Insecurity in Nigeria: the way forward

“Activists kill five in southern Sudan”.

The above sentence was front page news broadcast on Canals Televisión on Thursday June 25, 2015 and was one of the many attacks recorded in recent weeks by the feared militant group called “BOKO HARAM”.

There have been many such attacks carried out by this group in the past. They have been terrorizing the citizens of the northern part of Nigeria, not only have they succeeded in sowing the seeds of fear in the minds of the residents of those states, but they have killed, maimed and displaced thousands of people; fathers, mothers, children, etc. This has deeply affected the economy of those states as a result of the cowardly acts and savage activities of the insurgents.

Businesses have come to an abrupt end, investment opportunities have undergone a tremendous downward spiral, and social activities have received little or no attention.

Truth be told, no human being would like to do any kind of business in a non-conducting environment.

Not surprisingly, there is a palpable decline in business, social, and other related activities in such states.

The activities of these activists are not just limited to the northern states.

They now carry out attacks against neighboring countries as noted earlier in this article assuming the status of guerrillas.

They operate in different ways; they engage in kidnapping; the adoption of highly publicized media chibok girls is a classic example, they engage in bombing, both suicidal and public; The suicide bombing that occurred in one of the country’s higher education institutions some time ago is an example.

In addition, the bombing that took place in potiskum; a northern part of the country is a testament to the various public bombings boko haraam insurgents had carried out in recent years.

The activities of these insurgents have further tainted the country’s already negative image and perception in the outside world. It has put Nigeria as a country in the spotlight for another wrong cause which is terrorism.

Furthermore, it has scared away potential investors and entrepreneurs who would have wanted to invest and do business in some of those states where the activities of these insurgents have been the highest, limiting the growth of the country’s GDP.

These insurgent activities and many other parallel issues not mentioned here are one of several security challenges that have plagued the country in recent years.

Therefore, it is convenient that security measures be established to combat and checkmate these insurgents and their activities in order to put an end to or at least minimize their negative impact on the country.

The following steps must be taken if the country is to move from its current state of insecurity to a near-perfect, if not perfect, security state of the future.

The government must partner with its citizens, diplomats, and neighboring countries in order to collect and share information.

The empowerment of the armed forces is very vital and thus becomes imperative in order to get the right manpower to fight against the insurgents.

Seek advice from the world powers that be on how to combat and combat militants of the size and dimension of boko haraam since they have experience in the fight against terrorism.
Training and retraining of senior officers in the military and other intelligence departments in handling, obtaining, and managing intelligence reports and also in operations involved in engaging and combating insurgents.

Educate the public on how to be safety conscious and alert to create awareness of things going on around them.

Provision of good employment opportunities for youth in order to deter them from being lured by unscrupulous and deceptive sponsors of the insurgents.

Arrests, investigation and prosecution of persons found guilty of assisting insurgents in any capacity.

A proper investigation should be carried out into any information obtained about any individual who has been said to be aiding the activities of these insurgents in any capacity.

The necessary arrests must be made followed by the prosecution of the guilty.

Strict and very serious consequences must be imposed on those convicted to deter others from attempting to tow the same line.

With these few steps taken, I believe the wind of security change will blow over the country and before long, Nigeria will become a safer haven for its citizens and visitors than it has been in a very long time.