The sanguineous attack on Nigeria has taken a heavy toll, and the authorities has treated the issue with sheer flippant. Experts have attributed this to malversation on the part of the government; lack of political will to achieve a national bourne; proliferous nature of our borders; lack of good satellite imagery; and other simmering systemic failings in our national security strategies.
The abduction of over 200 schoolgirls got all and sundry drowned with global empathy for Nigeria. The government are trying their best to obviate the lacuna but these efforts are not problem-oriented. Western powers have expressed their desire to partner in the search for the missing girls, which to most people will provide the needed elixir to insurgency in the north-east.
At this point, national introspection ought to be conducted if we truly desire an end to ‘Takfirism’ in Nigeria. There is an urgent need to restructure our national security strategies. For instance, if there were a ‘BERLINESQUE’ wall on our border, it would have been easy in checkmating insurgency .Our government’s unwillingness to consider building a moat on the north-east border shows her light-mindedness in relation to core national issues. Axiomatically, Nigeria as an oil-producing nation-state and the largest economy in Africa has the wherewithal to embark on this project. Security experts are aplomb on the feasibility of this project but majority of Nigerians are averse to lofty ideas, which they see as peripheral issues.
Many countries have checkmated insurgency of yore by fortifying their borders. Israel systematically forfended Hamas act of terror by building a wall on her border with Palestine. Her iron-dome initiative has prevented Hezbollah’s missile from strafing Israeli mainland. America’s resolve to check the activities of Mexican drug-barons prodded her to build a perimeter fence on the Santa Fe border in New Mexico. France was inclined to this view during the second World War. when she constructed the Maginot-line on her border with Germany .
Nigeria has a landmass of 923,768 sq.km, with the north-eastern border taking 3,274 sq.km. The Nigerian Immigration Service has it that Nigeria‘s illegal border entry and exit points is at 1,400 routes, with the north-east having more than 250 foot paths. From the foregoing, it’s deducible that Nigeria has holey borders that need urgent national attention.
For Nigeria to fix her flawed national security, it is a desideratum that we must begin by fencing the north-east border. On our neighbours, Chad and Cameroun, they have a tidy-sum of Muslim population that can harbour and abet these fundamentalists. Our desire to extirpate insurgency cannot be aided by these economically and militarily weak countries. The continued porosity of our borders will ineluctably expose us to further security challenges.
Most uninformed mind argues that building a wall on our borders is unfeasible and untenable, but the current security frailties has prompted a regurgitation .The very reason why we need this moat is to lessen the burden on our military and make them to focus within ,with accentuated intensity and pertinacity.
The Nigerian parliament made this call last year, but the presidential inertia seems to hamper this initiative. However, building a wall on our border entails putting up surveillance cameras, sensors and other appurtenance that will help to check illegal infiltration. Moreso, a radar system with capability in UHF,VHF and VF frequency bands is needed to consummate this buffer zone. It will help in boosting the country’s integrated defense system in border control.
In conspectus , I’m of the view that effective national security policy can be realized by liminally constructing a fosse, in order to respond to strategic warnings, with regards to insurgency. Amnesty International recently said that the Nigeria authorities were notified prior to the abduction but failed to react swiftly. Nigeria’s inanition and enervation in the area of strategic intelligence has become an innate national phenomenon in the annals of her political history. Sequel to this, change should be effected if we truly intend to achieve an efficient national security strategy. In other words, the government must embark on pragmatic restructuring and also take a cue from militarily strong nation-state such as U.S, Britain, China, Russia and the emerging Iran amongst others
Emeka John Okoye is a Sophomore Student At Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka.
Twitter: @Emekaxi
Email: Player.John62@Yahoo.com
The views expressed above are solely that of the author and not of Omojuwa.com or its associates.
