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Security Expert Advises Tinubu on Solutions to Insecurity
As Nigeria’s security forces continue to engage kidnappers, bandits, terrorists and other violent criminals in a battle of wits, a security specialist, Mr. Matthew Ibadin, has called for the urgent establishment of what he described as Arms Control and Licensing Authority to deescalate the increasing circulation of small arms and light weapons in the country.
In a press statement e-signed and released to the National Association of Online Security News Publishers, NAOSNP in Lagos on Wednesday, the Badison Security Chief Executive Officer noted that kidnapping of Citizens in the last nine years has become the order of the day with an increased frequency and intensity of such abductions across the country in the last two months of December 2023 and January 2024, especially in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
According to him, the Federal Government through an Act of the National Assembly should establish an Arms Control and Licensing Authority to be in charge of documenting all illegal arms intercepted by the Nigerian Customs Service or those recovered from unauthorized persons, the army, police and other security agencies.
“All arms collected or seized from criminals should be in the custody of the Arms Control Agency and Authority with a view of ascertaining at any point in time the number of illegal arms recovered from various parts of the country. The Arms Control and Licensing Authority would be saddled with the responsibility of also conducting a total audit of all weapons in the custody of the military, the police and all other arms bearing security agencies on behalf of the government, so as to ensure accountability and global best practices on arms management. It should be headed by a civilian security expert who can carry out due diligence without fear or favour”.
While commending the various security agencies particularly the military and the police for doing their best, he pointed out that a lot more was expected from them.
Going forward, he suggested that the focus should be on evolving a detailed security architecture with the police being at the nucleus of co-coordinating all anti kidnapping operations in the country.
The Badison Security boss also emphasized the need for police personnel across all ranks to continuously engage in training and retraining with a view to technologically upgrade themselves.
He mentioned the need for the acquisition of tracking equipment and training on the tracking of stolen phones should be made available to the Nigerian police, divisional and outpost personnel and private security companies. The police should collaborate with cyber security experts, private investigators as it is obtainable all over the world. A situation whereby kidnappers are asking for ransom to be paid in bitcoin makes the situation so complicated that if they are not trained for it, they can not solve the challenges.
He stated that as long as we have this single digit security architecture whereby the police are under the exclusive legislative list, we can never solve the security challenges confronting the nation. The present policing system is reactive instead of being proactive. Therefore, we need to dismantle the present inefficient policing architecture, where it would be expunged from the exclusive legislative list, and moved to the concurrent and residual list enabling state governments to create and manage their own local policing architecture. So we can hold the state government and local government chairmen responsible instead of calling out the federal government for local security affairs.
On the issue of the existing centralized police structure, Ibadin posited that decentralization of the existing federal policing structure was long overdue and must be holistically pursued with patriotic vigour in contemporary time. Amotekun, Hisbah, Abube Agu and other state self help will not work unless the police architecture is reformed to operate at state and communal levels.
While rooting for a decentralized police structure which in other words is currently a federal police structure. Ibadin who did his post-graduate studies at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Kaduna stated that the poor remuneration, low training and lack of modern digitized training for the Nigerian police personnel has helped to dampen the morale of the average police officer. He further stated that he believes that the Nigerian police despite the unfavourable conditions they have to work with are rated in his own words as the best in the world because they are working without the necessary tools.
He urged the National Assembly to urgently take a proactive legislative step that would remove policing system from the exclusive list to the concurrent and residual list adding that for effective policy implementation, the state government, local government and communities must take the lead at creating and managing a police system that is fit and customized for their peculiar local needs.
While the political class delineated voting to the ward level, the government should also apply this same strategy by giving every ward in the country a functioning police station which is closest to the people. This would curb the crime rate to the minimum because the current policing structure does not allow the people to report crime as at when it happens because the current divisional police headquarter and outposts are far from the people.
Due to a lack of trust in the current policing structure, the people are scared to report criminal issues to the police, because it is not a community based policing that protects their interests. Citizens in transit need to reach the police easily in any crime situation. Therefore, operational hubs for police should be established at all the former toll gates and create additional ones across the federation, equipped with sophisticated weapons detection systems because we have a lot of concealed weapons in transit across the country, due to porous border and insecurity in the Sahel region. Furthermore, “The state should enact a law that makes it easy for the police to secure a warrant to search any house in their states.
To assist in solving the current operational logistic challenge that police often encounter, the security chieftain suggested that all vehicles seized by the EFCC, Customs and even the police should officially be given to the police and must be branded and documented at the zonal police headquarters.
He also recommended that to address the issue of low morale currently pervasive among police personnel, a minimum wage of N250,000 should be approved for the police, explaining that such gesture would invariably attract high quality recruits into the Nigerian Police Force.
As a measure towards finding an all embracing solution to insecurity in the country, he also advised the government to license Private Investigators (PI) as it is obtainable in other parts of the world even as he enjoined them to under-study African nations like Kenya.
