By Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt

German political foundation, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), has attributed insecurity in Nigeria to lack of synergy among security agencies.

It expressed worries about lack of understanding and trust among the security agencies, noting that to guarantee security, formations must ensure collaboration.

The foundation spoke at the weekend at a workshop it organised in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on ‘Promoting Interagency Collaboration and Conflict Resolution for Personnel of Security Agencies’.

The workshop, attended by senior security personnel from the Army, Police, Department of State Security (DSS), Navy, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Immigration and Correctional Services, was supported by the Federal Republic of Germany Foreign Office, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the House Committee on Army.

The Deputy Resident Representative, KAS, Marija Peran, said the training was to build inter-agency collaboration and instill trust and good communication among security formations.

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Peran said the event was targeted at making the nation safe and habitable, adding that there was need for security agencies to work to foster effective conflict management.

She said there were controversies among the security agencies, arising from overlapping of duties and responsibilities, adding that the situation had hindered success in the fight against insecurity.

Said she: “I want to emphasise that the basis for this is already existent: it is the shared goal of making this nation safe and the willingness to be an active part in bettering collaboration implementation.

“This is why overlapping mandates need to either be resolved, where they are hindering effective law enforcement and security measures, or inter-agency collaboration and understanding of mandates must be broadened and/or deepened.

“Because overlaps in function are not per se bad, but are often rather necessary. What is true, though, and what has to be addressed is that they can lead to misunderstandings and outright conflict.

“This is why inter-agency collaboration matters. Where there is synergy between agencies, there will be a sharing of scarce funds and resources, the possibility to learn from each other’s’ competencies, a higher morale and sense of belonging, and ultimately better security and conflict management.

“Prof. Akanjis survey on the biggest security threat in Nigeria shows that there is not a common idea of the challenges confronting the country. This is natural, because the assessment depends on one’s own point of view.

“But what is crucial, critical even, is to understand the different ways people and agencies look at different issues and why. The goal is for everyone to work better together and to reduce rivalry among security agencies.

“The precondition for this is trust – a small word with a big impact. The importance of building trust was very well and extensively elaborated on during this workshop.”