National Security: Keeping the promise in one year of Renewed Hope
By Kayode Adebiyi, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
As President Bola Tinubu’s administration clocks one year, one of the promises he made during the campaigns before his election was to tackle insecurity headlong.
During his inauguration on May 29, 2023, the president promised to prioritise security, saying neither prosperity nor justice could prevail amidst insecurity.
“To effectively tackle this menace, we shall reform both our security doctrine and its architecture.
“We shall invest more in our security personnel, and this means more than an increase in number. We shall provide better training, equipment, pay and firepower,” the president said.
According to security analysts, those promises were not just founded on emptiness, as they are captured in the president’s campaign manifesto dubbed the Renewed Hope Agenda.
The Renewed Hope agenda of the president on national security is hinged on three components: fighting terrorism and violent extremism, ending oil theft and illegal exploration of the country’s resources, and stamping out violent secessionist agitations.
The president acknowledged in that policy document that the fundamental responsibility of government is to protect the lives and property of its citizens.
He, therefore, promised to mobilise Nigeria’s national security, military and law enforcement assets to protect all Nigerians from danger and the fear of danger.
He also promised to expand and improve upon the use of technology, enhance recruitment of personnel, and bolster existing agencies and systems to achieve his fundamental national security goals.
What has been achieved in one year
In line with his promise to seek bilateral and multilateral cooperation, Nigeria hosted the second edition of the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership Dialogue, through the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The event allowed Nigeria and the UK to reaffirm the two countries’ deep and long-standing security and defence relationship.
Nigeria also successfully hosted the High-Level Africa Counter-Terrorism Meeting, which brought together five Heads of Government, including the UN Deputy Secretary-General, and leaders of other key global bodies.
Those discussions focused on stability in the Sahel Region and garnered significant commitments to combat terrorism and violent extremism.
In the area of cybersecurity, which is a component of national security, ONSA organised sensitisation workshops across seven sectors.
The sectors are Telecommunications, defence and security, education, finance and capital market, energy, professional organisations, the private sector and judiciary.
The aim is to provide information, strengthen cybersecurity governance and coordination and build the capacity of relevant stakeholders on their responsibilities under the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy (NCPS).
Along the line of the provisions of the Renewed Hope Agenda, NSA Nuhu Ribadu also tackled three important national security threats – terrorism and violent extremism, oil theft and secessionist agitation.
During an inspection tour of oil and gas facilities in Abia and Rivers states Ribadu decried how the country was still losing 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily to local and international thieves.
According to the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, in the fight against oil theft, 1,437 perpetrators were apprehended, with 363 neutralised. Additionally, 245 kidnapped hostages were rescued, leading to a marked decrease in insurgent activities.
In less than a year, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) puts Nigeria’s oil production at 1.28 million barrels per day (bpd), signifying a 4.07 per cent increase from the 1.23 million bpd recorded in March 2024 — also indicating the first month-on-month production growth in the year.
Under the Tinubu administration, the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) said its counter-terrorism and insurgency operations have led to the neutralisation of 9,303 insurgents, the arrest of 6,998 individuals, and the rescue of 4,641 hostages.
The MNJTF also said that 9,562 Boko Haram/ISWAP combatant fighters and their families surrendered to security forces.
Also, within a year, successful intelligence-led operations have prevented numerous terrorist attacks and criminal activities.
High-profile terrorist commanders and their associates were also said to be apprehended across multiple states, preventing potential catastrophic incidents.
Confiscations included illegal items such as IEDs, firearms, ammunition, and dangerous psychoactive substances.
Available media content shows that troops across various theatres of operations in the country in separate operations recovered over 21,000 pump action cartridges, 440 pump action rifles, and 228,741 rounds of ammunition within the past year, preventing potential attacks by recovering suicide jackets and lethal weapons.
On regional security and stability, President Tinubu, as the Chairman of the ECOWAS, emphasized the importance of regional and international cooperation to effectively combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
To this end, his government demonstrated the importance when the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) retrieved 20,000 small arms and 60,000 units of ammunition in Nigeria.
Police reform is another area in which the administration has ticked the box.
As chair of the Nigeria Police Council (NPC), the president set up a constitutional review committee to carry out comprehensive police reforms.
The committee, among other tasks, was charged to assess the lapses in the 1999 Constitution that are holding back reforms of the Nigeria Police Force as well as enhance coordination and align technology and manpower resources towards strengthening the police.
As many public commentators have said, one year could be insufficient to analyse the performance of a government, especially one carrying out structural reforms.
However, when it comes to national security, there is a feeling that the administration of President Tinubu was already putting in place measures to sustain security of lives and property of all citizens. (NANFeatures)
**If used please credit the writer and News Agency of Nigeria(NAN).