“It is instructive to note that it is also in the Police Act that Private Investigators should be licensed to operate. Ibadin also advocated that, responsible citizens should be allowed to bear arms as a first line of defense in our national security architecture.
He said, “Senior Citizens, Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Executive Directors, Managing Directors, Security Consultants, licensed Private Investigators, senior civil servants and lecturers, local government chairmen, Counselors, captains of industries, traditional rulers, clerics and their security personnel should be profiled and allowed to bear arms. Furthermore, traditional institutions should have a legislative security role to protect their subjects in collaboration with the local police.”
The Badison boss noted that private security outfits in the country should be licensed to carry arms to protect VIPs and to help state governments to secure communities . He advised that they can also be involved in the fight against banditry and kidnappers since they operate at grass root level. The Nigerian police has been largely persecuted by the citizens and civil society groups, forgetting that they were created by the law to execute it.
Therefore, for us to resolve the prevailing situation in the country we must go back and amend the laws that created the Nigerian Police force. I expect the civil society organizations, Nigerian Bar Association (N.B.A.), the Nigerian Labour Congress (N.L.C.) and her affiliates and student union bodies of tertiary institutions to show more sympathy and support for the police asking the government to better care for the Nigerian police.
He said that “all police personnel should be kitted with ballistic vests and other gadgets that would enable them go after kidnappers in the bushes and flush them out.
With respect to the correctional intentions of government for all convicted and imprisoned criminals, Ibadin posited that the Nigerian correctional centers need to be reformed to mitigate the current situation of producing hardened criminals instead of reformed citizens after they come out of the system.
The security chieftain also posited that as a matter of urgency, President Bola Tinubu should look into the idea behind the military’s recruitment of ‘repented’ Boko Haram elements into the Nigerian armed forces “with a view to ensuring that they do not act as conduits of sabotage”.
He noted the exemplary efforts of some Nigerians towards fighting insecurity in the country and said that the Lagos Trust Fund and notable Nigerian businessmen like Mr. Femi Otedola and Mr. Aliko Dangote should be appreciated for their enormous efforts at supporting the police regularly.
He concluded by expressing his sympathy with the current Inspector General of Police and security chiefs, stating that the police is currently a single digit system security architecture which can not solve the insecurity issues it is facing alone as the system is operated at the federal level omitting the state, the local government and communities because crime is local.
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International Day of the Girl-Child: Sulaiman-Ibrahim Hosts Students, Vacates Seat for Momentary ‘Minister’
The Honourable Minister of State for Police Affairs, Hajia Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has hosted the students of Police Day Secondary School, Area 11, at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, in celebration of the 2024 International Day of the Girl-Child, during which time she momemtarily vacated her seat for a JSS 1 student, Ehis Linus.
Her actions were geared towards proving young girls’ limitless potential to lead and shape the future, according to a statement by the Deputy Director, Press and Information, Mr Bolaji Kazeem, and made available to the National Association of Online Security News Publishers (NAOSNP).
The students were led on the visit by their Commandant, DSP Mariam Damilola Yusuf.
The Minister of State highlighted the importance of empowering young women by ensuring their good education counselling, and safety as well as active participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. She reaffirmed her dedication to fostering an inclusive environment where every girl child can realize her fullpotential and contribute meaningfully to national development. Imaan encouraged the students to be serious about their education, increase their imagination, and creativity, and improve on their can-do attitude as well as think big toward the future.
In her words, “The ongoing RenewedHope Police Reforms within the primary and secondary schools in the policeecosystem is a strong commitment of the government to drive excellence in thepolice institutions and make them a choice school in the country.
The Minister added that through dialogue and encouragement, the event served as a powerful reminder of the need to invest in the growth and empowerment of the next generation of female leaders. As a special part of the celebration, one of the students Ehi Linus was allowed to temporarily assume the Honourable Minister role, symbolizing young girls’ limitless potential to lead and shape the future.
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
One of the fastest ways of making a headway in life is having the right attitude. A right attitude is priceless, and grants easy access to and from people. This is in clear contrast with a nasty attitude, which attracts distaste and repulsion.
Attitude permeates relationships with fellow human beings at work, school or public spaces. People can literally see our personalities, mindsets, behaviors through our attitudes.
As a Human Capacity coach, one of the qualities I look for in any person is attitude. When you show an attitude that portrays allegiance to money as opposed to learning, your potential of going far in life will be limited. You luterally show you don’t have the capacity to be loyal when the chips are down.
While exhibiting the right attitude, theee is the possibility of everyone not agreeing with you, however, it is advisable not to burn bridges because you never know when you will need them. You can only do this when you have the right attitude to life.
The right attitude is a currency just like relationships, network, social media and value though a lot of people fail ro realiae the fact. In my relationship with the high and mighty in society and men of influence and affluence, I have seen how they perceive and interpret certain acts. What ordinarily might not amount to anything from an uninformed mind might be the icing on the cake for the great man. For instance, if a resourceful person asks you to do a job, it will be wise to do it for free. Resist the temptation to ask for money.
