After discussing the non-rationality of the crisis that engulfed Northern Nigeria in the wake of the 2011 Presidential Elections in Nigeria, I now turn around to discuss the lack of readiness by the Nigerian security apparatchik in the handling of the crisis and others before it.
Like virtually everything in Nigeria, our security operation and its agencies are reactive in nature rather than proactive. We tend to always want to find the cause of a crime after it has been committed. In saner societies (this is not to assume that all of us in Nigeria are mad...), fighting crime has gone beyond investigating a crime committed but in its prevention.
When the elections approached, our security services were heavily sensitized to mobilize their men to flash-points in the country. They were supposed to have had their ears on the ground for intelligence on what is being planned and then nip them in the bud. But what we have in abundance and what transpired in the current scenerio was an apology. The riots broke out and our security forces, especially the Police Force were left napping until the mobile outfits of the Police and the Military were deployed!
Lives had been lost, properties worth billions of naira destroyed and great damages done before they started patrolling the streets. In local parlance, we call that "medicine after death". No effect whatsoever!
Yes, I know the Interior Minister was fired. That is also "medicine after death". A proactive force will post officers and men to man flashpoints as the elections were going on and just before the results start trickling in, security should have been properly beefed up to ensure that no untoward incident is recorded. And in the event of the rioters gathering, swift communication across security agencies should have averted any form of danger. What happened last week caught the entire security agencies off-guard - that means they were totally unprepared.
And to know that the government voted huge sums of money for security before the elections is more worrisome. What happened to those votes? And what purpose was it meant to serve? Some people have to answer for this. What we need is sound intelligence gathering; proactive activities in the security system and total crime prevention through the deployment of sound communication equipment with a highly mobile security men and women who have highly sophisticated crime fighting weaponry to scare the living hell out of every criminally minded persons.
All who perpetuated any kind of crime in the unfolding events must be brought to book to serve as deterrent to others. The way we handle the aftermarth of this crisis will determine if we will continue to revolve in circles or we will outgrow it.
God bless Nigeria.
Like virtually everything in Nigeria, our security operation and its agencies are reactive in nature rather than proactive. We tend to always want to find the cause of a crime after it has been committed. In saner societies (this is not to assume that all of us in Nigeria are mad...), fighting crime has gone beyond investigating a crime committed but in its prevention.
When the elections approached, our security services were heavily sensitized to mobilize their men to flash-points in the country. They were supposed to have had their ears on the ground for intelligence on what is being planned and then nip them in the bud. But what we have in abundance and what transpired in the current scenerio was an apology. The riots broke out and our security forces, especially the Police Force were left napping until the mobile outfits of the Police and the Military were deployed!
Lives had been lost, properties worth billions of naira destroyed and great damages done before they started patrolling the streets. In local parlance, we call that "medicine after death". No effect whatsoever!
Yes, I know the Interior Minister was fired. That is also "medicine after death". A proactive force will post officers and men to man flashpoints as the elections were going on and just before the results start trickling in, security should have been properly beefed up to ensure that no untoward incident is recorded. And in the event of the rioters gathering, swift communication across security agencies should have averted any form of danger. What happened last week caught the entire security agencies off-guard - that means they were totally unprepared.
And to know that the government voted huge sums of money for security before the elections is more worrisome. What happened to those votes? And what purpose was it meant to serve? Some people have to answer for this. What we need is sound intelligence gathering; proactive activities in the security system and total crime prevention through the deployment of sound communication equipment with a highly mobile security men and women who have highly sophisticated crime fighting weaponry to scare the living hell out of every criminally minded persons.
All who perpetuated any kind of crime in the unfolding events must be brought to book to serve as deterrent to others. The way we handle the aftermarth of this crisis will determine if we will continue to revolve in circles or we will outgrow it.
God bless Nigeria.
No comments:
Post a Comment