Nigeria’s National Assembly and Political Recklessness: The Bill Seeking to Scrap the NSCDC

INTERNATIoNAL BY Bola A. Akinterinwa

When Confucius noted in his Analects that ‘learning without thought is labour lost, thought without learning is perilous,’ he must have dreamt and foreseen how politicians behave in Nigeria, how legislators make law without probing history before law-making, how patriotism is discouraged in Nigeria, how awards of honour and commendation letters are given for profligacy and how government only learns, not before, but always after, bitter experiences.

Nigeria’s National Assembly, though comprises many professionals with sagacious minds and patriotic stints, many of them are learning without thoughts and sometimes do think without learning anything from their history. This is a good illustration of Confucius’ observation. And true enough, the observation is an expression of the bill seeking to scrap the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and which passed the first reading on Tuesday 1st February 2022.

Honourable Shina Peller, of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC), representing the Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola/Iwajowa Federal Constituency in Oyo State, proposed to repeal the NSCDC (Amendment) Act 2007 and establish a transition management committee to oversee the NSCDC and the transfer of its assets and personnel to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). In the thinking of Honourable Peller, there is no need for the counter productivity of the ‘fragmentation of security resources across multiple competing agencies.’ He believes that the expansion of NSCDC functions has now become a duplication of the NPF.

Honourable Peller may be right, but he does not appear to have learnt anything from the history of the NSCDC, especially how and why it ceased to be a voluntary organization which it was in origin, why it was never merged with the NPF despite desired efforts. It is useful to recall that the original Act of 2003 establishing the NSCDC says in its Section 5(3) that the NSCDC will ‘have the power to arrest with or without a warrant, detain, investigate and institute legal proceedings by or in the name of the Attorney-General of the Federation in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria against any person who is reasonably suspected to have committed an offence under this Act.’

Is this one of Peller’s rationales for thinking there is a duplication of functions? The reasons reportedly considered by Honourable Peller may be tenable, but limitedly patriotic. The bill is being sponsored out of deep thought while the reaction of Dr. Ahmad Abubakar Audi, the Commandant General of the NSCDC is not consistent with the rule of esprit de corps and the need for patriotism and self-preservation.

Understanding the NSCDC

Apparently in reaction to Honourable Peller’s proposal, the Head of Administration of the Oyo State Command of the NSCDC, Mr. Sotito Igbalawole, sent a letter number NSCDC/OY/173/Vol.III/196 to Honourable Peller, informing him of the need to withdraw the NSCDC security aides working with him. In the letter, Mr. Igbalawole reportedly said that ‘following the directive of the Commandant General on the necessity of the deployment of the command personnel for an urgent national security assignment; on behalf of the state commandant, I hereby withdraw all personnel attached to you. This is to meet up with the urgent national need. All inconvenience this might cause is highly regretted.’

The reaction of Mr. Igbalawole, for me, is a welcome development. It was spontaneous and patriotism-, and self-preservation- driven. This is how any Nigerian institution should always be promptly defended. Most unfortunately, however, the letter was not only disowned by Mr. Shola Odumosu, the NSCDC spokesperson, the Commandant General of the NSCDC, Dr. Ahmad Abubakar Audi, mni, has thrown the letter into a dustbin of history and reinstated all the NSCDC aides attached to Honourable Peller on the grounds that Mr. Igbalawole did not clear with his superiors before acting. Attempt is made to shame Mr. Igbalawole and give impression that the bill has a good raison d’être which is far from it.

The decision to overturn the withdrawal of security aides reflects at best policy remissness, while the bill to scrap the NSCDC is a manifestation of political recklessness. First, it is virtually only in Nigeria that there is no goodness in being patriotic. Patriotism in whatever form is generally not appreciated if not sanctioned. Why should all civil and public servants not develop a 100% spirit of patriotism in such a way that the problem will be how to manage the excessiveness of it?

The establishment of Civil Defence organisations was a resultant of patriotic acts. Civil Defence organisations, the world over, are established to assist national security efforts and that of Nigeria cannot be different. They were established to foster unity and cooperation in fighting common threats to national survival. Their functions are different from those of the police. In most cases, they are complementary.

The Civil Defence Corps was first established in 1949 in Great Britain and was designed to be a voluntary organization. Its mandate was to mobilise and take control of affected areas in the aftermath of major national emergency. The major issue of concern was how to prepare for and contain outbreak of emergencies. The interest in this objective attracted about 330,000 people who accepted to join the corps as of 1956. Although the corps was discontinued, save those in the British Isle (The Isle of Man Civil Defence Corps) and in Ireland (The Civil Defence Ireland), the cardinal function of the civil defence corps remains to provide assistance in large scale civil emergencies. One may recall the slogan for mobilization in support of Nigeria’s civil war: ‘do not sit on the fence, join the civil defence.’ This partly explains the nature and function of any given civil defence organization.

