By Tunde Ogunsakin
There is no doubt that maintaining internal security in any country is a collective responsibility and the need for synergy among distinct security bodies cannot be overemphasized. Maintaining internal security is fundamentally anchored on maintaining inter-agency unity which means cordial relationships and cooperation among security agencies. It is quite apparent that each of the component elements of security agencies in Nigeria has a different, but complementary role to play.
Inter-agency unity refers to the collaboration and coordination among different agencies, organizations or departments to achieve common goals. The power of collective action is significant as it can lead to more effective solutions, improved resource allocation and enhanced problem-solving capabilities.
According to Weiss (1987), inter-agency unity exists when two or more organizations/agencies that share a problem area agree to deal with the issue by establishing a link via a formal contract that provides for resources and for the adjusting of internal and/or external procedures to support the new arrangements adequately.
Inter-agency unity is a vital mechanism for managing conflicts and containing insecurity. Several successes have been recorded in the sphere of inter-agency unity; this is because each of the security agencies has a unique capability and operational skills that can complement one another, and the Nigerian situation cannot be an exception.
The essence of inter-agency unity can be outlined to include: the need for security synergy and exchange of ideas and information among security agencies; to create a platform for collective networking and planning of security activities, thereby building a database for preventive action; to provide a forum for the analysis of conflict indicators and processing of security-related information for early warnings and timely response; and to serve as a channel for the dissemination of security reports to all stakeholder’s efforts.
READ ALSO: How we contracted infections using school toilets – Pupils
Inter-agency unity in Nigeria has become necessary because one or more agencies has not been performing its responsibilities optimally considering the ever-increasing and dynamic security challenges. The combination of two or more hands has become necessary. A government agency may be willing to perform its responsibilities effectively but may be constrained due to the huge cost of running these agencies. However, concerted efforts have been known to produce maximal results in this regard.
In appraising the roles of the different security agencies, it would be justified to state that if these constitutional roles are well played, especially in cooperation in the spirit of inter-agency unity, crimes, criminalities and violent conflicts in the society will be minimal.
Although, there has been a continuous emphasis on the essence of interagency unity, however, nothing appears to have changed in the level of un-cooperativeness among the agencies. This situation calls for the urgent action of the top echelon of all the security agencies in order to ensure national security and achieve maximum results in the security management of the country.
The core security institutions charged with the responsibility of ensuring security are: Nigeria Police Force; Nigeria Security & Civil Defence Corps; Nigerian Army; Nigerian Navy; Nigerian Air Force; Department of State Security (DSS); Defence Intelligence Agency; National Intelligence Agency (NIA); Nigerian Customs Service; Nigeria Immigration Service; National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); etc.
FACTORS MILITATING AGAINST INTER-AGENCY UNITY IN NIGERIA
Challenges to national security have expanded significantly from the traditional state-based threats of the Cold War era to include unconventional threats from non-state actors. New threats are diffuse and ambiguous and include terrorism, cyber-attacks, drug trafficking, infectious diseases, and energy threats.
They arise from multiple sources and—because their interrelated nature makes it difficult, if not impossible, for any single agency to effectively address them alone—they therefore require that governments enhance collaboration with intera-gency and international partners, among other actions.
The challenges militating against inter-agency cooperation for the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other security agencies in national security operations are many, some of them are lack of strategic guidance for inter-agency cooperation, inadequate intelligence, technical equipment, and insufficient capacity for national security operations. It must also be noted that Nigeria’s porous borders facilitate the infiltration of adversaries from West Africa, which means that four countries in the region rank among the ten most terrorized globally.
As a result of Nigeria’s porous borders, no single agency can effectively tackle the complex security issues facing the nation, which calls for deeper collaboration among security agencies. We must understand that modern security threats, and coordination influenced by technology and non-state actors, require a coordinated response to ensure national security.
The operating environment has evolved to a point where no single service or agency can effectively and independently tackle the threats to national security. It is therefore crucial that synergy is developed with other security agencies in the implementation of the whole of societal approach to the threats.
Where synergy is lacking among security agencies, there can never be a coordinated approach to the prevailing security challenge. In the Northeast for example, the Nigerian Air Force provides air support, aerial surveillance, casualty evacuation and logistics airlift for troops while the Nigerian Navy has deployed its Special Boat Services and operationalized its Forward Operation Base in Baga as part of the overall operations on the Lake Chad waters.
There is also the institutional constraints. Many of the allegations leveled against security agencies and its personnel, include arbitrariness in exercising its power, corruption, perversion of justice, and delays in the administration of justice. Some of these issues can militate against inter-agency cooperation.
