INSECURITY AND THE SERVICE CHIEFS
The new security chiefs have their jobs well cut out
The chilling report that no fewer than 201 people have been killed within five months in 27 attacks across seven local government areas in Plateau State, should provoke the new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the realisation that fresh ideas are needed to tackle insecurity in the country. According to the ‘Daily Trust’ newspaper, 20 people were killed in fresh attacks on communities in Mangu, where Governor Caleb Mutfwang hails from and Riyom local government area last Tuesday night. Such killings in a section of just one state highlights the impunity that is turning Nigeria into one vast jungle where no place is safe.
In the past decade, the country has become a graveyard of innocent children, women, and indeed men – victims of needless killings. There is therefore an urgent need for the security agencies to do more not only in terms of firepower but also strategy to arrest the situation. Violent persons and groups by whatever nomenclature – ‘bandits’, ‘hoodlums’, ‘unknown gunmen’– or their garden variety cousins, kidnappers, and terrorists – cannot be allowed to challenge the state authority with such frequency and impunity. Apart from the significant material and psychological toll on the economy and hapless citizens, it sends a depressing signal about our country.
Last week, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu caught Nigerians by surprise when he removed and replaced all the Armed Forces Service Chiefs. In a clean sweep that may set the tone for a new security architecture, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Farouk Yahaya, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Isiaka Amao as well as the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba were all retired. Major General Christopher Musa replaces Irabor in Defence, Taoreed Lagbaja replaces Yahaya in the army, Emmanuel Ogalla replaces Gambo in the Navy while H.B. Abubakar replaces Gambo in the air force. Kayode Egbetokun takes over from Baba as Inspector-General of Police. The new helmsmen should proffer workable and sustainable solutions to the spiral of violence in various theatres across the country.
In his inauguration speech on 29th May, President Tinubu had pledged to make security a top priority “because neither prosperity nor justice can prevail amidst insecurity and violence. To effectively tackle this menace, we shall reform both our security doctrine and its architecture,” adding: “We shall invest more in our security personnel, and this means more than an increase in number. We shall provide better training, equipment, pay and firepower.” With a president who has demonstrated within his first three weeks in office that he would be decisive, there is indeed a renewal of hope that things would change on the security front.
However, beyond the responsibility of the people in authority, Nigerians also need to stand up with one voice to denounce the pervasive wave of violent acts. Armed robbery, kidnapping and other sundry criminal acts have become daily occurrences to the extent that Nigerians are hardly shocked by news of such terrible happenings. Our collective psyche has become so benumbed such that sanctity of life does not mean much any longer. This should not be so. For, neither joblessness, nor hunger or anger, could justify the present culture of impunity that pervades the nation.
Hence the service chiefs have their jobs cut out for them. Nigerians have listened to the promises they have all been making. Indeed, they have the responsibility to protect the people. To succeed, they must address the welfare of their officers and men. While enlistment in the military or the police is a national sacrifice, it is not a suicide mission. Their personnel should be given the necessary tools to fight.
We wish them success in their new assignments.
