The essence of a speedy and well-coordinated, frontal fight against the persisting challenge of insecurity in the country must have prompted the recent headline news claiming that: “At least 78 Nigerians have been killed and 12 abducted in violent attacks across the country since President Bola Tinubu took the oath of office”. The incidents took place in Rivers, Zamfara, Kaduna, Ogun, Sokoto, and the Federal Capital Territory.

This was contained in data obtained from the Nigeria Security Tracker, a project of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). While some Nigerians are of the opinion that it is too early in the day to put President Tinubu in the eye of the insecurity storm, others feel that it is necessary as a wake- up call for his government to walk the talk in battling insecurity. The import of this report, however, is that Nigerians can no longer afford the luxury of waiting much longer to see the end, or at least the drastic curtailing of all manner of insecurity, rearing their ugly heads in terrorism, banditry, kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery and oil theft. We can understand their pains, anguish and indeed, the fears of millions of Nigerians in this regard, because according to the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCRP) the rampaging monster of insecurity claimed about 63,111 persons during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s blood-letting eight years in office! The citizens’ dreams and desires therefMore, swing towards seeing his successor, President Bola Tinubu making the real change they clamoured for.

But lest we deceive ourselves, the dream of wiping off insecurity is not going to be a walk in the park. It needs our collective efforts to succeed. It would be recalled that during his recent meeting with the nation’s top security hierarchy at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, he gave marching orders to the nation’s security agencies to redouble their efforts in dealing with the menace of insecurity in whatever form. At the end of the two- hour meeting tagged ‘General Security Appraisal Committee’, the National Security Adviser (NSA) Major Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd) quoted President Tinubu as saying that the new administration is determined to turn the tide of insecurity bedevilling the country.

The focus of his vision is for the security agencies in the country to work together towards achieving set objectives. That explains why he directed them to comply with the demands of coordination, imbibe frequent consultation and provide timely reports which must be acted on. And he sounded firm by stating that: “Working at cross purposes and colliding with each other, is not something that the new administration will not condone”. Good enough, he has already mandated the security agencies to come up with a blueprint. It is similarly heart-warming that he has beckoned on the European Union (EU) to help his administration in the fight against the twin challenges of poverty and insecurity in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. He spoke during a telephone conversation with the President of the European Council (EC), Charles Michel. Of significance also is his promise to take a closer look at our misfortunes in the maritime domain. He was specific on the issues of oil theft, which he pledged that his administration was not going to tolerate. This is worthy of note. It is more so because an analysis published by BudgIT, Nigerian civic-tech organisation, in March 2023 has revealed that the Federal Government lost $74 million every day in 2022 due to the decrease in crude oil output under the President Buhari-led administration!

The resultant effect is that the alleged decrease in the petroleum production has been linked to surge in pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft incidents in its oil-producing region. The pain in all of these is that the ordinary Nigerian is made to bear the brunt of the stealing spree that took place over the past eight years. To truly rein in the monster of insecurity, no matter what they metamorphose into means that a broader perspective should be adopted. These include, of course, his promise to begin with reviewing and repositioning our armed forces, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies in tandem with 21st-century requirements. Also to be considered is that of sourcing and deploying modern tools that will help us adequately tackle the threats of terrorism, kidnapping, separatism, banditry, cyber-crimes and economic sabotage. When considered along with that of settling the ongoing debate on state police constitutionally by his administration, securing the borders, curtailing inflows of illegal arms and effectively dominating our forests, it is a vision that requires our combined support. We are of support that we cannot at this delicate period accede to the request of some aggrieved Nigerians to carry arms. But full investigations must be carried out into the past forms of insecurity and oil thefts to fish out the sponsors. They must be brought to incorruptible justice, no matter whose ox is gored. That will serve as a strong deterrence to others with the inclination to perpetrate similar evil. We should no longer tolerate the self-decimating culture of impunity.

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