Recently, the Army celebrated this year’s Nigerian Army Day at an event held at the Event Centre Owerri the Imo State capital. In this report, CHRIS NJOKU posits that the need for a framework for inter-security agency collaboration dominated discussion at the occasion.
Prior to the post-independence unlawful deaths in some parts of the country, which culminated in the 30-month-old Nigeria Civil War between 1967 and 1970, Nigeria and Nigerians experienced relative peace.
From the end of the war to about 1999 when the country returned to civilian rule, there was no major insurrection capable of destabilising the unity and well-being of the country. What, though was noticed, were pockets of agitations in certain regions concerning claimed environmental degradation and marginalisation.
However, the dawn of Boko Haram insurgents in 2009 and later the emergence of the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter of Boko Haram, which is growing in power and influence as terrorist groups in Nigeria, considerably changed the country’s security milieu.
From a quiet religious group in the early 2000s, the group has grown into one of the deadliest terrorist groups. Seen as a security challenge, the government’s counter-terrorism policy appears ineffective.
The military’s conventional approach was not guided by any documented national strategy until the release of the National Counter-Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST) in 2014; ostensibly coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
Even at this, NACTEST is observed to be fraught with gaps that question its suitability as a counter-terrorism policy document for Nigeria.
Among the observed policy gaps include alleged animosity among Nigeria’s security agencies and their unwillingness to share intelligence, a situation that obviously was hampering efforts at effectively combating the Boko Haram insurgency in the country, particularly in the Northeast.
It is disquieting to observe the prevalence of security situations which threaten the peace and security of the land. What is more incommodious is that this horrid state of affairs happens in the full glare of the plethora of these security agencies.
If they had collaborated and pooled manpower and logistics, insecurity and other threats to life and property would have been mitigated, if not eradicated.
However, it does appear that rather than being an asset, the security agencies in Nigeria have seemingly become liabilities. This stems from the fact that the assigned overlapping roles and duplicated duties invariably eventuate into pervasively acrimonious rivalries.
In the circumstances, the citizens are often confused over which among the array of security agencies to look up to in times of security exigency. As a result, it appears that little or nothing has been, or is being done to combat crime and tackle insurgency in the country.
Eventually, a condition of seemingly proliferated security agencies appears to have been exacerbating the crime rate and insecurity in Nigeria as they dissipate human and material resources in supremacy rivalry occasioned by jurisdictional conflicts, personality clashes and struggles for operational funding at the expense of other agencies.
As a result, there is no consensus about the factors that provide the fertile for inter-security agencies’ scuffle in Nigeria. The prevalent view, however, is that it stems from a multiplicity of sources which aggregate to a complex dimension of no love lost among the security agencies.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who visited Kuje Prison where the insurgents freed about 600 prisoners, noted a lack of collaboration among the security agencies. He expressed shock over how the group could attack the place when various security agencies were on the ground to prevent any sinister plan against the state.
This spiteful status quo formed part of the discussions at the just-concluded 2022 Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL) held at the Event Centre Owerri, the Imo State capital.
At the event, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma stressed the need to provide support for a framework that will help in promoting inter-security agency collaboration in the country.
At the lecture organised by the leadership of the Army as part of activities to mark the event, Governor Uzodimma assured all security agencies-Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, the DSS, and the Civil Defence as well as the paramilitary agencies of his readiness to support a framework that will engender collaboration among them.
He hinted that inter-security agency collaboration has recorded huge successes in Imo State; hence the model should be considered for adoption by the authorities.
The lecture whose theme was “Curbing Insecurity in Nigeria and the Imperative of Adrity Agency Collaboration and Coordination” was delivered by Osita Ogbu, a Professor of Economics.
The governor said the Army has improved in “professional competence and intellectual prowess and has, in many ways, justified the confidence reposed in them by the government and people of Nigeria.
“The need for inter-agency collaboration cannot be over-emphasised as it is working in Imo State, though with some challenges, yet there are lots of successes.”
Governor Uzodimma, who commended the Guest Lecturer, Prof. Ogbu, for a well-thought-out paper, also expressed his happiness over the level of patriotism expressed by the Army in her struggle to safeguard the territorial integrity of Nigeria, including the residents and the Nigerian assets.
