In view of the prevailing terrorist attacks by the Boko Haram sect across the country, Nigeria Police Force, NPF has embarked on restructuring of its information sharing mechanism to stem the tide.
Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (rtd), stated this during the ministerial platform in commemoration of the ‘2012 National Democracy Day and First Anniversary of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Administration’ at the National Press Centre, Radio House, Abuja.
Olubolade admitted that terrorism had provided a significant impetus for organisational restructuring and increase cross agency information sharing among security agencies.
The minister noted that the mandate of the ministry was to administer the NPF in such a manner that its operates at the highest level of professionalism, dedication and discipline in order to ensure public safety and internal security of Nigerians, adding that the mission of the ministry was to provide political will and administrative direction.
He highlighted some of the challenges of the Nigeria Police as: dilapidated barracks, police stations and transit camps, inadequate police training schools, clinics and recreational facilities, defects in training programmes, inadequate technical equipment capacities and lack of trust between the public and the police.
Olubolade lamented that these challenges had led to the poor service delivery by the police, which invariably led to an upsurge of crime nationwide ranging from kidnapping, terrorism, assassination, armed robbery human trafficking et cetera.
He added that the present 370, 000 policemen in the force were inadequate to police a country with over 150 million Nigerians.
The minister revealed that in recognition of these challenges, his administration set up a committee comprising officials from the ministry and officers from the NPF to undertake a holistic review of critical existing policies with a view to improving the operations and welfare of Nigerian Police in the following areas: recruitment, training, operation policies, equipment procurement policies and welfare policies.
Olubolade further observed that in the implementation of the 2011 budget, emphasis was placed on the completion of the ongoing projects so that contractors are paid to ensure that most of the equipments are delivered.
He pointed out that in the 2012 budget, N9.8 billion was appropriated for 12 projects of the NPF, while only N6.01 billion was released and it was applied to fund some of the projects.
The minister disclosed that the ministry received N580 million from the Education Trust Fund, ETF, for the implementation of the various projects at the police academy.
He noted that the Nigeria Police has 12 zonal commands, 37 commands including FCT, 132 area commands, 1,130 police divisions, 1,600 police stations, 2,224 police posts and 1591 police village posts, saying that the police community is very large but not large enough to police over 150 million Nigerians.
Earlier, the Minister of Information, Labaram Maku, told the audience that the essence of the ministerial briefing was for Nigerians to know what the ministers have achieved so far and their future plans.
According to Maku, “one year was long enough to begin to report the progress made by each ministry and that was why we are here to tell Nigerians. It will enable the ministries to plan for the projects and activities to undertake in the next four years. A government that takes time to plan makes minimal mistakes, he stressed.
The ministerial briefing continues today with ministers of FCT, Niger Delta Affairs, Science and Technology and Foreign Affairs taking their turns.
Security Challenges: dialogue as panacea
In the past two weeks, prominent Nigerians have spoken their minds on the need to urgently resolve the festering Boko Haram security challenges through dialogue.
Those who believed the crises are slipping out of control include, General Theophilus Danjuma a former Minister of Defence under Olusegun Obasanjo’s Administration.
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo , the Sultan of Sokoto Sa’ad Abubakar 111, the First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan, the minister of Defence Bello Haliru Mohammed and others.
Each of them spoke at different fora. Danjuma who had a meritorious service in the Nigerian Army along with General Obasanjo and other colleagues witnessed the crises that accumulated into the Nigerian civil war in 1967. Both of them survived the war.
Some of their friends and colleagues could not make it.
Needless to say that both Danjuma and Obasanjo are vast in the intrigues of Nigeria politics and are noticeable statesmen.
Speaking at a forum in Abuja, Danjuma warned that the crises is turning Nigeria into Somali, the African country that witnessed genocide in the 90s.
He called for dialogue before the crises degenerate further into full fledged religious crises.
Also speaking at another forum, former President Olusegun Obasanjo said that the way out of the present insecurity and violent conflicts in the country was for government to engage all stakeholders including the Boko Haram sect in dialogue.
Right from the onset of the crises in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, Obasanjo had not hidden his preference for dialogue.
