Former Chief of Army Staff Lt.-General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau (rtd) has called for total reform of Nigeria’s security sector to address the current security challenges confronting the country.
Dambazau also said a drastic review of the existing counter-terrorism strategy was inevitable, particularly in the face of increasing activities of non-state actors making life unbearable to Nigerians.
The former minister of interior spoke Tuesday jin Abuja at the 2021 Blueprint Annual Public Lecturers and Impact Series Awards on ‘2003 Politics: National Security and Nigeria’s Stability.’
The reforms, he said, would not only address the seemingly lack of synergy and coordination among security agencies considered as major handicap to a successful confrontation of the increasing activities of non-state actors, but also assist in no small way to restore confidence in the polity.
He lamented that less than two hundred thousand (200,000) military personnel (Army, Navy and Air Force) to secure over two hundred million (200million) Nigerians, was grossly inadequate.
The former minister further said with over 400,000 personnel, Nigerian Police was underutilised and misused, adding that most of the policing duties were carried out by the military.
The keynote speaker said apart from the drastic reforms, a deliberate improvement in the welfare packages for the police and building of trust with the civil populace were essential tools that can be deployed to tackle insecurity and restore waning public confidence in security agencies.
He recalled that former President Obasanjo had attempted reforms in the military, but he did not go beyond retiring politically-exposed military officers (PEMOs), and subsequently contracting a US-based private military company, the Military Professional Resource Inc. (MPRI), to carry out audits of the armed forces.
Dambazau also said the Nigerian Army then under General Martin Luther Agwai, came up with attitudinal change project aimed at re- professionalising the army, a policy he (the guest speaker) inherited and continued with by emphasising on civil-military relations, “particularly of subordinating the military to political authorities, realizing that the institution’s long exposure to military rule had done a lot of damage to it.”
He spoke further: “The reforms of the security sector in line with the current and future security challenges are inevitable, and there are no options other than to carry them out. And the sooner we commence the process, the better. I believe that this should be the very first item on the agenda of the government coming in May 2023.
“Aside the issues or factors earlier mentioned, the reasons why these reforms are necessary are that firstly, there appears to be no synergy among the security agencies in terms of cooperation, coordination, and collaboration while carrying out their activities, rather they operate in silos with no role convergence; they hoard information; and are reluctant to share intelligence, as if they are in competition.
“Secondly, there is poor security governance, making accountability and transparency almost impossible; and thirdly, there are duplications of efforts, leading to wastage of resources. Unsuccessful attempts at reforms have been made in the past, but using a stove-pipe approach, rather than looking at the sector holistically. There have been several committees of police reforms that ended with reports that were left on the shelves.
“Today, it is the military that performs most routine policing duties, and in fact this is another cogent reason why security sector reforms are necessary. The police are only one of the three legs of the criminal justice system, and the other two legs, the courts, and prisons, are also weak institutions, a situation that leads to poor delivery of justice, being one of the major reasons for the insecurity in Nigeria, especially in situations where victims suffer neglect.
“A significant part of security sector reforms is security governance, centered on strengthening the effectiveness of security institutions. One of the areas we need to focus our attention on is emergency response planning and coordination. National response to emergencies must be robust and people-centric, taking advantage of the unique competencies and resources of each entity at all levels.
“Winning the ‘hearts and minds’ is a necessary factor in winning counter-terrorism and counter insurgency operations. With the total strength of less than 200,000 all ranks, the armed forces have serious deficiency in the required strength necessary to deal with the kind of security challenges we are confronting in Nigeria.
“This is in addition to the fact that they have the constitutional responsibility of defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a country with land size of 923,768 sq km, and a population of over 200 million people.
“This situation the military finds itself underscores the fact that the institution is overstretched amidst inadequate funding to carry out these duties effectively and efficiently. The police are both underutilized and misused, a situation that poses difficulties in efficient law enforcement.
“With a strength of about 400,000, a significant percentage are deployed for private security for individuals, organisations, and institutions. The best example for an agency being under-utilized is the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and they could serve the same purpose as the US National Guard, thus creating a force between the military and the police,” Dambazau said.
2023 elections
On the 2023 elections, he said zoning, restructuring, and religion were some of the issues that would impact the 2023 general elections.
He said since independence, Nigeria had undergone six elections, and by 2023, the country would witness the seventh election.
To this end, he said Nigerians had started the 2023 elections with mundane issues, and called on them to be interested in poverty reduction, quality and affordable health care services, among other loft programmes.