Internationally speaking, the way the NPF is affiliated with the International Police (Interpol) so is the NSCDC in collaboration with the International Civil Defence Organisation (ICDO), which coordinates the activities of national civil defence corps in different ramifications. The ICDO, for instance, gives technical assistance, provides consultancy services, reinforces national civil defence structures, represents national civil defence corps, federates the national civil defence services, and develops different training and information programmes for the personnel of civil defence services.

ICDO training programmes are quite varied and interesting. They include aid management for victims of terrorist attacks; emergency response in case of hazardous material accidents; forest fires; disaster risk management; search and rescue, etc. in the area of security protection. Fire investigation, logistic coordination, disaster management and intervention in dangerous locations are other training programmes organized in normal times and from which various national civil defence corps benefit, including the NSCDC.

In fact, the ICDO has many beneficial projects in the demining and humanitarian sectors. It has demining projects in Lebanon, Serbia, Nicaragua, and Sri Lanka and different national civil defence corps take advantage of such demining training programmes. Its humanitarian aid recipients are Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Libya, North Korea, etc. Particularly in the education sector, the ICDO certifies higher education, training courses, teacher training courses and training courses for students.

Thus, it is clear that the ICDO and the national civil defence corps are not merely established to engage in the day-to-day duties of the police force. They are particularly meant to respond to critical emergencies. The analysis of the mandate of the NSCDC cannot but be relevant and quite interesting at this juncture. As contained in the 2003 Act establishing it, the NSCDC is required to maintain a 24-hour surveillance over infrastructures, sites, and projects for the Federal. State and Local Government. This is the mandate of national asset and infrastructure, which requires absolute protection in terms of threat deterrence and sanctioning any act of vandalisation.

The NSCDC has an anti-vandalism mandate that enables it to enter, search premises and seize any material suspected to have been used in vandalization or suspected proceed of vandalization. It is required to assist in the maintenance of peace and order and in the protection and rescuing the civil population during the period of emergency. And perhaps more importantly, the NSCDC can arrest with or without warrant, detain, investigate, and institute legal proceedings by or in the name of the Attorney General of the Federation in accordance with constitutional provisions. This is the responsibility for intelligence and operations.

And commonly, it is the NSCDC that has responsibility to recommend to the Minister of Interior the registration of private guard companies, and from time-to-time, the inspection of the premises of private guard companies, training facilities and approve same. And to a great extent, the NSCDC has been very forthcoming in the execution of its mandate.

In fact, just last week, the NSCDC Commandant General, Dr. Audi, announced the shutting down of seven private guard companies not simply because they were not registered with it, but primarily because of the need to really profile and get the biometric of the private security guards most of whom act as informants for criminals and many of whom are undergoing prosecution. The NSCDC is visibly performing more and better than the police.

In this regard, should the concern be that of duplication of budgetary allocation and functions which are not similar? The NPF has fewer zonal commands: seven. The NSCDC is already well established with fifteen zonal commands, 37 State Commands. The NSCDC not only has a Board but also has sister agencies: the Federal Fire Service, Immigration Service and the Prison Service now called Correctional Service. The NSCDC sees itself as defending the defenceless. With the present development of the NSCDC and its achievements, it is nothing more than political recklessness to seek to scrap it.

When compared to the police mandate, the NPF and the NSCDC have some similar functions, but which are not necessarily performed in the same context. The NPF was established on April 1, 1930, following the merger of the Royal Constabulary (formed in 1888) with the Southern Nigeria Police Force (SNPF). The SNPF was itself, a

union of the 1906 Lagos Police Force and a part of the Niger Coastal Constabulary unit.

From inception, the NPF has mandate to search and conduct prosecutions, maintain law and order, make an arrest, and take fingerprints. Based on the NPF Act, the mandate to conduct prosecutions covers all criminal matters before any court regardless of whether a complaint is laid in the name of the NPF. Regarding the maintenance of law and order in the country, it is the NPF that has the sole responsibility to do so. The NPF contains disorderliness while the prosecution of the NSCDC is limited to cases of public vandalization of assets and infrastructure. Grosso modo, the NPF implements constitutional laws. Like the NSCDC, the NPF can arrest with or without warrant.

Hon. Peller’s Bill and National Security

But without any whiff of gainsaying, seeking to bring the NSCDC under the NPF is unnecessarily adding salt into injury for various reasons: the NPF has been perennially underfunded and ill-equipped. Many policemen aid and abet crimes that they have mandate to prevent. In fact, the NPF is operating in seas of corruption and terra of societal indiscipline. Perhaps more disturbingly, the #End SARS protests speak volumes in this case. If the main purpose of the protests was to seek an end to police brutality in various ramifications, and if that objective is still far-fetched, there is no way seeking an NSCDC-NPF merger can be helpful to the quest for national security in the long run.

