Editorial: Rejigging The Nation’s Security Architecture

With the continuous spate of violence in various parts of Nigeria and the perceived failure of the security agencies to nip such in the bud resulting in the loss of lives and properties, it is imperative on us to call on the President Muhammdu Buhari administration  to rejig the nation’s  security architecture.

RPN urges such changes across the 17 security agencies that make up the security architecture, initiating new strategies that will help for effective  collaboration among the numerous agencies as well as enhance the intelligence  farming among these agencies.

While we agree that the security agencies are battling an unsymmetrical enemy, Nigerians should not accept such as an excuse for the failure of the various intelligence units within these agencies. Even at its worst present state, there have been occasions where our security agencies have been able to ferret information about a number of impending attacks such as that of the Kuje Prisons, the challenge in such a case was the failure to use utilise such information.

There is also the need to enlist more men into the security agencies, notably the Nigerian Armed Forces and Police which presently have a staff strength that is inadequate. The  Armed Forces asides its low numbers( 223,000) is also overstretched given numerous instances they have been deployed to carry out tasks naturally within the purview of the Nigerian Police. While the Nigerian Police is also underpopulated  with 371, 000 officers to our population of 200,000,000  people.

Funding and welfare of these agencies should also reviewed. The government on one hand should deploy anti corruption processes to check stories of non procurement of arms and non payment of allowances to our service men. Those found to be guilty of mismanaging these funds should face the music to serve as a deterrence to others.

Training and the deployment of new technologies should also be encouraged, this will help the security agencies in all ramifications, aiding much of their work.

There is also the need to restructure such architecture by ensuring the creation of regional, state and local government police units that will seek to tackle crime. This will simply mean removing the Nigerian Police from the Exclusive List to the concurrent list .