Leadership capacity gap responsible for insecurity in Nigeria
Abimbola Abatta, Osogbo
Nigeria’s security challenges have been ascribed to the shrinking economic opportunities for citizens, convoluted governance structure, and climate change traceable to leadership capacity gap.
Professor of Political Science,Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof. Femi Mimiko disclosed this in Osogbo during a public lecture organised by Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Osun State council.
The theme of the programme is; “Appraisal Of State Security In Nigeria, Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow: The Way Forward”.
The don who was also the former Vice-Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko noted that the nature of the threats to security, which Nigeria faces, goes beyond the physical.
In his address, Mimiko said evidence abounds that the Nigerian state is getting overwhelmed by its security challenges, signposted by some critical trends.
According to him, the extant patterns of insecurity in the country are neither products of external aggression nor deliberate and overt effort on the part of a foreign power to subvert Nigeria.
“They, therefore, do not fit into conventional threats to national security, conceived in the literature as ‘the protection of the state against external aggression through economic, military, political and diplomatic means.’
“Thus, what goes for security crisis in contemporary Nigeria is substantially internally propelled. This is, however, not to discountenance the rapidity with which such challenges could expand in scope and depth and snowball into credible threats to the nation’s overall spatial and existential integrity.”
He stressed that human security is a critical dimension of security that has been very well accounted for in the literature.
“When security is conceived in this broader sense, virtually all the security challenges captured heretofore become easily identifiable as dimensions of threat to human security.
“All forms of insecurity Nigeria faces not only reinforce each other, but are indeed practically inseparable; virtually all, propelled by the same set of forces.”
He posited that recasting Nigeria’s extant governance structure in thedirection of devolution of power and resources to the federating units is the most plausible pathway to catalyzing a web of activities that can propel stability and development in the country.
He also stated that Nigeria has three developments that can act as catalysts to change the overall orientation of the state.
“The first is if a global power of significance chooses to give open and unequivocal support to one or more of the several secessionist agitators. The second is if top members in the security apparatuses begin to defect and cue behind sub-national sovereignty agitators.”
Mimiko said the ongoing rumblings in Chad would be very consequential for Nigeria if the former falls into unfriendly hands.
“All, and indeed any of these can set in motion a process that may be too difficult to stanch; and propel a rapid, albeit cataclysmic transformation of the Nigerian state as we know it today.
“The Chadian situation is particularly so critical and urgent, such that except a major power like France is willing to re-interpret its role as the regional stabilizer in a more interventionist manner, the entire Sahel, and the surrounding countries.
“Nigeria inclusive, may soon be mortally threatened by armed non-state actors that are getting increasingly emboldened by their recent serial successes.
“It is to be noted in this regard that, from all indications, the Nigerian military is looking increasingly overstretched by its involvement with Boko Haram and bandits, and would be hard-pressed to simultaneously maintain and sustain any long drawn out engagement in other parts of the country.
“These are compelling reasons why the diversity underpinning the Nigerian society should be carefully, dexterously and expeditiously managed such that it would begin to serve as the bedrock of its strength and greatness, rather than a basis for instability and dysfunctionality.”
