NILDS DG urges stakeholders to address security threats in Nigeria

"I expect our interventions to prioritise the enhancement of our security institutions and the strengthening of civil-military relations in our national security system."

The Director-General of National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Abubakar Sulaiman, has urged stakeholders to initiate legislative interventions to address security threats in the country.

Mr Sulaiman, a professor, said this while declaring open a dialogue on National Security Framework through Legislative Intervention, organised by NILDS in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said aside from the role of the Federal Government, there was the need to focus on legislation that would match the dynamism of security threats.

“Most importantly, our conversation should clearly outline areas for legislative interventions in such a way that our laws can be fine-tuned and strengthened to effectively adapt to and resolve the changing nature of global, regional, and national security threats.

“I expect our interventions to prioritise the enhancement of our security institutions and the strengthening of civil-military relations in our national security system.

“I expect a discussion around inclusive security management that appreciates community engagement and intelligence sharing in the national security architecture.

“We should also emphasise the human security dimension of security, given that the world is increasingly moving towards that direction in security discourse,” he said.

Mr Sulaiman said the public seems to believe that the whole of the responsibility to address insecurity lies with the federal government.

According to him, this is because the constitution has given the President supreme power over national security as well as formulating, appointive, declarative and implementation powers on national security.

He stated the structure of national security governance in Nigeria also involved other arms of government, especially the legislature.

What the National Assembly can do to help fight insecurity

According to him, the National Assembly is empowered to exercise authority on national security through law-making, oversight functions and budgetary control.

“In fulfilment of this responsibility, it has provided numerous interventions on national security in Nigeria.

“The National Assembly has been very vocal and visible in moves for the rejuvenation of the national security architecture, in response to the growing insecurity in the country.

“In supporting the legislature in its constitutional responsibility, NILDS, being a research hub and think tank of the national assembly, established the Legislative Centre for Security Analysis (LeCeSA) to provide useful resources and expert information, through research, to support the legislators in delivering their task on national security.

“Although a new centre, we have a collection of outstanding researchers who undertake empirical research on national security matters and make recommendations for legislative interventions.

“They monitor and track conflict and security trends across the nation, and analyse security-related bills, motions, and resolutions of the national assembly and policies of the executive.

“Also, the centre undertakes capacity-building programmes for the legislature and relevant public institutions; and provides platforms for engagements of relevant actors in the security sector to deliberate on issues affecting national security and to influence legislative actions,” he said.

Imperative of the security dialogue

The security dialogue was convened, Mr Sulaiman said, to fulfil one of the objectives for the establishment of the institute

He said the dialogue was not limited to discussing the problems but to offer practicable and sustainable policy recommendations.

“We are interested in understanding the root causes of the security problems confronting us and how to effectively tackle them.

“We also want to utilise the opportunity of this engagement to highlight the economic, political and social obstacles in the management of national security and how to mitigate them.

“By inviting major actors in the security sector, we want to tap from them and share knowledge on security and navigate a way out of the crisis threatening our nation,” he said.

Nigeria is currently being ravaged by multiple security threats, including banditry, kidnapping and insurgency.

Despite the efforts of the nation’s security forces to curtail these threats, the non-state actors seem to be devising new ways to perpetrate their criminal acts.

(NAN)