Olayiwola Matthew
Former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor (retd) has warned that creating new security agencies will not solve insecurity in the country.
Irabor urged Federal Government to do an in-depth investigation of the country’s security situation, saying existing agencies in charge of security suffer from intelligence gaps, manpower, equipment and coordination issues.
Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels TV programme, he warned that if a careful evaluation of the problem was not carried out, any newly created agency would also suffer from the same problem as current ones.
His words: “The level of gap differs from one level to the other. But then the greatest of them all has to do with manpower and equipment. The manpower and equipment, and that is also where I believe that the conversation that is ongoing now must be properly structured and synthesised.
“It must not be a generalised discussion because after the optics for the public, then there has to be a closed-door interaction wherein the details of these gaps can be given, and what is required can also be discussed in greater detail.
“But I can tell you that there are issues both with intelligence, manpower, equipment and coordination. Coordination does not necessarily mean that the security agencies are not speaking to one another. As an individual, even while in active service, I believe that creating multiple agencies is not the solution to it.
“Where we have issues, police, for example, have serious policing issues, serious problems, capacity gaps. Now, instead of properly assessing them, identifying the gaps and then closing up those gaps, you think that it is by creating other agencies that will fill the vacuum. That is the wrong approach.
“Today, even though the law has been passed for forest guards, as an individual, I think that is a mistake that was made. Because the disease that has killed the police, which has also killed the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, is also going to kill that establishment. Why? Because we have not done a thorough analysis of where these issues are.
“And if that is not done, that is what is going to kill our military. Because we are not taking time to listen, to understand what these problems are, and then solve them. Instead, people keep talking about money, but volume does not equate to efficiency.”