TOP EDITORIAL on SEB this week debuts with opinions of national interest from six national dailies on issues of insecurity, corruption, insurgency, migration and religiosity respectively. We bring you the reports in their original formats as shown below:
EDITORIAL: Air Force Against Insurgency
This newspaper recalls a statement by the military in Nigeria after observing the execution of the first Gulf War in Iraq executed by a coalition of forces led by the United States of America. That war was essentially won from the air and the Nigerian military leaders said in admiration, “we are learning”. It is what they learnt then that are being applied in the war against terror in the country today. The reason is simple, the view is clearer from up there.
It is from this perspective that we begin to assess the contributions of the Air Wing of the Nigerian military in the war against terrorism and other forms of criminality that are presently plaguing the country.
Historically, air power is undeniably a fundamental military element of national strength. It remains a decisive and crucial factor in determining the outcome of any war. The capability of every air force globally is measured by its leadership, the number of serviceable aircraft in its inventory and the professional competence of its airmen.
This is where we begin to commend the High Command of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) under the leadership of Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, who is leading his officers and airmen from the front as they play a very substantial and important role in dealing with Boko Haram, banditry and kidnapping.
It is pertinent to point out that the area geographically referred to as the North – North East, North West and North Central is a wide expanse of land that will be very difficult to cover militarily without air support. Based on this understanding, the Air Force has continued to conduct several air interdiction missions in order to further degrade those criminal elements so as to curtail their mobility in addition to providing constant air surveillance ground troops require to operate effectively.
Similarly, in our view, beyond being involved in real combat, another of the major role the Air Force plays in this war against terrorism in all its manifestations is logistics supply and resupply to all the sectors ranging from food, ammunition and medical supplies as well as evacuating those wounded in battle whilst treating them on board the helicopters. This logistics support is important for the movement of troops and equipment into and out of the area of conflict, using the Hercules C130, the famous “Charlie” aircraft.
Without doubt, it is an accepted norm within military circles that no matter how strong the ground troops made up mainly of the army may be, they necessarily need close air support to enable them to continue with their operations. Such air interdiction operations, which do not require close coordination with ground troops in some cases, involve taking out the capability of the terrorists far away from where friendly forces are. The Air Force also has its own ground troops, the Special Forces that smoke out criminals in specific areas supported by its K-9 unit of specially trained dogs and their handlers.
Marshal Abubakar inherited a command that was expected to beard the lion in its den. When he took over command, there was a compelling reason to make the force combat ready if it must live up to expectations. To achieve this and to be able to play its role efficiently, it was obvious even to the uninitiated that the force needed to be restructured into a more effective fighting machine. As a military outfit, training and retraining are, unarguably, critical to success.
As part of this determination to make the force ready to confront the challenges posed by insurgents in parts of the country, the Air Chief the Logistics and Communications Branch which was in charge of communication, procurement, works, services and logistics was split into two Branches; the Logistics Branch and the Communications and Information Systems (CIS) Branch. The CIS Branch deals with all issues relating to ICT, communications, utilization of space assets including live streaming of images from the aircraft. In this era of cyber warfare, the relevance of this branch cannot be overemphasised.
This restructuring has enabled the Air Force to play its professionally assigned part within the framework of Operation Lafia Dole and other similar operations designed to address specific security challenges.
Besides, in the fight against terrorism and insurgency, the force introduced a non-kinetic approach to the fight which focuses on cultivating the civilian population in the area of conflict. This entails providing medical services to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and other people in these areas. This is being done with the realisation that in fighting insurgency, there is the need to consciously cultivate the support of the communities in the conflict zone, create a forum where they can be engaged for a beneficial collaboration.
As we appreciate the contributions of the Air Force in the war against insurgency, we also urge them not to rest on their oars as the fight reaches its critical stage. For as it is said, the night is darkest before dawn.
Read the original copy of this Story and more on Leadership
Declare emergency at Lagos ports now
According to a recent report by the Financial Times of London, the congestion at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos has become so bad that trucking a container from the port to the mainland, which is just about 20 kilometres, now costs about $4,000 (N1.5 million). That is almost the same cost as shipping one container from China to Nigeria, a distance of 12,000 nautical miles. This is a costly economic hurdle that must be surmounted immediately.
