Being prepared for terrorism

Last week, our National Security Adviser (NSA), Owoye Azazi said that the reason why we seem so incapable in dealing with terrorism is because we had not been prepared for terrorism. This statement is odd considering the length of time Nigerians have been dealing with the terrorism of the Niger Delta, the kidnapping enterprise, Jos & Kaduna ethno-religious crisis, the Maitastine and now Boko Haram. It is especially strange considering we have an anti-terrorism bill passed months ago in response to the Nigerian underwear bomber and the frequency of bombs going off across parts of the country over the last year. In fact, in November 2010, a new brigade was created within the Army specifically to treat the rising insecurity…yet we are still not prepared?

When does a country become prepared for terrorism and can we ever be ready to deal with the type of terrorism we have?

The issues

The reasons for terrorism are clear and well known and range from lack of transparency and accountability in governance, extreme social and economic inequality, dearth of prospects, loss of hope, desperation, illiteracy to the inability to read and interpret religious scripts/texts for ourselves. This type of terrorism is of the ‘I-have-nothing-to-loose’ strain mainly found in resource rich corruption riddled underdeveloped nations such as Nigeria.

Solutions

In the last couple of months we have seen all sorts of changes to the way we live- the bomb detecting devices which look like golf clubs to check underneath our cars, the requirement that drivers come out of their cars to open their car trunks and lately since the escalation of violence in Jos and the UN bombing on 8/26, a shoot on sight order to our already more-than-sufficiently trigger happy security forces.

We are looking for solutions and clean surfaces to paste blame in all the wrong places. Even the nature of our buildings and public facilities, according to Azazi, are cause to blame for the success of terrorism in Nigeria...could the World Trade Center buildings ever have been prepared for the terrorism they faced on 9/11?

There will be no easy solutions to the problem and it is logical to be sympathetic to any government which has to deal with terrorism but there are some things which need to start changing today in order for us to start getting a firmer grip on the wave of terrorism which threatens to drown us.

Education and literacy

An educated population will be easier to sensitise and enlighten about managing terrorism and knowing what to look for and report- especially with border control and migrant issues. Literacy helps with communicating about what to do about strange or abandoned objects and helps raise the level of discourse about the value in supporting the security agencies in protecting lives and property. The woeful state of education and literacy in Nigeria can compete for tears with any of the greatest tragedies in the world.

Improved economic & social welfare

If the lives of the average Nigerian were better, we would be more interested in the viability of our nation and thus vested in the security of property and life. When the hardships of life give existence little meaning, then we will treat life with levity. It is no secret that we have no regard for human beings – hit and run drivers are standard with pedestrians often as much to blame for accidents as drivers, dead bodies lie unreported and with the slightest provocation the machetes and matches are out. Now the importance of a national identity system is glaringly vital, but billions in resources and trillions in time have been wasted over the years from short sighted self serving governments.

Security forces

Our security forces need better education, training and increased salaries and allowances. If policemen can be enticed for as little as N100, then the terrorists will take advantage of this like everyone does. Security agencies act like Nigerians are their number one enemy – they bark, snarl at and abuse us and the daily news is filled with atrocities carried out by the men (and women) in uniform. How much more difficult could they make their work of intelligence gather? Whenever there is a report that suspects in the custody of security agents have confessed to a crime…there is always the thought which cannot be kept away no matter how hard, that the confession was extorted somehow. Today, intelligence gathering must be a lot harder than it should be considering that no sane Nigerian will willingly call the Police or venture into the police station to report a crime or suspicion because the reporter will inevitably become the prime suspect. This has to change and it needs to change immediately because as long as we distrust the security forces, managing terrorism will be that much harder.

Strengthening democracy with credible leadership

Unless we get credible leaders whose primary interest is the sustained development of Nigeriathen we will continue to be at the mercy of our biggest ills: corruption, unaccountability and oppression. If our election processes continue to be undemocratic with the support and collaboration of the last refuge of the wronged, the judiciary, then we will not be able to deal with terrorism. It is ironic and indicative of how unyielding we are in our devotion to doing things the crooked way that ex president Obasanjo would be part of a national meeting on terrorism just as Wikileaks disclosures have him fingered by former Chief Justice Uwais for meddling in the judgement of the 2003 election tribunal.

The fact that those in power never want to leave and do not want to work means that our elections will always be manipulated. If people cannot get rid of unproductive elected officials at least once every four years, then what other means are available for them to take control of their destinies? Any government which wants to deal with terrorism has to put in place the right structures to protect democracy and democracy support institutions like the judiciary and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

In conclusion, so much of what the security agencies need from Nigerians to manage terrorism is lacking. The Nigerian security agencies can continue to meet, proliferate and expand budgets, we can get bomb sniffing dogs and use road blocks to make a 20 minute journey 20 hours and import all sorts of special gadgets but we will continue to be tragically unprepared. Until the social issues are dealt with, the type of terrorism which we have become exposed too – the type most difficult to fight, where the people bringing death and destruction are prepared to die as well, we will continue to struggle to contain terrorism in Nigeria.