Nigeria has in the last two decades witnessed an unprecedented security challenges occasioned by the activities of Boko Haram, Banditry, communal clashes and other criminal acts. All of these clearly revealed the waning capacity of the Nigerian security structure in curtailing the rising trend of crimes in our communities.
Most affected in this continued fracas is the northern Nigeria where poverty and illiteracy thrive for decades.
Since the launch of the controversial Western Nigeria Security Network called ‘Operation Amotekun’ in Ibadan last week by the six governors of the South West region. Series of debate have continued to upswing on the legality or otherwise of the operation.
Concerns from non-Yoruba settlers in the south west region continue to thrive and occupy the social media space mostly because of the fear of possible molestation and politicisation of the scheme.
In the same vein, the minister of Justice and Attorney general of the federation has declared the operation illegal, citing some sections of the constitution. He said the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a sovereign entity which is governed by laws meant to sustain its corporate existence as a constitutional democracy.
On the other hand, Femi Falana, SAN held contrary opinion and remained in the forefront on the legal divide of the debate supporting the operation with quotes from previous judgements made by the supreme court and the existence of similar security outfits operating in other regions.
Be that as it may, the other page of this debate which is the most important one behind this piece is the fear and anxiety it had caused among other Nigerians and foreigners residing in the region.
These concerns cannot be pre-empted, looking at the substance there in, and how volatile the Nigerian state is in terms of conflict management and tolerance among various ethnic divides.
The homogeneity and regional reinforcement of the operation is not unconnected with the wild insinuation that it might be a ploy to replace the present conventional security structure and by extension create ‘Oduduwa State’.
This argument will however remain valid taking into cognisance, the Nigerian context of intolerance and growing ethnic sentiments across the various geopolitical regions. Equally important is, noting the reoccurring incidence of politicians who always take undue advantage of our differences for their selfish whims.
In as much as the fear displayed by the pessimist remains valid and opinions sharply divided on the legality or otherwise of the operation, no Nigerian living at home or abroad is unaware of the challenges facing the present overstretched federal security outfit, it’s poor intelligent gathering system, corruption and high extortion, poor funding, lack of working gadgets and mobility amongst others.
All these challenges dominating the federal security structure are not unconnected with the reason why the present system refused to work, hence continue to defy all solutions.
The South Western governors collectively understood the importance of complementing the work of the mainstream security agencies in order to give hope and confidence to their people that they are being looked after by those they elected into office, these were the words of Governor Kayode Fayemi at the launching of Amotekun last week in Ibadan.
With the rising transnational banditry in Nigeria and porosity of our borders coupled with inefficiency in both quantity and quality of the present mainstream security outfit, one cannot pick sense on why an ‘Amotekun’ should not be declared in the six geopolitical zones of our dear country.
According to reports, in the North for example, over 27,000 people have been killed and approximately two million displaced by Boko Haram, Banditry activity, and communal clashes.
The number of people dying is increasing per day. The conventional security on several occasions openly romance and appease bandits, kidnappers and cattle rustlers for ransoms and cease fire. This alone has justified the need for manpower reinforcement to complement the services of the government security outfits, especially in intelligent information gathering.
There is no other time better than now for the northern leaders to look inward and start thinking of how to strengthen and modernize the long abandoned ‘Yan banga system of community policing to suit the present day security challenges of the region.
The North is faced with bigger transnational banditry, kidnappings, insurgency and so many other security threats more than any other region in the country. But sadly, our politicians never deem it necessary to pursue a regional solution nor engage in smart action similar to the South West Amotekun.
Instead of investing in effective community policing system, the northern politicians continue to misconstrue the concept behind the need for this timely innovation the southern governor’s have championed, it’s wiser to welcome the development in it’s entirety and calmly emulate it.
The efforts by the southern governors not to allow insecurity consume their people and region obviously because they are cautious of the basic responsibility of securing the lives and properties of their people must not be jettisoned by people who don’t pick sense in the scheme.
Abdulmajid Lawan wrote from Jos. [email protected]