Reports say that a huge number of containers are trapped in the ports and ships are forced to remain at anchorages for between three and four months, incurring various surcharges and forcing some shipping companies to increase charges by nearly 600 per cent. The concomitant congestion at Tin Can and Apapa ports has made cargo bound for Nigeria to be shipped via smaller vessels from ports in Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Benin Republic and Ivory Coast.
Like many other problems bedevilling the self-acclaimed ‘Giant of Africa,’ the situation at the ports is worsened by bureaucratic red tape, corruption and outright incompetence on the part of the government agencies. The self-inflicted congestion costs Nigeria $55 million (N20.9 billion) a day in lost economic activity or over $19 billion annually — a loss that is more than half of the 2021 budget.
According to the Association of Maritime Truck Owners, the security agents would not grant them access to the ports unless they pay bribes of between N70,000 and N200,000. A federal lawmaker, Olusola Fatoba, who shares this view, says the bribe is as high as N300,000 in some instances. He alleges that law enforcement agents that are supposed to maintain law and order at the ports had formed a cartel with port officials, extorting money from the transporters. With no fewer than 2,000 trucks gaining access to the ports daily, almost N400 million enters into private pockets every day without consequence. Such corruption must not be allowed to continue.
Although the now defunct Presidential Task Force chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo was able to keep stationary trucks off some highways, especially on Ikorodu Road, inner streets of Surulere, Apongbon Bridge, Eric Moore area and Eko Bridge, the lamentation from residents, business owners and visitors to Apapa is still loud, even as the Lagos State Government has now taken over efforts to tackle the decongestion.
Besides the bribes, the multiple taxes truck drivers are forced to pay are not good for business. Reports say apart from the fees paid within the ports, truck drivers still pay the Apapa local government authorities, transport unions and the Lagos State Wharf Landing fee, even though according to the Nigerian Ports Authority Act, only federal authorities that can legislate on wharfage, wharfinger, and landing of goods at the ports.
The decision of the Federal Government to connect the Apapa Ports to rail, which ought to have improved the situation at the ports, has been undermined by arbitrary charges. According to the Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, Philip Okhiria, the exorbitant sums imposed as loading charges by operators placed on those who opt for rail services have further undermined the efforts of the Federal Government to decongest Apapa.
Out of desperation, barge operations have now become common with the dejected businessmen now offloading trucks on private premises in the Apapa area at an extra fee. This is certainly not how to conduct international trade in the 21st century.
Sadly, transport costs are not borne by shippers or retailers but are transferred to the consumer. The implication of a sharp increase in the cost of haulage in an import-dependent country like Nigeria is that the cost of goods would increase, fuelling inflation and leading to reduced purchasing power.
In its 2019 ports infrastructure report, the World Economic Forum ranked Nigeria 122 out of 139 countries with an abysmal score of 2.5 over 7.0 even as less endowed countries like Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Angola and even neighbouring Cameroon rank higher than Nigeria. With the African Continental Free Trade Agreement coming into effect, Nigeria will find it difficult to compete.
But all hope is not lost. According to the Nigerian Shippers Council, the digitalisation of the ports, deployment of e-Customs, the investment of over $300 million in inland dry ports and the overhaul of transportation logistics are steps that can reposition Nigeria to take maximum advantage of the AfCFTA. More importantly, however, is a need to privatise ports operations and sell off the existing ports in other states. There is no point putting public funds into fixing ports that have defied all government interventions. Several countries have left port operations to the private sector while the government plays the role of regulator. This is the way to go.
In the meantime, the newly re-appointed MD of the NPA, Hadiza Bala-Usman, must ensure that the automated call-up system of trucks into the ports to curb the problematic traffic congestions, which kicks off next month, is successful while construction work along roads leading to the ports must be swiftly completed before the rainy season begins. The government must stop paying lip service to the perennial congestion at Apapa and save the economy from haemorrhage and the people from traffic nightmare.
Read the original copy of this Story and more on Punch
Again, a call to re-jig the nation’s security system
One of the two incidents is the reign of terror unleashed on the people of Ibarapa community in Oyo State by suspected Fulani herdsmen and a similar one taking place in Ondo State.
Both incidents have led the people of Ibarapa community and the Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, to issue ultimatums to Fulani herdsmen to vacate the community in Oyo State and the forest reserves in Ondo within specified times.
The Ondo State government has made it clear that “those perpetrating the heinous acts are using the forests to cover up their crimes (killings, kidnapping and attacking farmers on their ancestral farmlands). There is, therefore, need to flush out the criminals from the forest.”
