Three things are lacking in the security process in Nigeria. To make a difference any political leader who has an understanding of the gaps and is able to infuse these three missing links will definitely see a remarkable outcome over a short period of time.
They include:
(a) Personal accountability in the workflow engagement of security officials.
(b)Define a compelling rule of engagement for both military and nonmilitary interventions.
(c)Align performance of officials with an institutional reward system.
(a) Personal accountability in the workflow engagement of security officials.
(b)Define a compelling rule of engagement for both military and nonmilitary interventions.
(c)Align performance of officials with an institutional reward system.
Let there be a system in place that holds every official, officer, every foot soldier and every commander equally and summarily accountable for the decisions they take or their actions and inactions in the context of war campaign and peace time.
The difference between terrorists and state actors must be highlighted in the reality that state actors are professionals. Extra-judicial killings, harassmens and extortions should never be linked with professional state actors, there must be zero tolerance to such actions.
It must be noted that the conducts of state actors breed resentment among communities and these communities are the country's first line of defence and source of information in understanding not only the adversaries, but the environment to prosecute the war effectively.
Performance by officers must provoke a component of the reward system that expresses publicly the importance to the society of what the officer or official has done. On the other hand, negligence, failure, and errors must equally attract severe punishment.
Nigeria is known for placing a deplorable value on the lives of its citizens and this attitude seems to be deeply rooted in the military tradition that ruled Nigeria for decades, and politicians have adopted same. This must stop, the life of every Nigerian must matter.
We must clearly define what constitutes human security and human rights as the bases for Nigeria’s national security framework. This disparity has played out most frequently in the work of state security agencies that come down hard on any opposition and agitation.
Finally, the Nigerian Police must come to live, they must be revamped, reformed, get all they need and assume the role of a professional and trusted institution. We must stop pretending, we have failing institutions that must be fixed now, otherwise the country will collapse.
