The 2021 Kaduna state annual security report: Accountability and transparency

BY EMMANUEL ADO

By the provisions of the finance (control and management) act 1958 Cap 144, and section 125 of the 1999 constitution, it’s mandatory for the federal and 36 state governments in Nigeria to publish annual audited statement of account. The purpose is to ensure that citizens have a true and fair view of the state’s financial position, as at the 31st of the year ended. The reports are respectively presented to the national assembly, in the case of the federal government, and the state houses of assembly, for the states.

To show how seriously the audit reports are taken, the public accounts committee is chaired by the opposition, to ensure accountability. Because the benefits of audited accounts are immeasurable and valuable, publicly quoted companies are equally required by law (CAMA) to provide shareholders with audited financial statements and to file same with the Security and Exchange Commission to ensure that “cooked” figures are not passed on to the unsuspecting public.

The Kaduna state government, under Nasir El-Rufai, remains about the only state that has consistently published its audited statement of account, as stipulated by law. In the same way, it has maintained a record of operating its budget from the first of January every year since 2016.

It’s rather curious that, while the constitution demands accountability and transparency in the expenditure of public funds, it makes no such demands for accountability of human lives and properties of its citizens lost in the preceding year. Is this an oversight?

El-Rufai, the Kaduna state governor, deserves commendation for raising the bar in governance by introducing the same accountability and transparency demanded by law in financial management into the management of the security challenges; without the force of law. That’s leadership and responsibility at its best. The same responsibility that made him create the ministry of internal security and home affairs, in 2019, to coordinate the various agencies in reaction to the increasing security challenges.

Since 2020, the Kaduna state government has been issuing a daily, quarterly, and yearly security report, a trail that no other sub-national government has attempted. It must be stated that the publication of the reports is not in any way celebratory of the killings, rather the government is discharging a responsibility. But it’s worthy of note, that the report has gone a long way in checking the bandying of figures, by entrepreneurs of violence, which had had grave consequences on the image of the state. The reports have continued to conclusively show, contrary to previous claims by political merchants and mischief-makers, that the Kaduna central senatorial district remains the worst affected in kidnapping, animal rustling, and senseless killings.

In 2021, 3,348 people were kidnapped. Of that number, 2,771 were kidnapped in Kaduna central senatorial district, representing 82.77%, compared to 298 people representing 11.86% kidnapped in the Southern Kaduna senatorial district. Of the 13,788 cattle rustled, 10,261 of them were rustled in the Kaduna central senatorial district. In Giwa local government area, 2,756 cattle were rustled and 10,261 cattle in the Igabi local government area, representing 74.42% as against 14.08% in the Southern Kaduna senatorial district.

Even in terms of injuries, as a result of banditry, violent attacks, reprisal killings, and communal clashes, the Southern Kaduna senatorial district, still came a distant second to the Kaduna central senatorial district. The figure for Kaduna central senatorial district is 544 (61.05%), while for the Southern district, was 253.

The northern senatorial district, as it were, considering the statistics of the security challenges in the two other districts, can be described as relatively safer. Only 94 people were injured (10.55%), 1,586 animals rustled and 180 people, representing (5.38%) were kidnapped.

Unfortunately, the northern district led by 40%, as against 28.89% for the Kaduna central and 31.11% for the southern district, in reported rape cases, due to the peace they are enjoying.

So what other purposes do the reports serve? For El- Rufai, it’s not just a platform to proffer suggestions to the federal and state governments, as well as all Nigerians on the security challenges, but to generate robust debate, for a national consensus, especially as security is on the exclusive list. For instance, from 2017, El- Rufai had embarked on a campaign to rightly designate the bandits as terrorists. But it didn’t happen until the national assembly and other well-meaning Nigerians joined in the campaign.

Designating the bandits as terrorists have been achieved, and the military can legitimately go after them without fear of international criminal court indictments. That is a remarkable success in the effort to curb terrorism in the north-west region of our country.

To crush the terrorists, El- Rufai has been canvassing for better funding of the various security agencies. He should know because he buys, fuels and maintains the operational vehicles of the Nigeria Police and the Civil Defence Corps, without such an intervention, they would have long been grounded. Kaduna state also pays N1,000,000 to the immediate family of any law enforcement agent killed in active duty.

The limited numbers of boots on the ground, coupled with the fact that they are not well equipped and lacking in the technology that can make their limited numbers count, is the reason why El- Rufai is persistently pushing for massive recruitment of 774,000 youths (1,000 per local government area) into the security forces to enable them to crush the terrorists. This will have the added advantage of reducing unemployment among the youthful population.

In the words of Nasir El- Rufai: “None of the military services, nor other security agencies has been suitably expanded in numbers and equipment for over a decade since the insurgency in the north-east pushed things to a new low. This country does not have enough soldiers, uniformed police and secret police to project state power across its vast swathes, particularly the forests”.

Previous military operations in Kaduna state and other north-west states awfully failed because the armed forces lacked the requisite manpower to launch military operations simultaneously in all the troubled states. To date, this fact hasn’t been refuted. There is no doubt only massive recruitment will give them that capability. Hopefully, the establishment of state police and the deployment of technology in the war against terrorism, like the Kaduna state government is doing, will make a great difference.

The other suggestion by El-Rufai is for the military to carpet-bomb the forests which have provided refuge for the terrorists. Yes, the forests will be destroyed but they will be replanted like Nigeria reconstructed the infrastructure that was destroyed after the civil war.

He said: “I have always believed that we should carpet-bomb the forests. We can replant the trees after. Let’s carpet-bomb the forests and bomb all of them. There will be collateral damage, but it’s better to wipe them out and get people back to our communities so that agriculture and rural economies can pick up”.

El- Rufai’s critics need to understand that his suggestions on winning the war against terrorism are a holistic package and that every item in the package is well thought out. We must stop deluding ourselves, that half-measures will restore normalcy. Nigeria is technically at war. And only a strategically coordinated all-out war will resolve the crisis

The reports are the further contributions of the Kaduna state government in the war against terrorists. It’s beyond reeling out statistics.