Truly many people, including prominent sons and daughters of Yoruba land, and indeed the entire country, have lost their lives to these criminals of which testimonies abound that they are Fulani herdsmen.
Among those who bear witnesses regarding identities of these criminals
is the Aribiyan II of Igangan, Oba Abdulazeez Adeoye, who said “the people of
Igangan rose against the incursion of killer herdsmen in our community
considering our experiences over the years. It has been incidents of killing,
maiming, kidnapping for money and raping. It has got to an unbearable level, so
we asked that they should excuse us.”
The people of Ondo and Oyo states and their traditional rulers are in agreement
that these criminals should leave their states.
The right of a people to self-defence is inalienable, especially when the police and other security agencies mandated by the constitution to protect their lives and property cannot, for whatever reason, protect the people.
It is true that Nigeria’s constitution guarantees every citizen the right to live in any part of the country the citizen chooses to live, but it is also true that the moment an individual or group of persons become criminals in any place they reside, they naturally lose that right.
Where the law enforcement agencies become impotent, either due to inefficiency or as a result of connivance with the criminals, the people have full rights to take steps to protect themselves.
The North-East, North-West and North-Central Nigeria have all become theatres of insurgency. All hands must be on deck to ensure that the ‘war’ does not completely engulf the whole country.
These incidents once again throw up the urgent need for a re-jig of the
national security architecture towards letting each state have its own police
system. Nigeria is too big for all its people to be policed from Abuja.
Read the
original copy of this story
and more on Vanguard
THE UNENDING MIGRATION WOES
Late last week, a video on social media showed hundreds of Nigerian immigrants wrapped in black polythene bags lying on the floor in a packed room. The stranded Nigerians, about 600 of them, were kept at a detention facility by the Saudi authorities pending their repatriation. Some of them reportedly have spent more than six months in the subhuman facility. “Nigerian irregular migrants in Saudi Arabia are due to be evacuated on the 28th and 29th of January, pending any unforeseen issues,” said Chairman, Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa. “Their evacuation was delayed due to issues relating to COVID-19. We appeal to Nigerians to resist traveling abroad without proper documents.”
The stories being told by Nigerians who are increasingly being deported after their failed efforts to cross to Europe or other parts of the world are harrowing. While many of them have become destitute, some nurse terminal diseases like cancer without any support. For these unfortunate Nigerians whose quest for a better life ended in disappointments, the future seems bleak.
Ironically, the current migration crisis is a cruel twist of the logic of the transatlantic slave trade. In the old trade, African agents of European slave traders hunted men and women and forcibly sold them off to be transported across the Atlantic to the new world. In the new ‘trade’, Africans are willingly subjecting and submitting themselves as fodder and merchandise for enslavement across the Mediterranean and beyond. Driven mostly by economic desperation, thousands of able bodied young men and women are, almost on a daily basis, embarking on suicide missions in the bid to migrate towards the northern hemisphere in search of opportunities that have since disappeared in those very societies. While only a small fraction eventually make it to their destinations where they face disappointments and frustrations, majority of them usually perish on the way.
From the accounts of some of the returnees, many who make it to Europe or the Middle East are usually forced into prostitution, used as mercenaries, deployed as household servants, factory workers, drug couriers and even as organ donors. However, as we have argued in the past, it is important to interrogate the conditions that create the desperation to leave the country for unknown destinations. Today, we live in a country where many are not only poor but cannot find jobs. Even before the advent of Covid-19, factories were closing down and selling their warehouses to religious organisations while several businesses shut down due to lack of electricity. In the circumstance, vibrant young men and women are leaving the country to embark on journeys which for many of them tragically end at sea.
There is also a criminal dimension to the problem with some unscrupulous Nigerians now recruiting from their villages and towns young girls with the promise of securing for them good jobs abroad only to turn them to prostitutes. There are chilling statistics which suggest that human trafficking has become one of the biggest money making businesses after drug trafficking. Today, our country is regarded not only as a transit route for this illegal trade but also a source as well as a destination with children and young adults, especially of the womenfolk, now becoming merchandise for what has become a cross-border crime.
One of the challenges is that of mind-set as there are many young men and women who believe they can only make it abroad and will do anything to travel outside the shores of the country. But that is not correct. So, apart from addressing the socio-economic issues of our country, the authorities must also embark on a campaign to disabuse the minds of the teeming population of young people. It is not always green outside.