Governor Uzodimma wondered what would have been the fate of Nigeria without the resilience of the Armed Forces working with sister agencies, and encouraged them not to be “deterred or daunted because no matter how much you try in your patriotism and professionalism there must be criticism.”
The governor, however, recommended that the fight against insecurity should not be left to the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Staff, and Chief of Naval Staff alone.
He was in agreement with the recommendations of the guest lecturer that the political class has a role to play in “bringing all the security agencies together and making them understand that the interest of the country should come first before theirs.”
He, therefore, called for a concerted effort in order to ensure national development.
The governor, who expressed his happiness with the choice of Imo State for the 2022 Army Day Celebration, acknowledged that the programme has strengthened the security in the state and restored confidence in the people.
“The theme of the celebration and the attendant outcome are indications that the military is moving along with the international practices in combat, training and international advancement.
“Modern warfare now demands that troops should be physically and mentally alert. You need to be built with the intellectual capacity to hold your own anywhere in the world,” he added.
Governor Uzodimma said though a lot of successes have been recorded in the areas of security “there is still something to be done and this can best be achieved through a partnership among military and civilians, local government, state and the Federal Government working together so that together, there can be peace and unity when we believe in ourselves and our country.”
At a banquet he organised for the Army Chief and his entourage at the Government House, the governor appreciated the security agencies for their collaborative efforts in restoring peace that seemed to have eluded Imo State in the past one year.
He said Imo people will remain grateful to them and will not take for granted the efforts it made to bring back the peace that is badly needed to foster development and prosperity.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Faruk Yahaya said that “the lecture, discussions and contributions were designed to allow people from other sectors to contribute their ideas to enable the Army to improve their cooperation and coordination that will enhance efficiency in prosecuting and winning the battle against insecurity.”
He conceded that there are still areas begging for improvement in the activities of Army operations. He assured them that the take home from the celebration, especially the lecture, will assist the Army in the area of effectiveness.
He emphasised character in effective professionalism, noting that every country has its own peculiarities which guide its philosophy in its military and defence operations.
Yahaya assured Nigerians, Governor Uzodimma, the government and people of Imo State and President Muhammadu Buhari, of the Army’s sincere loyalty and service to the country.
Prof. Ogbu, in his lecture, brought to the fore the issue of character, as a tool for efficient and effective leadership in the Army and other inter-security agencies.
He regretted that there is no blueprint yet that harmonises the inter-security agency collaborations and coordination, hence all agencies tend to work on parallel lines.
Part of his conclusions reads: “Peace and security require justice and equity in the sharing of the burden of development and similar equity in the sharing of the prosperity that arises from social and economic progress, indignity, poverty, inequality and a rising sense of national unfairness and exclusion undermine citizenship and other attributes of character providing the environment for crimes to thrive and recruitment of terror gangs.
“The military and all the other agencies must realize that there is strength in humility and that ego is the enemy of collaboration.”
During a visit to the Eze Imo Palace in Owerri at the end of the lecture, the Chief of Army Staff told the traditional rulers that they were in the State for their annual Army Day Celebration and that they are concerned about security as it is crucial in everything they do which must be achieved before development.
Yahaya acknowledged the role the traditional rulers play in maintaining peace and security at the grassroots and appealed to them to assist the security agencies with intelligence and information that will help nip crime in the bud.
He reiterated their appreciation to the governor for assisting them in all forms to have a memorable celebration as well as his other efforts in helping to combat crime and criminality in Imo State.
Yahaya said Imo State exhibits a very peaceful place, noting that every environment requires peace for development to thrive.
The Chairman of Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, His Royal Majesty, Eze (Dr) E. C Okeke welcomed the Army chief and his entourage. He commended the Nigerian Army’s combat readiness to contain and tackle the problem of banditry, insurgency, terrorism and general insecurity in Nigeria in general and Imo State in particular.
He appreciated the partnership that exists between the Army and Imo State which, he said, has brought about peace and tranquillity in the state.
He, therefore, assured, on behalf of the traditional rulers in the state and the country at large, of their readiness to partner and work in synergy with the military and other security agencies in the area of combating crime and criminality to a zero level.
He appealed to the Chief of Army Staff to use his good offices to influence the quota of recruitment into the Nigerian Army for Imo State at all levels.
The high point of the visit was the conferment of the chieftaincy title of Dike Ogu 1 (Warlord One) of Imo State to the Chief of Army Staff.