Inadequate manpower due to numerous on-going operations is also a problem. The challenging security environment has necessitated numerous deployments in ongoing operations across the country. This can sometimes impede the possibility of different agencies coming together to carry out joint operations. This situation does not give effect to inter-agency unity and the gains of collective action.
Poor conditions and inadequate equipment constitute another factor. The poor condition of service of the average security officer and inadequate funding of agencies can also militate against inter-agency unity. Mammus (2010) asserted that the major challenge of inadequate security is the dearth of the workforce, shortage of funding, lack of logistic support and infrastructure, absence of technological equipment to cover all the areas of the state are responsible for the current state of the general national insecurity in Nigeria.
What about absence of inter-service communication! This is required to ensure prompt command and control, and it hampers the quick relay of information among the services, especially when clashes are in the formative stages. Absence of inter-service communication hampers inter-service unity and thereby largely deprives us of the gains of collective action.
The issue of superiority complex is also there. Sometimes, instead of emphasis being placed on the gains that can be realized from inter-agency unity, there is misplaced emphasis on one security agency being superior to the other. This does not allow for the much-needed unity that is required to bring about collaboration and synergy towards ensuring adequate security of lives and properties.
This was enunciated by Samuel (2014) that instead of collaboration and cooperation, each attempted to see his agency as superior to another. This often stemmed from poor judgment, ignorance or/and poor training among our security agencies as to see themselves working for the same common purpose towards the overall security of the nation.
Differences in agencies’ structures, processes, and resources can hinder successful collaboration in national security, and adequate coordination mechanisms to facilitate collaboration during national security planning and execution are not always in place.
Also constituting a problem is a situation where personnel often lack knowledge of the processes and cultures of the agencies which they ought to collaborate with.
THE POWER OF COLLECTIVE ACTION THROUGH INTER-AGENCY UNITY
Available evidence indicates that poor inter-agency collaboration among Nigeria’s security institutions is one of the major factors militating against effective conflict resolution and security management in Nigeria.
The consequences of not working effectively together culminate in increasing fear of insecurity and diminished trust in the capabilities of the security system to protect the lives and property of civilian populations across Nigeria in general and terror zones in particular.
From Boko Haram in the Northeast, banditry and criminal kidnapping in the Northwest, secessionist agitations in the Southeast and Southwest, the security system in Nigeria is practically overstretched.
In this situation, only the working together of the units that make up Nigeria’s security system will de-escalate conflict and neutralize security threats through complementary operations and credible intelligence sharing among others.
CREATING STRUCTURES
I have always been a proponent of inter-agency unity, From 2012 to 2014, as the Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit in Lagos. I was able to establish collaborative efforts and synergy with numerous agencies and stakeholders. At the Special Fraud Unit, I set up a Stakeholders’ Forum comprising different individuals, corporate bodies, institutions and entities from all walks of life.
This afforded us the opportunity to regularly brainstorm and leverage on superior knowledge and expertise in the performance of our duties. Prof Adeyemi a United Nations consultant also Dean and professor at the University of Lagos was the chairman of the stakeholders’ forum and we were able to draw from the academic perspective and integrity of investigation of cases to achieve some breakthroughs in the cases we were handling at that time.
In 2012, sequel to a presidential directive, I conducted investigation into the Fuel Subsidy Fraud and in the course of this investigation, I collaborated with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), The Nigerian Navy, The Nigeria Custom Service and numerous financial and regulatory bodies.
This collaboration, in no small measure assisted me in ensuring that a thorough and in-depth investigation was conducted into the fuel subsidy fraud. I also collaborated with the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and all the financial institutions while investigating fraud cases at the Special Fraud Unit, Lagos.
One of the gains of collective action that is noteworthy during my tenure as the Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit was the building of an Interrogation Office fully equipped with state-of–the-art technological equipment for interrogating suspects. With the assistance of the stakeholders’ forum, we built a 3-storey standard forensic investigation laboratory office with modern investigative equipment to ease the performance of our duties.
Also, in 2014, I was the Commissioner of Police, River State Police Command where I launched serious onslaught against kidnapping and other violent crimes. I collaborated with the military and other security agencies in crime fighting. My posting then was at a time when there was upsurge in kidnapping and oil bunkering. However, through inter-agency unity, I was able to tackle the upsurge in crime at that time and there was relative peace in the state.
