By ONIBIYO EZEKIEL

The new minister for Interior Saidu Alkali is a no pushover having served as a three-term senator of the federal republic of Nigeria in the Red Chamber. The successes of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration also rest on the shoulder of this cerebral Gombe-born economist. One of the first Litmus tests of Saidu Alkali will be his capability to shepherd and properly situate into the Nigeria Security Council (NSC) all the major security agencies under and beyond the Ministry of Interior; Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS), Nigeria Correctional Services (NCoS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) even the National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies (NDLEA). This feat was long achieved 60yrs ago by Ghana and other developed Nations, where agencies that are responsible for the protection of critical National Assets and Infrastructure and Private Security regulations (NSCDC), the agency responsible for border control and immigration (NIS), the agency responsible for warehousing and correcting deviants (NCoS), and the agency responsible for controlling drugs menace (NDLEA) are not only heard but seen on the National Security Council. The robustness of such presence promotes human security from all angles as against what we have in Nigeria where the National Security Council is only populated by the military hence giving needless prominence to militarization, guns, and ammunitions even where human security should be seen promoted.

The need for Mall Nuhu Ribadu and Mall Saidu Alkali to work together in this regard of scaling up the presence of NSCDC, NIS, NDLEA, and NCoS from Intelligence Community Committee (ICC) in the National Security Council cannot be over-emphasised in measures. The need to also capture the presence of Private security companies, the vigilante, the Hunters Association, and the Traditional Rulers into the ICC is a goal that must be strive towards by the Minister of Interior. There is no gainsaying that there is a wide gulf and a total disconnect between formal security agencies of the Military, the intelligence and Law Enforcement, and the very communities of which the traditional rulers represent. All these vital stakeholders must be warehoused in the ICC alongside all the paramilitary including the Nigeria Police. This brings to the fore the need for the Minister of Interior to synergize with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to evolve a fusion Centre across all the 774 LGAs. This will further bring closer ONSA to the local communities knowing well that all crimes are local. The richness and robustness of a Fusion Centre could be seen in the participation of all formal and informal security agencies alongside the traditional rulers addressing localized criminals with adequate feedback to both the Ministry of Interior and particularly the Office of the National Security Adviser.

The Honourable Minister of Interior must proactively scale up the capabilities and assets of agencies under the Ministry to track stolen phones, stolen trackable-livestock or stolen vehicles. The nexus between the telecommunication companies and these agencies are not in existence hence agencies under the Ministry of Interior must liaise with the Nigeria Police or the Department of State Service before assets of telecommunication companies can be interrogated and this incapability further increases cost of asset recovery, while many Nigerians will abandon such recovery of loss assets in despair than looking at the cost of #20,000 and above payable to the Nigeria Police at the minimum. It must be told to Hon Saidu Alkali that there is absence of simulation drills across the agencies within the Ministry of Interior. Simulation drills around the Correction assets (Prisons), goes a long way to signal to the Underworld criminals that synergy among the security agencies is evolving. Interestingly, there is no tribal sentiment among criminal cohabiting inside most of Nigerias ungoverned spaces. In the Eastern part of Nigeria, the criminal subversive elements now kidnap and transfer to criminal herdsmen for negotiation for better price, such collaboration presently attract a ratio of 60:40 and funnily no herdsmen can occupy an inch within the ungoverned spaces of forest without such space been franchised either in the Southwest, Southeast, Southsouth or Northcentral. So if the criminals are collaborating and cooperating the agencies within the Ministry must not only be heard collaborating but be seen cooperating by the populace that is taxed to finance the Nations security apparatus.

It will Interest the Honourable Minister of Interior Mall. Saidu Alkali should be aware that it is in the public domain that there is no cohesion whatsoever among the formal security agencies handling the countrys internal security management. This hydra-headed monster should be tackled headlong now, by evolving a single-entry-basic-training-module. This will allow new recruits into all formal security agencies including the military to be subjected to first basic pieces of training whereby the result from this basic training will determine which of the agencies participants will be posted to for more specialized and professional training. This concept was earlier suggested by Lt Gen. Danbazzau (Rtd) who interestingly and intentionally excluded the Nigeria Military from the bracket of single entry training, which importantly they all should be included. This will go a long way to water down the superiority complex of recruits as it will be apparent during training who is excelling in road management affairs (FRSC), who fit more at field operation (Military Police, NSCDC), who is cerebral at resolving knotty puzzles (DSS, DIA, NIA, NSCDC, Police). It is time to create a platform, where there exists mutual respect and coordination right from the very beginning and this will be addressed by a first basic training for all recruits into Nigerias formal security services.

The centrality and interdependency of the Ministry of Interior cannot be ignored hence the issue of herders-farmers conflict comes to mind. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Ministry of Interior, the Office of the National Security Adviser, and the Ministry of Environment should evolve a mechanism that eases and promote mutual cohabitation of both the sedentary farmers and pastoral farmers (herders). This will be achieved when a platform exists to determine the number of herds that could be accommodated given the available land mass of a community. Such that once the numbers of acceptable herds on a given land mass are achieved, subsequent herdsmen arriving can no longer be accommodated. This will allow ease of statistics and acceptability of herders in a given community. This will ease the traceability problem of who is responsible and accountable for what and this will lead to social cohesion between the two complimentary farmers who are always at loggerheads due to the unregulated transhumance movement, needless cattle rustling which mostly accounted for the destruction of farmland, and pollution of water.

The precursor of the Honourable Minister of Interior should be properly placed on the Private Security Companies in Nigeria. The need to engage Private Security Companies in Internal Security Management is long overdue judging by their metropolitan spreads, technological Assets, operational capabilities and Intelligence wherewithal. The need once again to rejig the National Security Architecture of Nigeria cannot be overemphasizes. The Tantita Security company that was recently contracted with over 48billion to arrest oil should be seen officially registered under the Ministry of Interior and many other Private Security Companies in the Marine. The interdependence between the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Blue Economy and Marine is becomes apparent. Most vessels coming into Nigeria are majorly guarded by Private Security or Military Companies officers. Likewise, most Chinese investment also comes along with their Private Security Companies employees and this need to be properly situated as Nigeria loses a great deal in employment, technology transfer, and taxes from such incursion. The need to have Private Security Companies bearing light weapon is long overdue both on the marine and on the land. The framework is what the Honorouble Minister should start interrogating, as such will go a long way to assist the Ministry in assisting the present administration to generate more employment for the youths, fight crimes and criminality, and more licensed private security companies can be brought into the nations tax nets.

The technology rustiness of security officers under the Ministry of Interior should be of grave concern to the Minister of Interior. E-governance in service delivery should be encouraged. Days of paper and file movement from one table to the other should gradually be phased out as it magnetises bribery and corrupt practices. The Minister should liaise with the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN) whose state of the Art technology training institute should be leveraged upon. It should be seen that public officers should achieve certain contact periods with PSIN to scale up on-the-job techno-driven activities while discharging duties to the public. Public officers should be able to digitally write exams without endangering lives and properties by traveling from one location to the other. Public agencies should have a functional website where the public should get services rendered without physical appearances in offices. A digital economy should be seen evolved and collaboration with Minister for Communication, Innovation, and Digital Economy should be adequately aggravated. Armchair ministry should gradually be phased out. The public service which is to regulate the cerebral and informed Organised Private Sector (OPS) should be seen above as a regulator.

Dr. Onibiyo Ezekiel, a security analyst, holds a Doctoral degree in Finance from the Nasarawa State University Keffi and is reachable attemiowa@nsuk.edu.ng