The vulnerability of our higher institutions to security breaches was laid bare recently in Kano with the dastardly suicide attack on the Federal College of Education (FCE), Kano, recently.
Such breaches didn’t happen overnight. The genesis is traceable to the attacks that targeted security agents and their institutions. Many defensive mechanisms were adopted, like bulletproof cars, brick walls, auto-weapon detector and even armoured tanks. Likewise, the same provision was made for the telecommunication companies that were another principal target.
From the attack on Bayero University, Kano, of 2012, to the School of Hygiene Technology and North-west University, Kano to the most recent and the worst attack of FCE, Kano, we did not see such measures being taken. Instead, some preventive measures were adopted by the schools’ civil security personnel, who themselves are as defenceless and vulnerable as the general populace.
Their capacity is limited to only searching vehicles and luggage at school entrances. Hence, the gunmen did not hesitate to use all force available to crush the gatemen and viciously commit massacre without hindrance. One may wonder why some permanent, at least defensive measures, were not provided to defend the schools? Like the ones provided to guard the security institutions and telecommunication companies? It is the obligation of the government to safeguard the whole (national) territory. Nonetheless, since the government showed this nonchalant attitude to discharge its responsibility up to now, what should be the role of internal union organizations such as academic staff unions like ASUU, COEASU and student unions, especially NANS? We can recall that the federal polytechnics, federal colleges of education and universities engaged in a strike that lasted an entire academic session because of money-related issues, until their names nearly became synonymous with ‘strike’. But they are silent in this catastrophe, butchery that has swept away incalculable number of students’ lives. Is the money they hanker after more important than protecting lives?
Do student unions assume that revenue collection from the students during registration exercise is their singular function?
Frankly speaking, there’s need to have a kind of multi-sector security exercise where by both the government and civil society organizations will play roles to tackle this savagery. If a single person can have a complete unit of security operations as his own personal convoy, with heavy military gear, why can’t a squad be deployed to protect thousands of lives? Is it only the duty of soldiers and police to be picking and packing corpses to mortuaries and casualties to hospitals? Now the final question is that, would the B.U.K New site, Sa’adatu Rimi College, Aminu Kano College for Legal Studies, School of Nursing, etc, students wait for the government shield or a liberalised Boko Haram attack?
Ibrahim M. Suleiman,
FCE, Kano
