NIGERIA’S COMPLICATED SECURITY CHALLENGES

Joshua J. Omojuwa argues that the country is too vast to be policed from one point

Until about 40 years ago, the United States of America, and especially New York City, had an organised crime challenge that appeared to defy every solution. The Mafia had become law unto itself. One mafioso appeared to be invincible against the law – while boss of the Gambino organised crime family. His experience in US courts offers a lesson for those at the helm of meeting Nigeria’s evolving and complicated security challenges.

John Gotti killed Paul Castellano, who was until he got killed, the head of the Gambino family. The feds knew Gotti ordered the killing, however they had no evidence, so he wasn’t charged.

That did not matter to the New York Queens District Attorney who in the absence of credible evidence on the murder case, instead charged Gotti for assault in a case that involved a traffic incident between Gotti and a man called Romual Piecyk. Piecyk didn’t know who Gotti was when the incident happened 18 months before. Even then, Gotti was only a captain or so in the Mafia. By the time the charges came up for hearing, Gotti had become the Godfather of New York’s most powerful Mafia family.

When it was time to appear in court, the complainant was nowhere to be seen. By the time he was found, he was wearing a support for his broken hands. When time came to testify, he refused to. Gotti got away free as all charges of assault got dismissed. Gotti defeated the Queens District Attorney.

Then came the Gotti trial by the Eastern District of New York. He was charged for murder, illegal gambling, racketeering, etc. Diane Giacalone, an assistant U.S. attorney led the case and was quite confident about getting a conviction, especially as to that point, no prosecutor had lost a case under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations (RICO) law.

The FBI was at this point investigating John Gotti and did not appreciate what Giacalone was up to. It did not help that the assistant attorney refused to step down an indictment against Willie Boy Johnson, a major informant of the FBI, who was an ally and loyalist of Gotti. Johnson had been supplying the FBI information secretly for years. Giacalone refused and not only indicted Willy Johnson, she also exposed him as a ‘rat’ in court.

Whilst Giacalone thought she had a strong case, her prosecution primarily depended on informants who were themselves criminals. Gotti was again acquitted on all charges. This was the first time a prosecutor lost a RICO case.

Then came the New York State Organised Crime Task Force (OCTF) who depending on electronic surveillance charged John Gotti for murder. To cut this short, John Gotti defeated the government again. Played three, won three. Top of the table. He was untouchable!

Except he really wasn’t, even though he earned iconic status for his invincibility and ability to defeat the government. He became the ‘Teflon Don’.

Then came the FBI. However, unlike the previous cases, the FBI sought cooperation and got information from the OCTF. Battling the different tiers of government prosecution left Gotti paranoid, exposed and careless. The FBI got war-wearied Gotti.

This would have been impossible without President Ronald Reagan easing legislation on electronic surveillance in 1984 and the passing of the RICO Act into law years before. Two big paradigm shifts.

Often, the crimes and criminals that end up becoming “national security” issues start out being “local security” issues. Boko Haram was local, kidnapping was local, IPOB was local, banditry was local. Our current national security challenges were all local challenges.

The failure of security in Nigeria is a systemic failure brought about by the fact that only one police is fighting crime. That is the Nigerian Police Force (NPF). The NPF has failed so much so that the military is a lot more involved in security within the country than it ordinarily should be. The failure of the police is just as much about its capabilities as it is about a design that is bound to guarantee failure.

There are about 20,000 police agencies in the U.S. All devolved from the smallest tier of government to the federal government. A lot has been said about the prospects of governors abusing state police. Well, don’t governors already abuse the NPF? Even low-budget big men do.

Nigeria is too vast, diverse, and complicated to be policed from one point. You’d end up with too many ungoverned spaces. We need more than one police. We need at least 38. Possibly 812.

We can throw up as many names as we want as to who should head what security agency. However, if those people work in a system that is designed to be literally so far removed from the local sources of these issues, they’d achieve some incremental progress at best, before progress is reverted. And that’s the best anyone has achieved since 1999. We haven’t solved for security since 1999.

National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu’s efforts to ensure the various security agencies are working together and sharing information is a step in the right direction. His proactive moves engaging various actors and players are essential in preventing situations that’d lead to a breakdown of law and order. Such moves are hardly appreciated in the same way no one cares about a successful flight. We only care when the unfortunate happens. So, this is not to say the National Security Architecture should be done away with. That should never come into play.

What must happen though is, we need a paradigm shift that’d ensure the active participation of our local and state governments in security. For now, their role appears suggestive and subjective.

As with its many facets of development, Nigeria needs a paradigmn shift on security. That shift, by design, cannot happen with only one police unit. You need state and local police. At least, start with state policing.

It takes more than one government to fight crime, that’s the lesson of the Gotti and other related trials. That said, what’s the update on National Identity and fighting security?

 Omojuwa is chief strategist Alpha Reach/ author Digital Wealth Book