The former army chief also said: “It is apparent that we have started 2023 politics with the mundane issues that brought us to the level of insecurity and instability we are today. We have more than enough challenges or issues confronting us. Rather than directing our energy on religious or ethnic controversies, we should be more interested in such issues as poverty reduction; food security; youth unemployment; improved power sector; quality and affordable healthcare services; and improved education system.
“The development of critical infrastructures is also a key area of concern, and although the APC government under Buhari has done remarkably well by completing many of the projects it met in 2015, in addition to new ones it originated, there are however approximately 60,000 abandoned projects in Nigeria, estimated to cost about N12 trillion. And what can we do to mitigate such waste? These are only a few critical areas the 2023 politics should focus attention on, not religion and ethnicity.”
On recent Kuje correctional attacks
On the recent attacks on Abuja-Kaduna train and the Kuje Correctional Centre, Dambazau said the incidents indicated that the insurgents “are gradually establishing cells close to the Federal Capital, specifically in the neighboring states of Kogi, Kaduna and Niger.”
He, however, described the development as audacious, and called on the military to take the fight to their hideouts, put pressure on them and make them very uncomfortable.
“From the recent attacks on the Abuja-Kaduna train; the Shiroro mining site; the Kuje prison; military patrol in Bwari; and the attack on soldiers deployed at Madallah checkpoint, it is evident that Boko Haram insurgents are gradually establishing cells close to the Federal Capital, specifically in the neighboring states of Kogi, Kaduna and Niger.
“For all terrorists and kidnappers, the punishment must be severe and certain, to send a strong message to all violent entrepreneurs. They must be put under constant pressure, and there should be no respite for them. We must not allow violent criminals to hold the country hostage, making people live in perpetual fear and uncertainty, and regardless of party politics, all hands must be on deck in support of government efforts even while focusing attention on the 2023 politics.
“This situation will encourage their audacity. Rather, from now on, we should take fight to wherever they are, put pressure on them and make them very uncomfortable, where the opportunity avails itself, eliminate them. We must live our normal lives, and not allow some violent gangs to make us live miserable lives, full of uncertainties,” he said.
Kukasheka’s intervention
In his intervention, a former army spokesman, Brigadier-General Usman Kukasheka, who featured as a discussant of the paper, revealed how General Dambazau resisted attempts by some politicians to lure him into taking power from the then ailing President Umar Musa Yar’Adua.
He said the former COAS ignored their overture because of his love for democracy.
Kukasheka, who was the Army Public Relations Officer under Dambazzau as the COAS, challenged his former boss to expose those politicians who lobbied him to undermine Nigeria’s democracy and take over the reins of government
He also stated that the international community later met with General Dambazzau who promised them the army would not take over government.
In his account of how it all happened, Kukasheka said: “I’m not surprised that when they are showing him (Dambazzau) on the screen, they said he’s now a politician, I know he is a soldier per excellence but one thing Nigerians do not know about him and I’m not surprised it was juxtaposed in the paper, was the fact that if we are counting champions of democracy in this country, there is no way you will not mention the name of Lieutenant General Abdurahman Bello Dambazzau, CFR and I will tell you why.
“Way back in the days when President Umaru Yar’ Adua was sick, he (Dambazzau) was the Chief of Army Staff and I had the privilege of being the Public Relations Officer in the Office of Chief of Army Staff and we always moved together.
“Till now, that is why even though he is a prolific writer, he’s yet to come out with his memoir. The part of that memoir is an expose of those people that undermined democracy in this country.
“I’m saying this with every sense of responsibility because that time, some groups of politicians were the ones lobbying him to take over government unconstitutionally.
“We have the records; in fact we have started writing the memoir. With due respect to him, I said let him mention the individuals so that posterity will know them for who they are and what they are.
“Up till now, we are still contending with that issue and I know the international community showed concern to the extent that they had to meet with him where he promised that he would not take over government. In some parts of the country, they call us women because an opportunity had come and we did not take advantage of it to take over government.
“Some people have made sacrifices. In those days whenever we go to Kaduna to inspect the then rehabilitation 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, people openly asked questions which sort of uniform were we wearing? When is the announcement going to be made about taking over government?
“It was a matter of simple phone call to roll out the tanks in three divisions. By then, General Dambazzau could have been Head of State. But he resisted that temptation simply because he had the interest of this nation at heart and he knows democracy is the best form of governance in this country.”
