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The House of Representatives on Tuesday underscored the need to ensure adequate budgetary provision for acquisition of security hardwares and other equipment for Nigerian Army and other security agencies across the country.
To this end, the House mandated the committees on Army, Defence, Navy, Air Force, Police Affairs, Finance and National Security and Intelligence to investigate and determine the pressing needs of the country’s security sector and report back to the House for further legislative action.
The resolution was passed following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Shawulu Kwewum (PDP-Taraba) who stressed the need for high preparedness of the security agencies against external aggression.
The lawmaker who expressed concern over the current security challenges facing the country, noted that “Nigeria is presently facing unprecedented security challenges sector that have over-stretched the security forces, realizing that the major consideration of every human being when confronted with danger is self-defence, likewise a sovereign state which needs to survive external aggression.
“The Nigerian state has had its sovereignty threatened a few times in the recent past and is currently embattled at several fronts with militancy in the South-South, Boko Haram Insurgency in the North East, election violence, kidnapping, cattle rustling and the menace of herdsmen in various parts of the country.
“Despite the engagement of the military within and outside Nigeria, there has not been corresponding increase in the number of military and para military, personnel resulting in under blind spots that make it easy for rogue elements to hide.
“The United Nations report that out of the over 80 million small arms floating freely in the West African sub-region, 70 percent are in the hands of few individuals and groups in Nigeria (UN) More concerned that Nigeria presently has one of the lowest ratio of civilian to military, 1.14 military men to 1,000 people, while countries with less security challenges and even less endowed economically have significantly higher ratio as presented Syria, 21.84 per 1,000 people; Egypt, 10.79 per 1000 people; Norway, 10.17 per 1,000 people; Russia, 10. 15 per 1,000 people; Pakistan, 5.91 per 1,000 people; US, 5.22 per 1,000 people; Canada, 2.2 per 1,000 people; Nigeria, 1.14 per 1,000 people and sub-saharan average is 4.01 per 1,000 people,” he stressed.
While noting that the military is performing the internal security roles which should have been undertaken by other Nigeria Police and other para-military agencies, Kwewum said “almost all the security agencies are operating with too few obsolete weapons and equipment.
“If prompt action is not taken to strengthen the military and para military agencies, the Nigerian State, in the no distant future may be embarrassed by the inability of the military to perform its duty of protecting the territorial integrity of the country and protecting its citizen’s infrastructure from rogue elements,” he said.
KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja
