By Ruth NWORIE
A former member of the House of Reps from Ogoja/Yala Federal Constituency of Cross River State, Jude Ngaji, has urged the president, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to consider appointing security advisers from the six geo-political zones amidst the current security challenges in the country.
Speaking to the TNN over the telephone, Ngaji said Nigeria’s security challenges were too enormous for one person to handle from Abuja. According to him, while the current national security adviser was doing his best under the current circumstance, much more would be achieved if zonal advisers were involved.
That way, he said, security information would be better coordinated and same sent to the national security adviser for proper management.
“For proper synergy and effectiveness and efficiency if you like, the president should have special assistants on security in the six political zones, each where they will have to point out security challenges in each of these zones and report to the National Security Adviser.
“All we hear are the kidnap and killing in Plateau of 100 people and 50 people or 30 people in some zones, especially in a place like the South South. Apart from some few cases of kidnapping and all that, there is something that is killing people very seriously, which is communal clashes, and that is often very, very serious during the farming seasons where two contiguous communities will lay claim to land and all that. All of that is not reported. These are challenges as well.
“There are cases where some communities are wiped out completely because of some communal clashes as a result of some very funny piece of land, people will not be able to relocate due to inheritance stuff. Governors of those zones can engage critical stakeholders, women leaders, identify where there are possibilities of security breaches and where there are security challenges nipped in the bud immediately.
“Take the North East for instance. If you have a special assistant on security matters, that security assistant should be able to criss-cross, be able to engage critical stakeholders, engage all the security agencies, and make such reports to the office of the National Security Adviser for the president.
“And where there are issues where they can be handled without even taking up issues to Abuja, those issues are handled, the governors will have to work together in those zones to ensure that the zones are peaceful and you can work with the special assistant to the president who now communicates directly to the office of the National Security Adviser and all that. I think the issues at the moment are beyond what one man can handle.”
Ngagi, himself a former state security adviser in Cross River under the regime of Prof Ben Ayade noted that it was important for security issues to be decentralised for effective management and coordination, especially now that the country is going through its most challenging times.
He said “sometimes this information may be expensive, but it helps. Security is not a one man matter; all of us, all Nigerians resident in this country, are involved. That is why they often say if you see something, you say something, because once you say something, all the agencies are doing their best.”