Like the former minister of Interior posited in his lecture, the ex-army spokesman also blamed the problem of insurgency in the country on lack of coordination and synergy among the security agencies.
Kukasheka recalled that during the tenure of the ex-army chief, the military decisively dealt with the insurgents during which they eliminated 700 members of the Boko Haram sect and arrested their leader Mohammed Yusuf.
“Under normal circumstances, the military did its job by arresting the mastermind or leader, Mohammed Yusuf and handed over to the government”.
While blaming the ruling class, Kukasheka stated that it is the issue of lack of homework and synergy of effort and coordination that brought the country into the quagmire being experienced today.
According to Kukasheka, the insurgence had to a large extent, to do with leadership issue.
“All these issues that we are talking about – lack of focus, discussing mundane issues against critical issues- that threatening the corporate existence of this nation, we are concerned with ethno-religious issues.
“The question now is, to what extent are we prepared to endure, nourish and strengthen our democratic practice or governance? This is a challenge to the elite because all the problems we are having in the Nigerian society to a large extent, would be traced to a particular class of Nigerians – the politicians-, with due respect. Some things that are supposed to be done have not been done and we continue to move in this circle,” he said.
On the security sector reform raised by the paper presenter, he said it was long overdue, but that superficial attention was given to it by the transformation aspect of the nation for 15 years.
Kukasheka said: “We should have known the nuances of democracy, strengthen our institutions so that they can correspond to the exigencies of democratic governance. By that, we could have addressed some of the problems that we have encountered.”
He, however, noted that it was not late to embark on the sector reforms, adding that such reforms should not stop with the security but should be made to include the judiciary, which he said, had a tremendous role to play, especially in Nigeria’s criminal justice reform.
TA Akanji
In his own intervention, an expert in peace and security studies, Professor Tajudeen Ademola Akanji of the Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies (IPSS), University of Ibadan, lauded the paper, saying he was not in any way surprised by the presentation, giving the presenter’s pedigree.
Akanji regretted that “we are where we are today because we failed to make the best of our expertise. From the presentation, the general identified the problems and solutions. This is why the foreign government continues to wonder why we failed to utilise our expertise to solve any given challenge. One would not have asked for something better.”
The don said the nation’s leadership needed to wake up from its slumber and ensure the return of peace to the country.
Publisher’s remarks
Earlier in his welcome address, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Blueprint Newspapers Limited and Kakaaki Nupe, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi, had charged the federal government to do more to protect lives and properties across the country.
The Kakaaki Nupe, who commended all security agencies in the country for their gallantry in the face of rising challenges, called for synergy between the government and the people to tackle insecurity.
He said: “I, therefore, use this opportunity to call on the federal government of Nigeria, on whose shoulders rest our national security to do more to protect lives of citizens from terrorists, bandits and other militias that are rampaging our cities, forests and creeks.
“Our security challenges must be overcome at all costs. Critically, we must not allow the issue of insecurity to define the debates of 2023.”
The publisher also said the media outlet was constantly on the path of peacebuilding for the sustenance of national security.
“Oftentimes, for Nigerians, our shares of politics have a way of challenging our sense of nationalism. Of course, the big divide in ethno-religious fault lines and other primordial sensitivities are always called to question.
“This stack reality is what we grapple with on a daily basis as societies mirror and provide our facts, for the essential peace and healthy debate at Blueprint newspapers, we pray every day and also effectively deploy the right tools of our profession, not to be agents or of destabilization of the Nigerian state.
“I want to therefore use this opportunity to call on the Federal Government of Nigeria, on whose shoulders rested our national security to do more to protect the lives of citizens from terrorists, bandits and other militias that are rampaging our cities, forests and creeks.
“Our security challenges must be overcome at all costs. Critically, we must not allow the issue of insecurity to define the debates of 2023.
“The tone and narrative should be about human development, about education, about infrastructure, or economy, about health, etc. But only a proper synergy between the government and the people can guarantee this.
“To this end, we note with appreciation the efforts of all security agencies in this country and interfacing with the media to discuss their challenges and successes.
“Nevertheless, it is important that government exercises more tact in its relationship with Nigerian media. The media is not an enemy of the state. The media is collaborating with the Government of Nigeria to fight the enemies of Nigeria,” Malagi said.
He stated that “in Blueprint, our aim and objectives all the time is to ensure that Nigeria remains one and united.”
Malagi congratulated the awardees and charged them to do more wherever they found themselves.