That’s a great way of marketing yourself to the person involved. If they appreciate your work, you might be surprised to get a good opportunity that catapults you to unimaginable heights.
Also, if the great man asks you to do some work, instead of saying, this is an opportunity to make some cool cash, consider doing the work with the least cost just to make him a potential client. I recently met a young man online who is good with YouTube videos, I asked him if he could cut a video for me, the amount he called was on the high side.
Be advised, I know value has to be appreciated. What this young man didn’t know was that I was testing his attitude with the hope of working with him, but quite unfortunately he failed the test. I had to devise an alternative means to get it done for free.
This is why mentorship is very important. When you have good mentors, they will advise you to think and serve in the right manner. Most young people always operate from a lack mindset. They want to eat their cakes and have it. They fail to understand that there’s seed time and harvest time.
In my relationship with some of my mentors, I have bought nice perfumes, shoes, and luxury gifts to them in appreciation of their kind counsel. What’s important here is not necessarily the amount per se, but the mindset and attitude. Be advised, I didn’t ask for money. I had to show them via my mindset, I’m not a burden so they can feel comfortable relating with me.
As a matter of fact, one of my mentors once said to me, I give him more money than he gives him. When you juxtapose this with contemporary youths, most of them are merely concerned about what they can get as opposed to what they can learn.
It’s instructive to note that it is your attitude and not your aptitude that will determine your altitude. With the right attitude, people will see through your thought process and mindset. My late mother will always say, when someone is talking, look beyond their words and focus on what’s inside their heart/mind. It’s just like communication, your focus is not on what’s being said, but on what is not being said.
One a personal note, I have learnt to study the attitude and mindset of many of my mentors, elders, friends, mentees, and strangers and this helped me a lot to relate with them differently. When you know how people behave, it will be easy to work with them. Sometimes, some people wonder how I relate smoothly with people and get things done, it’s simply a matter of attitude. One of my mentors once said, a general doesn’t fight many wars at the same time, a wise general selects his battles. That’s having the right attitude and perspective to life.
To understand how attitude works. There was a young boy who behaved badly, and his grandfather, an elderly, wise pastor, attempted to counsel him. The Pastor said, it’s as if we have two lions inside of us. One is good and the other is bad, and they both demand our obedience to them. The boy responded, which one wins? The Pastor said, the one fed. What’s the moral here? In the journey of life, it is what we feed that grows. If you feed a lion, a lion will grow into a deadly beast. If you take care of a woman, she’s likely to act soft towards you all things being equal. In the same vein, when an evil desire demands to be fed, we must say no. This is true because what we feed ultimately controls us.
The interesting facts about this Pastor and young man are centered on perspectives. It is how you see life that life will unfold to you. When some people fail in life, while positive minds will see it as an experience in which they hope to learn something from it, negative people see it as failure which has limited them from moving to the next stage in life. Again, while some people experience pain differently, some others react negatively to pain and this in turn hurts them more.
In conclusion, I don’t know what your experience is, nor do I know what you are going through, but one thing I can guarantee you is that, when you have a great attitude, your disposition will surely change. You’ll go far in life when you have a nice attitude.
Today, I charge you to learn how to relate with people with the right mindset and see how your life will unfold for good. I will conclude with the words of Maya Angelou; “People may forget what you say, people may forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel” The only way to make people feel good is by having the right attitude.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Eric Elezuo
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has suspended its Acting National Chairman, Amb Illiya Umar Damagum and the National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, for anti-party activities.
The party revealed its decision to suspend the duo in a press statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, and made available to The Boss Newspaper.
The statement noted that the Acting National Chairman, who has been facing legitimacy crisis, and his Secretary, were found culpable with regard to the “letter addressed by them to the Court of Appeal in Appeal No: CA/PH/307/2024 against the Party’s position in the case involving the 27 former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who vacated their seats upon decamping from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC).”
While condemning the act, the party invoked Sections 57, 58 and 59 of the PDP Constitution, and suspended the officers, referring them to the National Disciplinary Committee.
The two officers are therefore, barred from attending the NWC’s meetings, activities and programmes, according to the statement.
Read the statement in full:
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP has extensively considered the series of complaints raised against the Acting National Chairman, Amb. Illiya Damagum and National Secretary, Sen. Samuel Anyanwu particularly with regard to the letter addressed by them to the Court of Appeal in Appeal No:CA/PH/307/2024 against the Party’s position in the case involving the 27 former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who vacated their seats upon decamping from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The NWC condemned this anti-party activity of the Acting National Chairman and the National Secretary which is in gross violation of the provisions of the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017) and their Oath of Office.
Consequently, the NWC, pursuant to Sections 57, 58 and 59 of the PDP Constitution, has suspended Amb. Illiya Damagum and Sen. Samuel Anyanwu as Acting National Chairman and National Secretary of the Party respectively and referred them to the National Disciplinary Committee for further action.
In the meantime, the two officials are suspended from all meetings, activities and programs of the NWC pending the conclusion of investigation by the National Disciplinary Committee.
