Appointing new service chiefs in Nigeria is not the perfect solution to the incessant crimes happening from day to day in Nigeria. More crimes will technically be committed by offenders, because the old strategies will retire with the just-retired service chiefs. New strategies would be implemented by the new appointees, which will take time before it materialises and manifests, and before then a lot more would have happened.

Dating back to when President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration took over from President Goodluck Jonathan’s government, the same crimes committed today were committed then, for example, banditry, kidnapping, ritualism, terrorism and the likes were the order of the day. At the time, a day will not pass by without any of the listed crimes pointed out not make the headlines. So, there is nothing new today that was not done as at then.

Although the track records of some of the newly-appointed officers are great, except for a few lapses here and there. Recall that one of the service chiefs was sacked by the just-retired Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai allegedly because of his incapability. And now tables have turned, the same person sacked by Buratai has now been appointed by Buhari.

The new chiefs will fight crimes to an extent, and it can only be to some attainable heights that the whole citizenry can commend their efforts in the long-run, because we detest the incessant crimes occurring and re-occurring on a daily basis in Nigeria. The best the previous service chiefs would have done and assisted by the Federal Government is to support and employ new strategies to fight and tackle insecurity completely. But it looks like the past service chiefs were out of options and ideas.

This is one of the reasons why credible security strategists and analysts should be employed to tackle such a highly sensitive situation as insecurity.

Personally, I’m not saying the decisions made by them were not good enough, but Nigerians wanted more to be done. Today, it could be you or me to become a victim of the unusual insecurity and unforeseen circumstances surrounding the whole federation but, before it gets to that, new out-of-the world strategies should be mapped out by these newly-appointed chiefs to curb crimes and ensure an average Nigerian can move around at any time without fear of getting killed by different terrorist sects in the country. As at today, no average Nigerian can walk or travel during the day without looking behind, if there’s an evil about to befall him/her or even looking ahead as an attack can come from the front side.

We only pray to the benevolent God to continue to keep us safe in all our endeavours and be safe from every form of evil by such perpetrators. Basically, the rationale behind this article is for re-strategising on ways to tackle common crimes that has led to insecurity and has caused severe damage to the whole nation even as it has crippled us economically.

The north, statistically, is the most unsafe place in Nigeria. Yet, we are clamouring for a one Nigeria when a businessman that resides in Osun State, for example, is afraid to travel to Zamfara to explore new opportunities and run a business there.

That is how bad insecurity has eaten deeply into the Nigerian economic system and even detesting foreign investors.

Mike-Nifty, public affairs analyst and a curator can be reached: nifty.mics@yahoo.com

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