By Martins Mejabi
Nigeria’s Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) is by default to map out every strategy mobbing the use of all elements, I mean all elements of national power in ensuring human security and peaceful coexistence among core missions arrogated to, or for the office. This office in question remains very critical to national security survival and promotion of collective progress, within any geostrategic environment, no doubt.
Be that as it may, the sensitivity and competence of the occupiers of this office in respect to these core assignments has been eroded long time ago. The office has therefore been reduced to a mere ceremonial slush. At the heel of the first tenure of Late President Muhammudu Buhari, recalled Retired Major General, Babagana Monguno was appointed the NSA. And of course, much was desired in formulating and building on the 2014 maiden National Security Strategy. However, in 2019, an updated version of that document came on board.
In the uniqueness of that jamboree, core purpose was misplaced because everything in Nigeria is all about politics. The strategy, instead of given more to internal prevention, protection, internal defense and response capabilities to nip in the bud an impending or emerging security threats, the strategic position and projection of that document was largely aimed at pursuing regional, continental and global peace and stability while shallowly projected at security and the future forecast of any occurrence of security threats to human life and properties.
2019 National Security Strategy was beautifully rapt in continental and global jamboree, conventionally slush and domestically and operationally marked by inept.
Monguno became emotionally ceremonious in structural planning of the strategy but never helped bring succor in the light of the immediate security tragedy the country was plaque into by the nefarious activities of boko-haram militia and bandits as it were.
Buhari’s government plays host to indiscriminate kidnapping and slaughtering of innocent Nigerians, culminating years of uninterrupted tension, mass killings by terrorists’ organizations and bandit’s onslaught across the country.
Recalled the abduction of students, Chibok and others. I was privileged to have listened to an interview of some chibok girls that revealed how their abductors do have indiscriminate sex with them every time. They confessed that there was hardly a day in captivity when they were not sexually assaulted. Some were forced into so-called “marriages” with their captors, with one woman assigned to two men, while others were forced to serve three or four.
The trauma of kidnapping is physiologically and phycologically overwhelming. The story that highlights the devastating human cost of insecurity in Nigeria today, beyond financial burden, deep physical and psychological scars remains the pain, fear, and blood; a reality that can only be told by the victims of their attacks.
As if it were a miniature of its kind, Tinubu’s government is a poker to the new dimension of bandits and banditry escapades.
We’ve had more callous experience in the past few months. We have our flesh pounded. Kidnapping and beheading becomes a new tactic of these monsters. Not only a new tactic, bandits now live with us and do whatever they likes. We no longer safe traveling, neither nor can we go to farm. We had cruel pang on our little school children and teachers. Imagine children with such excruciating experiences. What a disgusting national security architecture.
The abysmal culture of neglect and a charide of carelessness addicted to, by our national security advisers, both past and present with their senseless measures on security matters has sent a lot of people to their early grave. And seriously, it an understatement to say insecurity in Nigeria calls for an urgent concern. My insomnia is to know if the Office of the National Security Advisers is a mere ceremonial or a model caricature??
We have a national security model and actors that are not proactive in dealing decisively with this nefarious acts. Otherwise, how on earth did we got here?
The recent Oyo school attack on little children speaks on the inhuman these criminals can be. While, also speak on the deteriorating and cheap the country’s security networking can be as well. The audacity of these guys’ operation have defiled the ordinary.
They now have the gut to video their victims to the glance of the Internet (facebook) and got scot free, in a country claimed to have experts in reconnaissance think-tank in all aspects of intelligence gathering.
I consider it a shame for Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the current National Security Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and I am ashamed of the President himself for allowing these miscreants to take over his territory with this cheap campaign.
I am aware there have not been any updates to the last update made to the 2019 National Security Strategy by Buhaii government, nonetheless, his administration made a footnote of 4 to 5 years of immediate review of any current version of the strategy but it is not only disheartening to note that there has not been any updates, neither will it be considered for review in the will to jest out it’s low points in an urgent need to tackle this pressing distress.
There should be a concerted and immediate effort, conscious, hard and deliberate with the use of ISR components, with a critical role in connection to community intelligence, let the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu demonstrate willingness by taking hard decisions, creating or establishing military operating bases across the country, and invest heavily on local vigilante domicile in every nooks and crannies of the country.
And most importantly developing a quick unified response to emerging security threats, including investing in overt and covert operations, also with deterrence attacks among various other operational strategies and tactics that can be launched.
This area of developing a quick unified response to emerging security threats is one of the cardinal outline of any proactive, responsive and productive body of any security strategy and tactics should be pointedly focused on. This is because, every evolving society has its evolving characters and characterization. Whether there’s any immediate security challenges or not, what the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) does, is to always bill up it’s strategic approach(s) ahead of any emerging threats. And that is what is expected of Mr Ribadu.
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu has been stoic, or should I say he’s confused? Perhaps inept for the job. No one is expecting him a magic wand, either do anyone expect total crime free society, but at least isn’t to this measure. The situation is barbaric and abnormal.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu can certainly do more and better on security if he looks critically into his artithecture and asks questions. There is more to explore from Singapore, Indonesia, even Malaysia that will go along way to help curb this disturbing menace that is eating deep our flesh and blood in Nigeria.
The nightmare is unprecedented. No part of Nigeria is left out. No one including little school children are conspicuously safe. While the rate this is going is explosive and alarming. And if nothing is done, we might be reduced to ashes and the rest will be history. God for bid!
– Martins Mejabi, a Journalist and Lecturer, writes from ‘Orioke Akogba’.