Through collaborative efforts and synergy from the military and other security agencies, I also launched a programme ‘SAY NO TO KIDNAPPING’. This programme was largely very successful as it changed the mindsets of many of the youths to embrace other legitimate means of livelihood instead of embracing kidnapping and other forms of crimes.
The programme exposed the ills of kidnapping and other criminal activities to the youths and other inhabitants of the state. Suffice it to say that through inter-agency unity, we were able to restore peace and sanity in the state as people were able to sleep with their two eyes closed.
In the same spirit, as an Assistant Inspector-General of Police, in 2015, I oversaw the Zone 6 Police Command in Calabar, then comprising Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, Ebonyi and Rivers State Police Commands. Through inter-agency unity with the military and other security agencies, we were able to jointly put in place new operational strategies towards the elimination of kidnapping, pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, illegal oil refining and illegal oil bunkering and other criminal activities.
The zeal to restore sanity in the area was so profound that I requested from the Inspector-General of Police at that time to deploy Police helicopters to my Office to join the massive onslaught against the criminals, which he graciously granted. It is heartwarming to state that the gains of our collective action through inter-agency unity in this regard were monumental. There was no hiding place for the criminals as many of them were arrested and prosecuted.
Furthermore, in 2016, apparently based on the enormous successes recorded as the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Zone 6 Police Command in Calabar, I was posted as the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, in charge of the Zone 12 Police Command then comprising Bauchi State, Borno State and Yobe State Police Commands.
On assumption of office in Bauchi, I stepped up my inter-agency unity drive which is very critical in combating terrorism and other criminal tendencies that were rife in my area of responsibility. It should be noted that the rate of insurgents’ activities in Borno and Yobe States which were under my command and control then was on the rise at that time.
This scaled up efforts were evident in the collaboration and partnership between the Nigeria Police, the military and other security agencies; and this impacted positively on joint operations and other important assignments that were carried out while ensuring that normalcy was restored to the area.
LESSONS FROM THE US AND OTHER CLIMES
The 9/11 Commission observed that United States government’s single greatest failure preceding the September 11, 2001, attacks was the inability of the United States federal agencies to effectively share information about suspected terrorists and their activities.
However, consequence upon the failure of inter- agency unity in the US which made 9/11 possible, the American security agencies came out of the ruins of the 9/11 episode stronger as there has not been any successful foreign terrorism planned attack on US soil since 9/11. How have they done it? Let’s recall.
Let’s recall “Operation Chevrolet,” the plot to kill Saudi ambassador to the USA. An Iranian car salesman domiciled in the USA in connection with terror merchants within Iran and in a Mexican drug cartel had planned to assassinate the ambassador in Washington at a popular upscale restaurant.
But the unity among the security agencies of FBI, CIA, DOJ, led by the USA Terrorism Task Force put in motion a counter terrorism counter intelligence that goaded on the perpetrator and on the eve of their dastardly plans, arrested the contractor and others when his flight to Mexico from IRAN was diverted to New York. He was arrested, and charged to court and convicted with a life sentence.
Another instance was the 2006 largest counter terrorism global inter-agency collaboration which was launched as operation “overt” involving CIA, FBI, the British intelligence crime mapping system, and M15. Through this collaboration, the telephone and email conversation of the terrorists in Britain to Pakistan and USA were monitored. The terror point was to take off at Heathrow airport. Eighteen (18) potential suicide bombers were to be distributed to nine (9) flights to destinations in USA and Canada simultaneously. Different components of the explosive devices were to be assembled inside the planes and detonated over the Atlantic
To foil their clandestine plot, over 1000 British intelligence and surveillance officers were deployed while operatives in Pakistan were put on alert for coverts intelligence.
As their D-Day became closer, the plotters were placed under close watch, their movements were monitored on CCTV, cameras and bugging devices were planted in their homes and cars to pick up all their conversations
Having gathered sufficient information, the ringleader of the terror plot, Rashed Rauf, was eventually arrested by the Pakistani authorities. His arrest provided intelligence for the British crime agencies raid the homes of the terror merchants which led to the arrest of 25 of the plotters in the UK. Details of the blueprint of the terror plots were recovered in their homes and their computers seized. There was thus enough evidence to charge them to court which -subsequently led to their conviction.
MOVING FORWARD
We must as a matter of urgency organize a regular leadership conference to harness our shared vision of a secured Nigeria. This leadership meetings would be expected to permeate to the states and LGAs with a view to engendering a harmonious and united workforce among all the security agencies. Inferiority complex and superiority battles between and among security agencies only aggravate the insecurity of everyone and deepens national insecurity
We must put in place a proper Command and Control mechanism for institutionalized control mechanism that would avoid rancor within the agencies. This Command-and-Control structure will supervise and ensure proper intelligence gathering, monitoring and sharing nationwide.