He had met late Yusuf family the leader of the Boko Haram sect who was killed by the Nigeria Police after he was captured by the Nigerian Army, on a solo peace mission that later turned sore for the family he visited.
A year after, even as the crises persists and bombs attack are now being directed at churches, Universities and Media houses, the elder statesman has not lost focus that the panacea is dialogue.
In his word, “the way forward is dialogue, enlightenment and sensitisation programmes such as we are having today.
We need to sensitise the youths, community leaders, village heads, religious leaders, local government chairmen, traditional rulers, politicians to appreciate that building the Nigeria of our dream is a collective responsibility, and therefore we must take active interest in ensuring peace and security.”
Obasanjo whose massage was delivered by the former governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola is drawing attention to the fact that the issue of security should be accorded the highest priority it deserved.
Without the requisite security atmosphere no meaningful development can take place.
In a state of chaos and “persistence violence” like we are witnessing in some part of the northern states it is extremely difficult for anyone to invest in business venture.
Rather than investing, people are selling off the little investments they have made over the years and relocating to more peaceful and convenient environment that they believed their life and businesses are relatively secured.
This fact explained the upsurge in the population of Abuja and environs in the last two years, where some of the displaced people from Maiduguri and Jos have solace.
Interestingly, the facilitator of Obasanjo’s visit to Maiduguri on his trouble shooting mission, Shehu Sani,a human right activist also believed that the security problem should be resolved through dialogue.
Sani offered one suggestion that should be taken seriously.
In his view, ‘all Muslim – Christian leaders must come under one umbrella and reach out to the Boko Haram group and the government to ensure that they come back to the negotiating table.
There exists in the country an apex body the Nigeria Inter –religious council, NIREC, where the Muslim leaders and their Christian counterparts meet quarterly.
Former military President, General Ibrahim Babaginda who inaugurated the council at the peak of religious crisis in Zango Kataf during his tenure made maximum use of it and the crises that would have engulf the country was doused.
NIREC should be challenged to reinvent its power to mitigate the Boko Haram sect crisis.
It can do it. At this point what it requires is the wherewithal to mobilise and co-opts traditional rulers of the local government areas where the sect have tentacle.
Genuine negotiation within the frame work of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended can end this faceless war.
After all, the constitution guarantees freedom of worship for every citizen of the country. It accommodates all shapes of opinion and beliefs.
There are several other reasons why negotiation with the sect appears a better option.
Wars of this nature that involved suicide bombing and guerrilla tactics against conventional army are hardly won.
It lingers on for years at the expense of peace and meaningful development.
We should draw useful lessons from America wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for instance.
Suicide bombings are difficult for any security agency to handle.
That is one reason why the Americans with their sophistication have not been able to put themselves in total control of the situation in Afghanistan.
Needles to state that suicide bombing is a new thing in Nigeria and it will take years for security agencies that had conventional war training to cope with it.
Nigeria’s porous borders will not be helpful if the crisis is to be prolonged. Emir of Katsina, Abdulmumini Kabir Usman last week lamented the porous border thus; “80 percent of the security challenge we are facing are being perpetrated by foreigners.”
He also said some of the foreigners who came from neighbouring countries often carried out their nefarious activities, such as robbery, maiming and killing of innocent citizens.
Beside the Emirs comment, recent arrests of the members of Boko Haram confirmed the obvious fact that some members of the sect are foreigners.
It also buttressed arguments from certain quarter that the Nigeria Immigration service is not doing its job.
But these foreigners have masters whose agenda is being prosecuted.
It is the duty of security agencies to identify the Nigerian sponsors.
Because of identifiable security lapses and the fact that the crisis is at the edge of becoming a full fledge religious war, Nigerians have reached consensus that the way out is to negotiate with the sect.
It is not clear what led to the collapse of negotiation in Abuja between the Federal Government and representatives of the sect Dr.Baba Ahmed.
Ahmed was credited in the media to have withdrawn from the negotiation citing concern that the federal government was not “serious”.
He claimed a top government official leaked the discussion they had to a newspaper.
Negotiation must be genuinely pursued in the interest of Nigerians and the country.
We cannot continue to lose innocent children, men, women and billion worth of property to avoidable circumstances that man has control over.
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