Every Nigerian must rise to fight insecurity – Defence minister

By Providence Ayanfeoluwa

Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd), has described insecurity as Nigeria’s challenge which must be addressed by all.

This is even as he stressed the need for stronger collaboration between the federal government, states, and local governments in tackling insecurity, particularly along the nation’s borders.

Speaking in an exclusive interview on Arise TV, he noted that while the federal government has continued to provide states with more funds than ever before, the effectiveness of security measures depends largely on grassroots action.

Musa explained that crime is fundamentally a local issue, and as such, local governments must play a more active role in addressing it.

He further highlighted the importance of partnerships with multinational joint task forces to strengthen border control and prevent cross-border crimes.

However, he reiterated that without functional local governments, national security efforts will remain incomplete.

His words: “Border security is one issue we have to look at, and for us, we need the states to partner with the federal government. The federal government is doing its best, states are getting their funds as required, more than they ever had.

“We need to have our local governments work because there are steps that we need to take to address these issues. Our local governments must be up and doing because crime is local. If local governments are working, they’ll be able to tackle these things within their own area before it gets to the state, before it gets to the federal. So I think it’s a whole society approach to security.

“Border security is such that we have to be in tandem with our neighbours. What the terrorists do actually is that when you attack them more, they move to the next country. So you need the other country to also be able to block its own side of the border so that they don’t have any safe haven.

“We are working with the multinational joint task force to ensure that we address this. We have seen level of threats coming in between Benin, Nigeria, and Niger border. Through the multinational joint task force, we’re establishing a new system to address those areas so that from Burkina Faso, they don’t penetrate through Benin into Nigeria. We want to stop it.”

Describing insecurity as a Nigerian challenge, he said all Nigerians must put hands together to fight it.
“What Nigeria is going through is trying periods. Countries go through this. It’s what you make out of it that makes you better or worse.

“I think we’re addressing it holistically. The armed forces and other security agencies cannot cover the entire length and breadth of Nigeria. Nigeria has over 927 square kilometres, and we’re just how many,” he said.

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