero in ‘War Against Indiscipline’, and he revived the country’s economy and took no nonsense from anybody or anywhere when he was the Nigerian head of state. But can we say that it’s because of the democratic system of governance that has turned him to what he is today?

I recently found out about the article written by Malam Garba Shehu celebrating the President’s 78th birthday titled “Anti-Corruption Hero, President Buhari Leads by Example”. This was criticized by many Nigerians irrespective of religion, ethnicity or political affiliation, tagging him as ‘failure’. Then I asked myself, why all these, the most embraced president in Africa is trying to turn into the most insulted president, is President Buhari aware of what is happening now at all?

My mind keeps wandering despite the fact that I finally agreed that he failed on securing the nation and all these criticisms are hinged on insecurity because President Buhari has done a lot to this country and his achievements are numerous.

The issues of fighting corruption, empowerment, employment opportunities, sustaining democracy, agriculture and many more are issues that we should applaud the president.

On the other hand, the critics are also right considering the advice given to the president on insecurity, urging him to sack the service chiefs which he neglected and all the blames on the security architecture of the nation are directly centered on him.

The recent killings of Zabarmari farmers and the abduction of Kankara students are still fresh in our memories.

I think, by now, Nigerians have given enough excuses to the president for leading this country for almost six years. We should also remember that almost all the complaints are centered on insecurity, especially failure in tackling Boko Haram insurgency, kidnappings and banditry. Can we also say that there are some forces behind the fight against insurgency and the president cannot expose them?

At this juncture, it is important to note that many people believe that one of the constraints of a successful fight against insurgency in Nigeria is the failure of the president to do away with the service chiefs. It has been observed that the tactics of the current service chiefs cannot win the battle.

The senator representing Borno Central who is also the former governor of the same, Ali Ndume, said in his recent interview with Arise TV that “We respect him. We cherish him. We love him. But don’t deify him because deification is [for] God. Buhari is not God. If there are things that need to be corrected, we are going to point it out to him and equivocally and unambiguously, but without playing to the gallery.”

The senator said the service chiefs have done their best but “their best is no longer enough,” adding: “Justice, equity and fairness, even common sense demand that these service chiefs should go”.

He said: “There’s been some improvement in the security landscape in the state (Borno) especially in the first two years of the Buhari administration, but since then the security situation has been deteriorating and it’s high time federal authorities fine-tuned the security architecture not only in the North-east sub-region but across the whole federation.

“It’s high time the federal government rose to the challenge of leadership, fine-tune the strategies, inject some new blood into the system because as Albert Einstein said, insanity is the act of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

“The current crop of service chiefs have outlived their usefulness, it’s high time President Buhari got rid of them. We do appreciate their efforts in the past, but their efforts and game plans are not working and it’s high-time we fine-tuned the strategies, inject some new blood and there has to be some synergy in the different arms of the security forces.

“For instance, the chief of air staff is doing a great job but is there any synergy between the Army and the Air Force and the Navy? The brutal truth is no! The synergy is very poor.”

He said stakeholders in the region believe that something needs to be done and “urgently too to address the security situation in the North-east”.

Unfortunately, as a result of the astronomical level of unwholesome practices, Nigeria’s image has been tarnished as one of the most insecure countries in the world.

It is on record that during the campaigns, President Buhari, who was the candidate of the APC, had vowed to fight insurgency to a standstill despite the fact that he has no much information on security. We cannot deny the fact!

However, the truth is that it is difficult to successfully fight insurgency in Nigeria without the support of the citizens providing credible information to the security personnel. We also need to understand that if other regions will initiate the efforts of people of Borno by the way the teeming youths joined the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), the rate of insecurity in Nigeria will reduce to a minimal point.

While wishing President Buhari a happy 78th birthday, I pray that the insecurity in Nigeria will soon be history. Once again, happy birthday Mr. President.

Gulani writes from Maiduguri, Borno state

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