In other words, at first sight, Honourable Peller’s bill seeking to scrap the NSCDC and merge it with the NPF looks good and patriotic because he wants to save costs, prevent duplication of functions, bring about greater effectiveness and efficiency in the maintenance of national security. However, it is important to state on a second look and stricto sensu, that the NSCDC security aides should not have been deployed to any public official, including the honourable law maker.

As aforementioned above, the main responsibility of the NSCDC is to provide security assistance in the time of emergencies, prevent vandalization of public assets and infrastructure through permanent surveillance. Law makers can be legally put under surveillance if they are suspected to be vandalisers and by so doing, are law breakers.

Perhaps questions should also be asked here: why are private individuals given police protection in exchange for payments? Apart from cases of complaints about threats to one’s life and requiring special police protection, why should policemen be deployed to private individuals bearing in mind that the NPF is seriously understaffed and ill-equipped? Is it not because of inability of the NPF to provide general protection for everyone, the rich and the poor, that only those who can afford to pay for special protection do so? Why should the life of any law maker be taken more importantly than the ordinary persons like me?

Explained differently, the United Nations’ recommendation is that every Member State of the international community should have at least one policeman per 450 people for effective policing. As found out in the research enquiry of RipplesMetrics in Nigeria, Nigeria is currently not only adjudged as one of the world’s 20 least peaceful countries by the latest global peace index 2020, the ratio of police to the population was also on the decline. In 2016 there was only one policeman for every 572 Nigerians. The number of people to be protected by a police officer sharply increased to 621 in 2017 and to 648 Nigerians in 2018.

Apart from the FCT which can be said to be well policed with the ratio of one police officer to 121 people in 2016, and 1 policeman to 90 people in 2017, and 1 to 181 in 2018. How do we explain the good figure of 121 people to a policeman in 2016, the further improvement of 90 people to a policeman in 2017 and the sharpened added people in 2018: 181? Is the NPF in good shape with this finding? If it is not, why seek to complicate matters with a merger with the NSCDC? Before the intended merger, the NPF is overwhelmed by national insecurity, despite the current assistance being given to the NPF.

The current independent existence of the NSCDC has largely complemented the NPF, especially by dealing with the areas not generally covered by the NPF. The NSCDC under Dr. Ade Abolurin was well organized and very active in the anti-vandalisation war. The NSCDC carried the battle to the doorsteps of oil pipeline vandalisers to the extent that on two different occasions, attempts were vainly made to kill him. At one time, his official car, while on official duty, was ridden with 57 bullets. His legs were ridden with seven bullets, while in the surrounding ground 107 bullets were fired. In fact, there were two sacks of unused ammunitions, all aimed at one man, because he was seriously using the NSCDC a critical tool of anti-vandalism. The attacks on him only ensured that pipeline vandalization was effectively brought under control.

No where in the world is any civil defence corps merged with the police force. The two only cooperate in the spirit of mutual assistance. The NSCDC should be independent and relate more with the National Emergency Management Agency. Whenever a civil defender is defending the corps in the national interest, such defender should not be quickly sacrificed on the altar of political manoeuvres. Even though power has a vertical character, it must still be managed in such a way as to protect all interests involved and not subjecting anyone to ridicule.

Without doubt, the NPF does not deal with or monitor vandalization of public assets and infrastructure the way the NSCDC does. In many countries of the world, there are Ministries of Civil Defence, showing the great importance attached to the roles of civil defence corps worldwide. If Honourable Peller is much concerned about the duplication of functions and the need to reduce costs of security, there will be need for re-thinking and for hard thinking. The current situational reality of insecurity in Nigeria is largely prompted by poor, inadequate intelligence gathering which should not be. The duplicated budget Honourable Peller is talking about can be diverted to specialized training in intelligence gathering for more civil defenders. And true enough, former President Olusegun Obasanjo once directed that the various security agencies should establish offices in all the 774 Local Government headquarters to monitor foreigners and contain threats to national security. In appreciation of this, I, on behalf of the Moses Olanji Akinterinwa (my father) family of Ile-Oluji gave to the NPF, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Prison Service and the Department of State Service four standard plots of land each in the township to assist them in the maintenance of community and national security. Only the NIS has built an office in Ile-Oluji, the headquarters of Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government. Thus, there are many areas of development needs to which the duplicated funds can be applied, rather than seeking to scrap the NSCDC. Doing so is politico-legislative recklessness.