Musa, Fashola Tackle Security, Democratic Challenges In Nigeria

As the nation marked Democracy Day, the minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd), and former minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, on Friday took a retrospective look at the security situation and democratic governance in the country and concluded that there is need for collective responsibilities.

The duo spoke at The Platform Nigeria Special June 12 Lecture held in Lagos, themed, “Governance, Democracy, National Security,” organised by the Covenant Christian Centre led by Pastor Poju Oyemade as part of activities marking this year’s Democracy Day celebration.

Harping on the problem of terrorism, insurgency and banditry rocking the country, Musa said the menace has remain difficult to eliminate in Nigeria because some citizens continued to provide support, funding, logistics and intelligence to criminal groups, adding that Nigerians must understand that security challenges are part and parcel of every society and that overcoming them requires collective responsibility.

According to him, the persistence of terrorism, insurgency and banditry in parts of the country cannot be separated from the support some criminal groups receive from members of the public.

“Banditry, insurgency, terrorism — why does it seem so difficult to deal with it? Perhaps we have the people who are also encouraging and supporting these things because bandits and terrorists survive around the people,” he said.

The defence chief argued that the success or failure of efforts to tackle insecurity largely depends on the willingness of citizens to support positive change, adding, “I want Nigerians to understand that challenges will always come as long as you live. The important thing is what you do about those challenges.

“Everything revolves around the people. When the people are willing and ready to make changes, changes will occur. If the people are not willing, nothing will change.

“There are several stories about how people have aided them in giving them food, water, information, and these are the things that keep them going. We call them ‘oxygen’,” Musa said.

On the vexed issue terrorism financing, adding and abetting the bandits he said, “Who are those funding them, giving them information and logistics that keep them going? It is still the people.”

He pointed out that modern security threats differ significantly from conventional warfare, where enemies are easily identifiable, adding, “Conventional warfare in the past used to be state to state and country to country, so you know who your enemy is.

“The most dangerous aspect of battle and campaign is when the enemy is within. That individual that you’re protecting is the number one enemy trying to take you out immediately he gets the chance.”

The former minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola whose contribution dwelt mainly on democratic governance said elections are inherently imperfect all over the world, urging Nigerians to accept that no electoral process can be completely flawless due to the logistical and human challenges involved.

Fashola while delivering a lecture titled ‘Democracy Beyond Elections said Nigerians must first agree that elections, like those conducted in other parts of the world, are not perfect.

The former Lagos State governor said, “Do we agree as a people that elections are an imperfect event all over the world? They are never perfect because it is a large and challenging logistic undertaking. So, perfection is aspirational.’’

He noted that the complexity of organising elections across thousands of polling units makes it impossible to eliminate every challenge, adding that during presidential elections, officials and voters across more than 176,000 polling units are expected to perform the same task simultaneously despite differences in background, preparation and circumstances.

Fashola said, “And so, with imperfections, are we agreed that we should accept the results? Or do we agree that it must be INEC’s fault? Even when the INEC chairman cannot be in all of those 176,000 polling stations.”

According to him, established democracies acknowledge electoral shortcomings, continue to improve their systems and peacefully accept election outcomes, saying “In other jurisdictions, they recognise the imperfections, they aspire to improve, but they accept the results. They move peacefully and calmly to accept the position of opposition.”