A two-day roundtable begins on today Wednesday to seek for multidimensional approach to tackling insecurity in Northern Nigeria.
The roundtable, being organized by the Coalition of Northern Groups, said that it aims to work out a Framework for Cooperation and Collaboration between Federal, State and Local Authorities.
It would also work out the role of stakeholders especially the Local Communities (Political, Traditional, Religious and Community Leaders, CBOs, etc), Telecommunication Companies and Financial Institutions, Market and Road Transport Unions, The Media (Print, Radio, TV and Social Media) and the larger society.
Towards the implementation, it aims to fully agree on kinetic and non-kinetic approaches of tackling proliferation of arms and drugs through local vigilance and border security; blocking financial, logistics and supply channels and addressing the socio-economic factors fueling the menace of insecurity including lack of education, poverty, unemployment and social conflict.
According to the organisers, the Coalition of Northern groups: “For nearly two decades, Nigeria has been debilitated by a very severe case of pervasive insecurity, including guerrilla warfare, insurgencies, domestic uprisings, terrorism, revolts, and, more recently, banditry. Overthe years, the nature and character of these security threats have assumed different dimensions and contexts. Although the whole country is affected, Northern Nigeria appears to be the main victim.
“Until now, the Northern region had been very peaceful andprosperous. Diverse ethnic nationalities and religious groups live in peace and harmony. However, in the last two decades, all three northern geopolitical zones, namely the North East, North West, and North Central, were engulfed by a series of insurgencies, ethno-religious crises, religious extremism, banditry, and increasing spates of kidnapping.
“Northeastern Nigeria has been under the Boko Haram insurgency for over a decade. The North Central is bedeviled by farmer-harder conflicts, while the North Western has faced unprecedented massacres, destruction of farmlands, rape, and a spate of kidnappings for ransom.
“Consequently, the economy of the region is in shambles, leading to hunger, massive unemployment, a high level of illiteracy, chronic poverty, diseases, displacement, a near collapse of governance, and distrust between the government and the people of the region.
“Successive governments at the federal and state levels have made frantic efforts, using military might and other strategies, to address these security challenges. However, lack of political will at both state and federal levels, lack of inter-agency cooperation and collaboration, lack of synergy among security agencies, leadership decay, and the exclusion of critical stakeholders and the general public, among others, have compounded insecurity in the region. Consequently, the people and the economy of the region continue to suffer exponentially.
“Thus, the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) sees the need to invite seasoned academics, policymakers, security experts, traditional rulers, and other critical stakeholders to pave the way for a new approach to insecurity in the region. Subsequently, a technical team was constituted and consulted widely for more than two months with representatives of the federal government, some governors of the frontline states, security agencies, traditional and other community leaders among others.
“The purpose of this engagement is to restore peace to our communities with a view to promoting social, economic, and political development that will ensure stability and prosperity in our beloved region. Thus, we proposed an all-inclusive approach that would engage all critical stakeholders, including the general public, in collaboration with security agencies to achieve a workable solution.
“Changing the perspective on addressing insecurity in the region is necessary in order to change the narrative. As part of the outcome of the three-month engagements of the sub-technical committee with relevant stakeholders on security, the committee came up with an interim report on insecurity in the north. At the same time, decide to organize a round table on security to hear from the wider community and other critical stakeholders on how to propose a workable solution to the security challenges in the north.
“The upcoming roundtable is assembling a team of seasoned security experts and other stakeholders, including the representatives of government at all levels, military, paramilitary, traditional institutions, civil society organisations, and academia, to brainstorm on an all-inclusive security approach and its implementation roadmap to ensure a comprehensive resettlement and peace-building mechanism for a peaceful, united, and prosperous northern Nigeria.”
The following are members of the sub-technical security committee of the roundtable:
Major General SarkinYaki Bello (rtd) – chairman, ADG Ibrahim Ahmad Katsina (rtd), Commodore David D. Nabaida (rtd), Brigadier General Abubakar Hanafi Saad (rtd), CG Abdullahi Gana Muhammed (rtd), AVM Monday Riku Morgan (rtd), Alhaji Salisu Muhammad, CG Muhammed Babandede (rtd), Hadi U. Sudawa DIS (rtd), Hassan A. Zungeru State Commander Narcotics, Colonel Okojokwu Kennedy Ogbole (rtd), ACG Bashir Abubakar (rtd), AIG Paul Yakadi (rtd), CP Hassan Zakari Biu (rtd), Engr. Agaba Ikwue (FNSE) and Dr. Aminu Idris.