President Muhammadu Buhari was quoted as having told his security chiefs at a recent meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) that their performances were below pass mark.

This is a belated realisation of the age-long public mood that all the security chiefs that have served under the number one citizen have been unable to adequately secure lives and property across the nation. New Telegraph notes with displeasure that President Buhari has finally keyed into the public mood after socioeconomic dislocations of cathedral proportions have been inflicted on the populace. Lives and property have been and are still being lost in the different parts of Africa’s most populous country to a combination of gunmen, insurgents, abductors and their ilk.

Movement of persons, goods and services to the different parts of the nation, prosecution of agricultural activities, operation of educational and health institutions as well as other socio-economic activities crucial for the sustenance of a nation have been tremendously compromised.

An earlier admission of the failure of the recurring security chiefs by President Buhari would have helped propel stakeholders towards the search for more effective and efficient security functionaries but such never happened. Instead, presidential spokespersons were allowed to spread unproven claims that the terrorists and other criminally-minded elements had either been technically defeated or degraded when clearly this was not the case.

This is worrisome as Nigeria is warming up for two critical development-oriented exercises next year namely the Housing and Population Census as well as the General Elections. In the circumstance whereby the spike in insecurity continues, it will be virtually impossible to conduct the Housing and Population Census as well as the General Elections in many parts of the country.

As the President and Commanderin- Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, President Buhari must take a large share of the blame for the insecurity raging the country His position comes with enormous powers and resources with which he can use to govern aright including the provision of adequate security of lives and property of the citizens. The National Assembly should henceforth desist from regarding itself as an extension of the Executive Arm of Government. It should summon any member of the Executive Branch, including the number one citizen, to seek explanations over some absurdities including the mounting insecurity.

The National Assembly has enormous powers to help instil discipline and focus into the Executive Branch of Government that has so far been found wanting in the area of security. One of such is the power to withhold funds to the entire Executive Organ of Government or any of its Ministries, Departments or Agencies (MDAS) considered to be acting against the public interest.

They can also provide incentives to those security functionaries who exhibit undiluted commitment and dedication in the fight against insecurity. Provision of the state of the art technology to the security operatives will help them in their continued efforts to neutralise the non-state actors. Success by a single component unit in the fight against insecurity is doubtful. Intrastate and intra-nation collaboration would be required.

This would help unleash assaults on the criminallyminded individuals thereby making it difficult for them to have any hide-out. A classic example of intra-state collaboration is the one between Ogun and Oyo states. The collaboration spearheaded by the governors of the two states and professionally administered by their Attorneys- General and Commissioners of Justice has helped to bring relief to unsuspecting motorists and communities along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway criss-crossing the three states of Lagos, Ogun and Oyo. Arrested criminally-minded elements should be made to face justice.

Under no disguise, should such persons be classified as repentant, pardoned and re-integrated into the society. The Federal Government which presides over the mineral and solid mineral endowments and other revenueearning sources domiciled in the communities and local government areas across the country has a responsibility to be vigorously committed towards the actualisation of fulfilled earthly existence for all Nigerians.

Such a threshold would help discourage some persons from the commission of crimes. We do not have anything against any Nigerian earning his livelihood in a state of his or her choice.

But it must be stressed that the right to sojourn anywhere backed up with the individual readiness to be law-abiding. On no account should anybody move about with dangerous weapons as such unlawful conduct has the tendency to embolden the concerned individual to terrorise others.

Each individual should be ready to be traced to a fixed address instead of living in a bush, forest or uncompleted building. New Telegraph is confident that the faithful implementation of the suggested recommendations would go a long way to reducing insecurity to the lowest level in Nigeria.

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