The security challenges militating against Nigeria

BY ZAINAB SULEIMAN

There is no national development without first tackling the basics of security as  fundamentals of building a nation. Freedom from fears and apprehension is the ultimate goal in ensuring stability in the States of the nation and its citizens.   In a place of constant fear and terror we can’t grow! 

From social vices, injustice, violation of rule of law by the country’s stakeholders and high rate of crimes and other criminal activities and unskilled force men with low oversight and extra judicial killings.

This remains a major issue affecting Nigeria as a country!

No doubt, our security system is very poor (The police, military & naval)  and this requires great accountability and in order to tackle this hydra-headed menace,  there has to be a synergistic cooperation among the state government, the people and the security authorities cum agencies.

Recommendations should be made towards the police and its security policies.

Accountability and respect for human rights and justice and policy, following guidelines in terms of the use of force. The use of iron bars & other repulsive weaponries against the citizenry should be highly prohibited.

Instead, power should be channeled in the right  direction, but not by victimisation and creating fears within the state and local communities.

 1. CAPACITY AND SKILLS
A square peg doesn’t fit into a round hole. Get the right people into the right places. This includes intellectually, physically, mentally, and morally sound individuals. Also they understand what to look for..

To say the least, countless number of disasters have been done in our country in the hands of unskilled force and military personnel. Every security institution should create an oversight – parliamentary community and communities for security and justice to ensure a sound balance is created in the hands of force men.

2 ACCESSIBILITY AND APPROACH
Police is your friend they say,  this saying should be made alive by the force making themselves truly live up to this.  The citizenry need to know they are accessible for free  and where to go for complaints. There should also be a local court available as well, for prosecution of criminal related cases instead of congesting the central state high courts.

The citizenry should as well be of the know that the Nigerian military are there to protect them and their their interests. Therefore, any  crime, criminal case and or any form of  violence should be dealt with in the most effective and efficient way!

3.NORMS AND STANDARDIZED APPROACH
Norms and standardized approach should be the indispensable pivots on which the country’s security force should build their operations. Vis-à-vis follow due process, including the state and the government  guidelines should be created for people from the grassroot.

Because oversight occurs at a very minimal level result citizen taking law into their own  hands. There must be a laid down protocol within the justice sector in terms of precaution and crime committed by criminals and government officials in terms of investigation and follow up. In other words, security and justice must be built on trust and truth

 4.EQUIPMENTS AND MECHANISM
Provisions should be made to meet the need and inadequacy of equipments and mechanism distribution for security personnel results in poor tracking and monitoring of criminal activities such as terrorism, pre and  post election crises, jungle justice violence.. corruption and killings.

5.  POPULATION CONTROL
Population control: Issues bothering on over population need to be tackled headlong when there’s an exponential increase in the number of headcount. If social vices like  unemployment,  crime rate, kidnapping and poverty can not be managed, thus there will definitely be an increase in public abuse of both material and personnel management., and this will definitely spell doom for our collective future.
With good security system and well-managed population system, the welfare of the people will awesomely improve.

6.BORDER CONTROL
Regulations And Proper check of what and who comes in and out in the country will go along way to add steel to the security stench of the country.  Menaces like smuggling of arms and drugs into the country will be drastically reduced.
The government and the nation’s security agencies; the Civil society, Religious bodies, community heads and individuals have to carry out their responsibilities towards actualizing a better and peaceful environment.

The issues of social injustice,  security and corruption should be hot areas which the next administration should work on.

They must throw away the kid gloves and go terribly fierce on the aforementioned issues.

Doing these, People can go to bed with their two eyes closed.