Read the original copy of this story and more on ThisDay
The DSS warning on religious incitement
The public alert by the Department of State Services (DSS) to the effect that some people are fomenting religious crisis in the country is a frightening addition to the unenviable plight of a nation already under siege from various threats to internal security. As the primary agency responsible for domestic intelligence in Nigeria, the DSS needs to go beyond warning Nigerians and take proactive measures, using its paraphernalia of office, to fish out the culprits and bring them to book appropriately.
The agency lately alerted the public to ‘‘plans by some elements working with external forces to incite religious violence across the country.’’ ‘‘Part of the plans,’’ the organisation went on, is to cause inter-religious conflicts as well as use their foot soldiers to attack some worship centres, religious leaders, personalities, key and vulnerable points.
Coming from the DSS, this warning should be taken seriously by those in authority, and every citizen. While the DSS may be commended for its early detection of the alleged threat, it is nonetheless fulfilling precisely part of its job descriptions. Specifically, these include ‘‘prevention and detection of any crime against the internal security of Nigeria prevention, detection and investigation of threats of espionage, subversion, sabotage, terrorism, separatist agitations, inter-group conflicts, economic crimes of national security dimension and threat to law and order, Provision of timely advice to Government on all matters of National security interest…’’.
After raising the alarm, the DSS has, in popular parlance, also warned ‘‘those hatching these plots’’ to ‘‘desist from such in the interest of peace, security and development of the country.’’ Days after the agency brought its discovery to public knowledge, it has not supported it with details of so grave an allegation. It is grave because in this country of many religions and their sub- sects, religious groups are populated by not a few immature, unreflective and easily excitable minds who indeed have limited understanding of their faiths. As the national experience of the last few decades has shown, they constitute a danger to even their faith and respective adherents and also the larger polity.
The leading challenge this country faces is insecurity of lives and property. And a major contributor to this is religion-based insurgency driven by such well-known and active groups like Boko Haram, ISIS, and ISWAS. But there are also smaller, fundamentalist groups within society that may not wield guns and rocket launchers. Their extremist views are, nonetheless, sufficiently intolerant to threaten other citizens and endanger the country. Indeed, latent criminal tendencies – kidnapping, banditry, arson and murder are riding on the back of religion-driven insurgency so boldly.
It is noteworthy that, shortly after the DSS alerted Nigerians of its suspicion, a certain Muslim Solidarity Forum issued a veiled threat against the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, The Most Reverend Mathew Kukah for exercising his inalienable and constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech on urgent matters of national interest. The group accused the bishop of ‘‘attacking the image and reputation of Muslims,’’ demanded an ‘‘unreserved apology to the Muslim Ummah, or else he should quickly and quietly leave the seat of the Caliphate.’’
To order at will a bona fide, respectful and law-abiding citizen of this country out of the land by anyone without the legal powers to so do must amount to an offence under the law; so too, the threat inherent in the statement of the Muslim Solidarity Forum. Reasonably, the DSS should have invited the group leaders for an explanation of their pronouncement and the course of action they plan to take if Kukah does not meet their demand. Beyond that, the group’s statement was reckless enough to engender the threat about which the DSS had warned the nation.
The statement by the DSS on threats to national security is only the least of such alerts. In September 2019, the agency imputed to ‘‘unpatriotic and misguided activities’’ by ‘‘anti-social elements’’ who it said were engaged in ‘‘subversive objectives so as to achieve preferred illegal outcomes.’’ ‘‘The aim,’’ Dr. Peter Afunanya, the spokesman of the organisation, said, was ‘‘to set the country on fire as well as inflame passions across ethnic and religious divides with expected violent consequences.’’ Armed with intelligence, the DSS does not appear to move swiftly and decisively against suspects. Or if it does, its actions are not in the public domain.
The Nigerian public is alerted to threats posed by ‘‘anti-social elements’’ but it is not informed of the specific outcomes of the agency’s measures to protect that public. Who is arrested and on what allegation? This agency must manage its communication with Nigerians better.
The DSS is not alone in raising alarm on threats to national security. The Federal Government and state governors periodically do this. The Federal Government would accuse Amnesty International and the International Crimes Commission (ICC) of fueling insecurity in Nigeria, David Umahi of Ebonyi State would allege that desperate politicians collude with bandits; Bello Mutawalle of Zamfara State would accuse politicians of exploiting insecurity for personal gains. Even Ibrahim Magu, former head of the EFCC once alleged that some governors fuel insecurity to increase their security votes. Allegations are thrown into the public space rather frivolously, alarms are raised arbitrarily, but no evidence is presented to the public in support; no arrest is made of these criminal and unpatriotic elements, nor is anybody sanctioned.