Using technology, Artificial intelligence. We must as a matter of urgency set up a criminal data base project, and merge all identification, databases NIN, passport, driver license, sim registration are identity databases linked to the NSA office and utilize facial recognition and artificial intelligence in public areas, Airports, prisons and key urban areas.
Banditry in the Northwest has exposed how unmanned or poorly manned border zones can compromise national security. The widespread smuggling and use of illicit drugs by criminals have also been implicated as a contributor to growing security and its unfolding dynamism.
The use of drugs by bandits, Boko Haram terrorists, kidnappers and armed robbers is no longer a secret. As of 2017, 14.3 million Nigerians between 15 and 64 years old used hard drugs such as Cannabis, Tramadol, Codeine or Morphine, and this affects the nature of criminality and conflict in Nigeria.
That the use of these drugs continues to proliferate implies that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, cannot do it alone without effectively collaborating with other security agencies.
To leave the border posts, airports and seaports alone to the Customs and Immigration without the support and collaboration of other security agencies will amount to opening our country to terrorists, drug lords, proliferation of arms which would ultimately fall into the hands of bandits, robbers, secessionists, oil thieves etc. and create problems for other agencies.
If other security agencies do not work with NDLEA, for instance, those who get high on drugs will deploy it to do banditry and kidnapping which will then become a problem for the police, army and NSCDC. Security agencies in Nigeria must close ranks and eliminate rivalry. Security is arrived at when every part of the security system (police, army, NSCDC, NDLEA, Immigration, Customs and others) discharges its roles efficiently and balances its weaknesses with the strength of other security agencies.
A national policy framework on inter-agency unity/cooperation should be designed by the government for national security (national inter-agency cooperation model).
A centralized intelligence gathering database should be provided for coordination and information dissemination among security agencies.
Training and re-training of security personnel on security management.
There is the need for public-private partnership and community engagement to combat general insecurity in the country
Improvement of the general welfare of all the security forces is very essential. Good and excellent reward packages for the workforce in all the security agencies would serve as a motivating force to propel them for better performance. The quality of remuneration will mitigate frequent frictions among them, as each will focus on their duties and be ready to synergize and collaborate when the need arises.
The mass and social media too could be of immense help by maintaining an unbiased posture and ensuring that the clashes that sometimes arise because of the conduct of security officers and men of the different security agencies are not blown or reported out of proportion to the extent of causing tension and degenerating into major inter-agency rivalry.
For compliance with the terrorism (prevention and prohibition Act 2022), the NSA office should be a meeting point for proper coordination and collaboration and synergize for the greater purpose of ensuring the general security of the country. The NSA should develop a template for mandatory reporting. This will bridge the gap of inadequate cooperation and dissemination of information among sister agencies.
The NSA can institute a directorate of strategic planning, communication and civil engagement with representatives from all the security agencies which will constantly engage with the populace on policies and conflict with a view to finding solutions to national security problems.
Tied to this is the need for regular joint training, workshops and intellectual exchange among the different agencies to foster inter-agency unity and enhance better coordination during joint operations.
Agencies can enhance and sustain their collaborative efforts by establishing compatible policies, procedures, and other means to operate across agency boundaries, among other practices.
CONCLUSION
There is a challenge and a big task before us all. Inter-agency unity is not served on a platter of gold. It must be worked out knowing the gains that can accrue therefrom. Before me here are service chiefs, officers at the top echelon of respective services with very intimidating credentials. Our agencies’ missions and visions are better realized when we work together in one accord. I challenge you all to come together, notwithstanding the agency you belong to, consciously embrace one another with our common goal, security and secured nation as the only target.
Inter-agency unity exemplifies the power of collective action, showcasing how collaborative efforts can yield benefits. By harnessing the strength of diverse organizations, a unified approach fosters innovation, effective problem solving, and resistance in addressing complete issues for successful
inter-agency collaboration, establishing clear communication channels, mutual respect and shared objectives as a sine qua non.
The common goal is peace and a secure nation to foster economic growth. Let us work together in the same direction to achieve peace and security as in doing so everybody (every agency) wins. Achieving peace and security should be considered a TEAMWORK because Together Everyone Achieves More. You can take the bull by the horn and put an end to interagency rivalry. The time for inter-agency unity is now.