First let me start by expressing my deepest condolence to the families that lost someone in the Abuja bombing. It is a very tragic event and I hope that we as a nation will overcome these challenging times. I also want to say a little prayer to God to help children and women in the captivity of terrorists in Nigeria. May God safe guard them even within the belly of the beast.
National security is a word used by many leaders all over the world and recently very often in the Nigerian media to describe a sense of safety to a Nation from break down of law and order.
To a common man on the streets of Nigeria, his mind goes straight to the Nigerian army and other security outfit in the country.
National security is wider than simply putting out combat ready officers to guard the Nation. It has to do with security of other major factors.
Security starts by first knowing who lives in your country and what they have been or are doing with the last six months to one year. This can be achieved with a social security system of numbering the citizens and having them identified with this number which will bring up all their recent information if accessed. Presently, our population figure in Nigeria is questionable and we only take identity cards seriously when it is time for elections.
From finding out who lives in Nigeria, you move to the population of people that can be very instrumental to causing violence in a country. This population is the young people ( age 18 - 47 years). These group of people are key in the growth or the destruction of every nation. The unemployment figures among this group must be reduces to the very minimum. A youth that is gainfully employed will have some hope in a better future and will be a difficult target for any one recruiting people to cause mayhem.
Next, there must be equity or a feeling of fairness among your citizens which has to do with trust. The government has to build trust among people of the country. When I say government, I mean from bottom to the very top. Building trust in the citizens deals with delivery on your mandates of office and being transparent to the best of your ability. Making statements that are unifying rather than divisive. Neutrality on positions that might divide the citizens on ethnic, religious or socioeconomic lines. Ability to entertain constructive criticisms without making issues personal. Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes it takes your enemies to show you were you have gone wrong. Friends sometimes will tell you things to remain relevant in your administrations. Things you will like to hear as a leader.
Then finally coming to the military. It is very important that the security forces in the Nation are seen to be a tool for justice and safety and not politically controlled. In Nigeria today, there is a sense of fear when people of the force get involved in a dispute. This is not very good for the image and effectiveness of security in the Nation. When the soldier and police are seen as causing more harm than good in a community, it affects the flow of information from the citizens to the police to do their job. You can agree with me that information gathering is key to stopping terror attacks and the best information come from the citizens. That is why in other nations, such informants are taken in and everything about him is made confidential for his safety till justice is served.
Having said all these, it is important to state that terrorist attacks on Nigerian soil is a new phenomenon in the nation and our past Leaders never looked ahead to see that things must be put in place in case of an out come like this. We are presently doing a crash course on Terrorism 101 and that is why we are not winning the war on terror. This preparations should have started since the trend began all over the world.
I am a little sorry for the present leadership for falling into times like this. My message to them is that times like this make leaders stand out to be counted. This situation will make a Leader popular in history as either a hero or a villain.
The mistake that will be made by this government is to zone in on the Boko Haram criminals and treat them in isolation. Look at security in the country as a whole, see ahead and predict via indicators what next we could face as a nation after this Boko Haram crisis. Let us start from now to prepare for this happenings.
The military should take this fight in two parts. First, being an immediate action which is ongoing and then a continued reorientation approach. I am not a military personnel and don't have much views on the immediate action. Speaking as a citizen, I will not be your informant if you take information from me and leave me and my family in the village to be killed by same terrorist. I can only be a good informant if I am evacuated from that community and taken to safety. Listening to people talking, they seem to be contributing in that direction.
The reorientation should be done in conjunction with State governors, Local leaders and religious leaders. They will only be willing to do this if there is trust among all parties involved.
On a final note, our politicians should please learn where politics applies and where to draw the line. They should come together and get a way forward for the nation. If the nation is under siege, it will affect governance
and no matter how much development you achieve, it will be ruined by violence.
Thank you for taking out time to read this.
National security is a word used by many leaders all over the world and recently very often in the Nigerian media to describe a sense of safety to a Nation from break down of law and order.
To a common man on the streets of Nigeria, his mind goes straight to the Nigerian army and other security outfit in the country.
National security is wider than simply putting out combat ready officers to guard the Nation. It has to do with security of other major factors.
Security starts by first knowing who lives in your country and what they have been or are doing with the last six months to one year. This can be achieved with a social security system of numbering the citizens and having them identified with this number which will bring up all their recent information if accessed. Presently, our population figure in Nigeria is questionable and we only take identity cards seriously when it is time for elections.
Next, there must be equity or a feeling of fairness among your citizens which has to do with trust. The government has to build trust among people of the country. When I say government, I mean from bottom to the very top. Building trust in the citizens deals with delivery on your mandates of office and being transparent to the best of your ability. Making statements that are unifying rather than divisive. Neutrality on positions that might divide the citizens on ethnic, religious or socioeconomic lines. Ability to entertain constructive criticisms without making issues personal. Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes it takes your enemies to show you were you have gone wrong. Friends sometimes will tell you things to remain relevant in your administrations. Things you will like to hear as a leader.
Then finally coming to the military. It is very important that the security forces in the Nation are seen to be a tool for justice and safety and not politically controlled. In Nigeria today, there is a sense of fear when people of the force get involved in a dispute. This is not very good for the image and effectiveness of security in the Nation. When the soldier and police are seen as causing more harm than good in a community, it affects the flow of information from the citizens to the police to do their job. You can agree with me that information gathering is key to stopping terror attacks and the best information come from the citizens. That is why in other nations, such informants are taken in and everything about him is made confidential for his safety till justice is served.
Having said all these, it is important to state that terrorist attacks on Nigerian soil is a new phenomenon in the nation and our past Leaders never looked ahead to see that things must be put in place in case of an out come like this. We are presently doing a crash course on Terrorism 101 and that is why we are not winning the war on terror. This preparations should have started since the trend began all over the world.
I am a little sorry for the present leadership for falling into times like this. My message to them is that times like this make leaders stand out to be counted. This situation will make a Leader popular in history as either a hero or a villain.
The mistake that will be made by this government is to zone in on the Boko Haram criminals and treat them in isolation. Look at security in the country as a whole, see ahead and predict via indicators what next we could face as a nation after this Boko Haram crisis. Let us start from now to prepare for this happenings.
The military should take this fight in two parts. First, being an immediate action which is ongoing and then a continued reorientation approach. I am not a military personnel and don't have much views on the immediate action. Speaking as a citizen, I will not be your informant if you take information from me and leave me and my family in the village to be killed by same terrorist. I can only be a good informant if I am evacuated from that community and taken to safety. Listening to people talking, they seem to be contributing in that direction.
The reorientation should be done in conjunction with State governors, Local leaders and religious leaders. They will only be willing to do this if there is trust among all parties involved.
On a final note, our politicians should please learn where politics applies and where to draw the line. They should come together and get a way forward for the nation. If the nation is under siege, it will affect governance
and no matter how much development you achieve, it will be ruined by violence.
Thank you for taking out time to read this.
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