Regrettably, the authorities in charge of this country must be reminded that their duty to the Nigerian people goes far beyond raising alarm, warning and lamenting. The constitutionally-assigned responsibility of constituted authorities at all levels, notably the DSS, is to detect danger, alert of it and nip it before it harms the populace. This is part of the intendments of Section 14 (2) (b) of the constitution. Surely, this is not too much for Nigerians to expect from the governments they elect.
Read the original copy of this story on Guardian
Dangerous impunity
In recent weeks, the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed Amotekun, especially the Oyo State chapter, has been in murky waters of allegations that its operatives were going rogue. Amidst a string of operational mishaps involving its personnel, the agency is being accused of perpetrating undue harassment and other forms of high-handedness against members of the public, including extra-judicial killing of defenceless citizens. Such abuses characterised the discredited and now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
Amotekun is an initiative of South-west state governments to buffer their people against worsening insecurity across the country, which conventional agencies like the police have seemed far too stretched and disconnected from local communities to effectively combat. The outfit by conception is complementary and not parallel to the major security agencies; it, however, has grassroots flavour needed to engender community ownership that is believed vital in dealing with the insecurity scourge, but which the conventional agencies lack. Although the agency is present in all South-west states, the Oyo State chapter is particularly notorious for allegedly perpetrating abuses that Nigerians saw in the police and rejected, prompting suggestions that it is transforming into another SARS.
The agency has, however, given insight into what might partly explain this notoriety. Chairman of the Amotekun Corps, Gen. Kunle Togun (rtd.), said some unauthorised tailors sewing fake uniforms of the corps for unscrupulous elements in the state had been arrested and handed over to the police. Speaking on a radio programme in Ibadan, Togun explained that the suspects were arrested after information filtered in that they were sewing and selling fake Amotekun uniforms to some residents of the ancient city. “We heard that these people were sewing and selling fake Amotekun uniforms to some people, particularly in the Lagelu area of Ibadan. We are presently in the area to uncover the truth. Our fear is that if the uniforms get into the wrong hands and they use them to commit crimes, people will believe it is the handiwork of real Amotekun personnel,” he added.
Some two weeks ago, a 23-year-old commercial motorcyclist was killed in Ibadan after being hit by a stray bullet from an Amotekun operative, triggering a street protest by his colleagues that caused severe traffic gridlock and disruption of commerce around Mokola roundabout. The agency subsequently dismissed the errant operative for acting outside its protocols and handed him over to the police for prosecution. “We want to reassure members of the public of our internal mechanisms for dealing with erring officers. We will continue to train and retrain our officers on best practices and rules of engagement,” agency commandant, Col. Olayanju Olayinka (rtd.), had said in a statement. Prior to the Mokola incident, at least two persons were reported killed in Ibarapa North council area following a shooting that involved operatives of the state’s Amotekun in a clash with some residents of Tapa community. Five other persons were said to have sustained injuries. Among others, there was also a student reportedly shot dead by Amotekun personnel in Sabo area of Oyo town; as well as a police officer who was killed when an Amotekun operative opened fire to disperse a crowd that had gathered in Oyo for New Year carnival in the closing hours of 2020. The notoriety was such that Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka recently warned that Amotekun must not transform into another SARS.
It is not clear how the reported trade in fake Amotekun uniforms explain abuses by certified officials, but the development nonetheless has grievous security implications. With certified personnel being accused of errant behaviour, it is dreadful to imagine what havoc phonies in uniform could wreak on hapless citizens. We suspect that the tailors may not have acted on mere self-motivation, hence it is necessary to dig for patrons who may have commissioned them on the illicit trade and bring such to justice.
Besides, the agency needs to patent its genuine uniforms with corporate insignia that would be difficult to counterfeit and easily detectable to discourage just every tailor on the streets from sewing the uniforms for unscrupulous persons with criminal intentions. Security is serious business.
Read the original copy of this story on the Nation
TOP EDITORIALS on SEB is a weekly collection and review of topical national issues and opinions from the newspaper view. The reports used here are cyurtesy of the national dailies conccerened.
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