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I have always appreciated the intelligence services around the world for the arduous task they carry out in order to ensure the safety of their citizens. It is such assignments that regularly provide the beefed up security of man and government alike. This task makes it difficult for evil-minded people to carry out their intentions.
Intelligence is a chain of networks among agencies and governments. Such a chain could be between countries and international agencies. When this chain is weakened or breaks, most times, it spells disaster and doom, not only to the agents but also to members of the society. In our modern world, three notable breaks of such intelligence network need to be critically looked into. These intelligence errors were greatly manifest in three continents of the world, America, Africa and Europe.
The September 11 attacks, which the former U.S. President George W. Bush, described as a “failure of intelligence sharing” on the part of security agencies in the U.S., ought to have been instructive not only to all the security agencies of the world but, specifically, Nigeria. It is very painful that security agencies in Nigeria are clouded in prideful disposition and believe that they know it all. Instead of the world intelligence community being proactive, they are almost always failing in their duties. The Nigerian experience is another security blunder.
At the time the original Boko Haram leader, Yussuf Mohammed was arrested by soldiers and later handed over to the police, despite his elimination by the police, one would have expected security agents to be fully aware of the nefarious and clandestine activities of the sect. The question on many lips is, why the fast move to kill him when interrogation had not been carried out? Well, that is history. The truth was that security agencies in Nigeria were all distracted by the death of Yussuf Mohammed. Before his death, the Boko Haram leader had been able to raise and train an army of devoted northern youths from higher institutions and the unemployed.
Even more painful was the fact that Nigerian security agencies were trying to outshine each other in performance not only before their master the President but before members of the public. this rivalry and jealousy helped in plunging the country into the insecurity abyss. The sect grew in influence and sophistication and the country’s security wheel was grinding to a halt. This was, however, reshaped with the appointment of M.D. Abubakar as the Inspector-General of Police. He helped in forming a close-knit relationship among security heads in the country. The relationship, as feeble as it seemed, had to be improved upon as the country was about reaching another important milestone, with the campaigns that would culminate in the decisive general election on February 14, 2015. An alert security system would have finished dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s months before the elections so that the people could envisage a successful voting process.
France was another country that was plunged into trouble by a disastrous intelligence error upon the merciless killing at the French weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, where 11 French citizens were murdered by two “insane” jihadists who pumped hot bullets to terminate the lives of some journalists, policemen and innocent bystanders. The attack sparked a national demonstration and solicited a united condemnation of the barbaric acts of terrorism. The French incident brought to fore many lessons hitherto neglected by the people of Nigeria, especially as it concerned the war against insurgents operating in the northeastern fringes of the country.
While the French and American citizens stood together with their governments in their fight against terrorist in their countries, Nigerians were only busy passing the buck of ‘non-performance’ to the government and the security agencies. It should appreciated that, despite the fact revealed by the French interior minister that the two terrorist brothers were supposed to be on the watch list of French intelligence agencies, French citizens did not raise a condemning voice against their government or their security agencies, instead, they formed a strong ally behind them, a support that further encouraged their security agencies into tracking down the evil perpetrators. It was heart-warming that, while the security agencies in France were in pursuit of the terrorists, members of the public were willing and ready to provide useful information to the security agencies as examplefied by the petrol station owner who spotted the criminals and immediately reported them to the police. It was an all-hands-on-deck operation and it ended successfully. Another instructive aspect of the whole French scenario was the cooperation of the media and the leadership role of the French government.
Such symbiotic roles were also evident in the American 9/11 tragedy, which claimed thousands of innocent lives. This is not so in Nigeria, where the blame game is more pronounced, coupled with the inefficiency of government. The tragedies in France and the U.S. are enough lessons for security agencies around the world to improve their strategies. Intelligence issues have been discussed widely on this column. As the world continues to shrink into a global village, it is important for Nigerians as a people to rise up and forge a common front against the insurgents in this war. Apart from quality leadership direction needed, the security agencies should be better remunerated and equipped, while the public should join hands with government and the security forces in a resolved manner to fully cooperate with them. A victory is all that the country needs to forge ahead.
Before the elections
Questions are being asked about the safety of citizens before the coming elections. People now appreciate what security is all about but would not want to assist security agencies with security information. The safety of persons during the elections is predicated on the availability of information from members of the public on the evil plans of politicians to either rig or forment trouble.
It is a simple game plan that should involve everyone. For instance, I bumped into strange-looking Chadians travelling to Lagos for an undisclosed mission. My part as a responsible citizen was to inform the security agents, so I did what I was expected to do and they were all rounded up. That is my civic responsibility. We all should expose every evil in our community. With such efforts, lives and properties would be safe and secure.
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Security File wishes to commiserate with one of our avid readers, the chairman of Police Service Commission, Sir M.K. Smith, who lost his dear wife, Alhaja Airat Aderoju Smith, 69. We pray almighty God grants him fortitude to bear the great loss.
