The Director General, Nigeria Army Resource Centre, Maj-Gen. Ayodeji Wahab (rtd) has called for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to arrest the debilitating insecurity situation which is stunting national development in the country.
Wahab made the call in Abuja on Tuesday while speaking at the 2nd edition of the National Security Summit with the theme, “Insecurity and the Nation, the journey thus far”, organized by the Green Assembly Initiative in collaboration with other youth organisations.
He noted that though, insecurity is a global problem and being experienced in all regions of the world, the solution for Nigeria must be local because of the nation’s peculiarities.
Wahab, who was the guest speaker at the summit, blamed Nigeria’s peculiar problem on cultural differences like ethnicity, religion, education, perceptions of marginalisation and activities of the political elites.
According to him, the political and security structure is also not helping matters as all powers and security apparatus is centralized and the number of security personnel like the Police is in-adequate for the population of the country.
He also pointed out that nation’s judicial system is also lacking in utilisation of modern technologies to speed up trial process resulting in delays of justice delivery and accused persons are detained at Correctional Centres longer than necessary.
On the way forward, Major-Gen. Wahab insisted that security must be everybody’s business and stakeholders must engage more to address its challenges, noting that, the country’s security architecture must be devolved to enable the federating states be actively involved.
Wahab said, social justice and fairness must also be strengthened so that all regions, groups and ethnic differences will be considerably mitigated and perceptions of marginalisation would be addressed.
In his speech, the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, lamented that security will continue to be a problem if politics remain driven by inordinate ambition rather than the aspirations of the people.
The Minister pointed out that another factor pushing insecurity is the rural-urban drift where youths leave the rural areas where there are resources to the urban areas where there are none thereby fuelling vices.
Earlier in his remarks, the convener of the summit and chairman of the Green Assembly Initiative, Comrade Duke Alamboye lamented the multifaceted security challenges facing the country.
“From insurgencies in the Northeast to communal clashes, kidnappings, and the alarming rise in cybercrimes, our security landscape has been complex and evolving”, he said and added that, in the face of all these challenges, security agencies have demonstrated unwavering commitment and bravery.
According to the chairman of the Green Energy Initiative, the “See something, say something” campaign was instrumental in enhancing public security and creating peaceful communities in Nigeria.
“By directly engaging citizens in reporting suspicious activities, the initiative has fostered a sense of collective responsibility and vigilance among the populace. This proactive engagement has led to increased arrests and prosecutions, thereby enhancing public confidence in our security apparatus”, he said.
He proposed the establishment of a network comprising ten youth representatives in each of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas to create a cohort of 7,740 vigilant youths, serving as the eyes and ears of their communities, facilitating real-time information flow to our security apparatus.
Such a structure, he noted would not only empower the youth but also foster a culture of collective responsibility and vigilance.
He also proposed a convention of zonal security summits across the six geopolitical zones this year to serve as platforms to dissect region-specific security issues, share best practices, and develop localized solutions, ensuring that our national strategy is both inclusive and effective.