Fostering Cohesive National Security in Nigeria
One
of the issues that engage the attention of governments and people all over the
world is national security. This is because the main purpose of the state is to
guarantee the security and growth of the country through attainment AND
sustenance of national goals.
Nigeria
with its over three hundred ethnic and diverse religious groups, will in the
next few days mark eleven years of uninterrupted democracy and also later in
the year be celebrating fifty years of nationhood. The consent and cooperation
of these ethnic nationalities is important to the continued existence and
ensuring national security of the nation. More important also is the unity and
peaceful co-existence among these groups as frequent crises and violence will lead
to instability and loss of confidence in the system.
Apart
from military coups, there are other security issues that have challenged and
indeed rattled the democratic political system. Among them are civil or
organised protests resulting from a number of socio-political developments
including ethnic disagreements and
national resource contentions.
Recent
international debates have emphasized the need to see security in the broader
sense as the struggle to secure the most basic necessities of life such as
food, health, shelter, transportation, power and security. These broader human
needs are important for the attainment of national security and overall peace
and development of any nation like Nigeria. Social problems arising from the absence
of such basic human needs can indeed lead to security threats and conflicts.
This position is attested to by recent social unrests in various countries in
Africa that have roots in the failure of government policies to provide or
manage the basic human needs of their citizens.
In
this regard, the plans by the administration of president Goodluck Jonathan of
Nigeria to tackle some of these basic needs headlong are in the right direction
and a bold step towards improving the welfare and quality of life of the
people. Efforts should also be made to strengthen the defence capability,
diplomacy and economic development in order to foster a cohesive national
security in Nigeria. To this end, the Nigerian government’s plan to fast-track
developments in the Niger-Delta region and check the criminal activities of
unemployed youths. That was the reason why late President Umaru Yar’Adua
identified security as one of the top priorities of the seven point agenda of
his administration.
National
security is meant to strengthen Nigeria’s interest and objectives, contain
instability, control crime, genuine developmental progress and improve the
welfare as well as the quality of life of citizens. At the global scene,
Nigeria’s participation in international peace support missions is a clear
demonstration of its will and ability to be a provider of security resources
and to show solidarity for collective international security. Such
participation in peacekeeping missions has earned Nigeria accolades, ranking it
as the fourth contributing nations to UN peace missions in the world.
Similarly,
it has often provide the necessary exposure for the Nigerian Armed Forces to
work in cooperation and collaboration with forces of other nations. The
challenge now is to improve on policy and institutional means of dealing with
security agencies and institutional means of dealing with security concerns at
the federal, state and local levels. Security agencies and institutions should
be pro-active and made more effective in combating crimes and other threats to
national security.
As
Nigeria celebrates eleven years of uninterrupted democracy, government must do
all within its power to strengthen national security, a prerequisite for
depending democracy. This is especially so as Nigeria prepares for a general
election next year.
BY
GARBA .A. USMAN
U14/MCM/2016
KUW/MCM/Group/20
No comments:
Post a Comment