26052018 - Buhari battles the challenge of CHANGE

18—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 26, 2018
•Capt Aliyu 'Blade' Umar
Insecurity has no religion, party
affiliation, or ethnic identity—Umar
Capt Aliyu "Blade' Umar, a security expert, is the chief executive officer of Goldwatetr
& RiverSand Consults, an organisation that offers consultancy and oversight advisory
services on a broad range of national security issues. In this interview, he examines
Nigeria's security architecture and advises that politics, religion and ethnicity should
stay out of security issues
By Jide Ajani
WHAT did we miss?
The security situation in the country
vis-a-vis the “change” as expected is not
about “what we missed” per se, but more
like “what we have refused” to do. We in
the context of which I have used it here refers
to the security sector (if there is even any at
the moment) and its actors, particularly public
and government stakeholders as it were. I
have heard of oil and gas, agricultural,
education and so many other sectors. I don’t
think there is a “formal” security sector. I
stand to be corrected, though.
What didn’t we do?
First and foremost we have always failed
to stay security out of politics, religion and
ethnicity. Having to mix security with these
factors of our national existence is the first
don't and bane of our nationhood. Put
another way, security or insecurity has no
religion, party affiliation, or ethnic identity.
Crime, murder, brigandage, militancy,
treasury looting or any other allied vices as
they proliferate today are acts, (regardless
the persona or dramatis personae behind
them).
Appointment of
security chieftains
When we mix politics, religion and
ethnicity with security, we begin to focus on
the frills and miss the skirt. As a result
criminals do abominable things (crime/act)
and walk away under some political, ethnic
or religious clout.
Today we consider religion, party affiliation
and ethnicity as parameters for appointing
security chieftains, hence our security
chieftains come ab-initio with preconceived
loyalties and no go areas and by extension,
weaknesses. Crime and its proponents
simply exploit these and other like
shenanigans to flourish and plunder.
Summarily, the moral of my short story is:
stay politics and sentiments out of the
business of national security and security
operations at all levels; focus on results
results results. A threat to any one or any
part of our nationhood is a threat to all.
What could have been done?
In one word: Results! At its inception the
present political dispensation should have
angled for results. Alas! Security chieftains
should have been given timelines and
milestones for performance. Alas! Those who
do not measure up made to understand they
would have to step aside for the one who
can deliver. Alas!
Office holders particularly politicians
should also be made to understand they are
to steer clear of security operations...all they
need do is weigh results, as in security or
the lack of it within their domains. Alas! What
we see are politicians who think security is
politics, and security chieftains who think
politics is security. That in itself evolves a
“yes man” syndrome amongst state security
machinery chieftains, where security men
and chieftains become tools in the hands of
security-illiterate politicians, with horrible
out comes. While that persists, crime and
Continues from page 17
us. You see something that is wrong and you
cannot say this is wrong. We cannot continue
to live like that. Security is not the security
agencies responsibility alone, it is
everybody’s responsibility. The total number
of all the security outfits, let us just put it at
two million in a population of about 200million,
it is not enough. All the security in the world
is intelligence led and intelligence depends
on information. If you don’t have the
information you are wasting your time. No
matter what you have, it is the human beings
that will analyze the data and come out with
what this picture is talking about.
So when people start clamouring that the
Americans have drones and what have you,
but they have forgotten that at the back of those
things, it is the man behind the machines that
determines what the machine is going to do;
the machine is as good as the man who is going
to operate it. And we must stop this issue of
saying leave him alone. It has led to impunity.
If an agency is not performing you should say
it, you don’t keep quiet and believe things will
improve. It is not going to improve because if
you don’t say this man is not doing his job
then you are encouraging others not to
perform.
When the present government came in, the
assurance they gave was that of improving
on security of lives and property. Again at
that time a lot of Nigerians felt that with the
leader of the party being a former head of
state and someone with a security background
impunity have a field day at the bizarre
expense of the citizenry.
What can be done and done the right
way?
To change the situation at hand, some
hard choices must be swallowed. For a
start our citizens must understand that “
who wants change” and “who wants to
change” are two different things. Our
citizens here spans the President, down to
the last Nigerian citizen. I believe we all
wanted change, as at 2015 elections; but
not all of us want to change. (#Who wants
Change; #Who Wants to Change). Put
modestly, while we all want change, we
are selectively ignorant about “wanting to
change”.
Our security chieftains no less; their
corollaries in the Legislature and Judiciary
no less; the opposition party no less; the
ruling party no less; there is a propensity
of so many and most likely the majority of
our people being who are deliberately
selective when it comes to wanting to
change. They want change, but only want
to change as it suits their personal whims
and interests.
Only security chieftains with the courage
and audacity to hold fast and work for the
greater good of one and all, can bring about
the security stability levels this nation so
direly needs. I doubt if we have such
chieftains presently. Incidentally, and
ironically, the last one I saw was not even
a security chieftain. She was a food and
drugs chieftain of blessed memory who had
conviction, drive and courage to fight the
monstrous threat of fake drugs in Nigeria
to a standstill, regardless whose ox was
gored, regardless threats to her own life.
Outside the Military and Customs today I
cannot say I see one with her attributes just
yet.
Any other suggestions that would help
the process
Security is invisible, at best it can only be
felt; Insecurity is visible, it also festers and
becomes lethal. Any seasoned security
chieftain or politicians should see right
through what I have just said. Sadly I
cannot extrapolate because criminals and
masterminds of mayhem read newspapers
too. Let whosoever requires a
decomposition of the foregoing reach me
freely. ONE NIGERIA.
We have satisfied all indicators of a failing State
things were going to improve; rather the
situation is not what a lot of people
expected; what do you advice should be
done that is not being done?
I know the security situation is precarious
but like I said earlier we have not taken steps
that need to be taken. A lot of improvements
have been achieved which are very difficult
to pinpoint because the government or those
responsible are not actually coming out to say
these are the things that are happening. The
collaboration internationally has moved a step
forward. Before 2015 Cameroun did not bother
about joining forces with others to fight Boko
Haram. The Multinational Joint Task Force
in Lake Chad area has been in existence
since 1987, 89, the Camerounians never
joined up because they felt it wasn’t part of
their responsibility but as at 2015 when the
President went round, he was able to get
everybody that has a claim in the Lake Chad
region to be involved including the Republic
of Benin that has nothing to do with the Lake
Chad region, even Niger Republic. So we
have our neighbours now coming together
and working as a team.
If you may recall before then the Americans
refused point blank, to sell anything
(weaponry) to us and they were saying that
the human rights records against Nigeria was
poor but now the situation has changed. Those
in the north east will attest to it that they have
received serious assistance from the
Americans and British in terms of maps,
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