Professor Chris Kwaja of the Centre for Peace and Security Studies, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa State and visiting research fellow at the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Abuja is, at present, the special envoy on peace and security to the Plateau State governor. In this interview with ISAAC SHOBAYO, Professor Kwaja speaks on insecurity in the country and how to tame the monster threatening the existence of Nigeria.
NIGERIA is currently bedevilled by a slew of security challenges, including banditry and Boko Haram, among others, which are gnawing at the heart of the nation and threatening its existence. How do you think the country can overcome these challenges?
There are three sides to the crisis of insecurity as I see it. The first is coordination. When there is no whole-of-government approach to tackling insecurity, you end up with the kind of situation we are facing now. It is important to note that internal security operations are primarily the responsibility of the police. The police were designed to handle these issues because they rely on a strong relationship between the state and its citizens. Something that is not the duty of the military.
Recognizing the need for a people-centred approach, the government, in the past, established the Mobile Police Squad as a rapid response force within the police. Rather than over-relying on the military, the Mobile Police should have been equipped, resourced, and deployed in troubled areas. They are familiar with the terrains and trained to engage civil populations. But we are not there yet.
We have failed to build the right structure to respond effectively to these kinds of threat.
Where there is a transnational dimension, the police should inform the government that military involvement is required. But what we have today is a police force doing very little, while the military dominates the public space. The military is now even involved in conflict management and peace-building functions that are squarely within the domain of the police. This is a major strategic misstep that needs to be corrected.
The second challenge is intergovernmental. The relationship between the federal, state, and local governments is poor. We have politicized insecurity to the point that ruling and opposition parties can’t adopt a united, whole-of-government, and whole-of-society approach. The ruling party is not seen as capable of working across political lines, and that is a huge problem. After 9/11, President [George] Bush mobilized the entire country across party lines to build a national consensus around the threat. But in Nigeria, issues like Boko Haram, banditry in the North-West, IPOB [Indigenous People of Biafra] in the South-East, and deadly attacks in the North-Central have all been compartmentalized. There is no unified national response. This has made it difficult to reach consensus on critical matters like decentralizing police’s responsibilities. Some support state police; others don’t. But the real question should be: how do we effectively and proactively stop the killings? What should be the role of the federal government, the state, the local governments?
We say no to state police, yet our federal security agencies often rely on state governments for vehicles, funding, and operational support. That contradiction exposes the structural dysfunction. We must address this intergovernmental issue by building genuine synergy between the federal government and sub-national entities.
The third point is confidence. There is a deep trust-deficit between citizens and the state. To overcome this, the government must invest in rebuilding public confidence and trust. When people don’t trust the government, they become reluctant to support its efforts to address insecurity—and that is often due to their own negative experiences.
Personally, I have seen military personnel subject civilians to corporal punishment. That is a human rights abuse. The military—deployed to protect citizens—is instead violating their right! How then can we build trust between those citizens and the military? Many start seeing the military not as protectors, but as enemies to avoid or confront. To address this, past administrations pushed initiatives like “winning hearts and minds.” The military set up human rights desks and civil-military relations directorates to bridge the gap between the state and its people. But we are still far from where we need to be.
So what is the way out?
The solution is to invest in all three areas: coordination, intergovernmental collaboration, and public trust. Without tackling these, no amount of weapons or tactical operations will suffice. The insurgents have stepped up their activities, taking over villages and communities while security agencies falter. This situation reflects the failure of the Nigerian government to address these core issues. If we focus on each of these three dimensions and invest in making them work, we will make real progress. It is not rocket science.
Other countries have faced worse and succeeded. Our failure lies in not doing what needs to be done. That is why leadership is crucial. With the right leadership, people will trust the government, and when they trust, they will own the fight against insecurity. That is why we say: security is everybody’s business.
Do you subscribe to the notion that the country’s weak criminal justice is also responsible for the insecurity in the country, or what is your take on this?
Yes, that’s a major point. Up till now, we haven’t seen consistent prosecution of those arrested for insecurity-related crimes. It is not just that the criminal justice system is weak, it is also politicized. That is why we end up with the situation we are in. The question is: those arrested in the past for various security breaches, like bombing, killing, and other crimes that relate to insecurity, where are they? Many of such elements are back in their respective communities. So, yes, we must strengthen our criminal justice system to fight insecurity.
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But others also point to the high level of corruption in Nigeria as a root cause of insecurity…
I agree. And that brings us back to the issue of leadership. If you have the right leadership, corruption will be tackled. Criminal justice reforms will happen. Diversity management will be handled effectively. In this regard, the government must be firm and do the right thing, no matter whose ox is gored. Look at past governments that were committed to reforms. Take the Obasanjo administration, for example, many of these issues didn’t escalate under his leadership because of the quality of individuals in key positions. Let me give you an example: how do you appoint someone like Matawalle from Zamfara as Minister of Defence? These were governors in states battling serious insecurity. What due diligence was conducted before putting them in charge of national defence? Were checks carried out to ensure they were not complicit—either through negligence or active collaboration with bandits? Yet, they were handed one of the most critical national security portfolios. That is a failure of leadership.
Maybe the president chose them because he believed they had firsthand experience and would know how to handle the situation…
But we should have seen evidence of that in their previous records. If you want to appoint people based on experience, then pick those who actually addressed such issues successfully in their states, not those who failed to do so. And now we are seeing local governments in the North-East and North-West being taken over by non-state actors. It is alarming.
How do you think this can be addressed? It is clearly affecting the nation.
It goes back to the three core points I mentioned earlier: coordination, intergovernmental collaboration, and rebuilding public trust. If the government focuses on these areas, we will solve this. It is not rocket science. The solutions are known; we just haven’t implemented them properly. Now, I don’t want to say that the government is not doing anything at all—if that were the case, the situation would be much worse. But the government must improve and build on what it is doing by investing in those three areas I highlighted. Above all, it comes down to leadership. Because leadership is what drives each of those three priorities.
Leadership is what asks: do we have the right boots on the ground? Where does the role of the police begin and end? When should the military step in? How is the federal government coordinating with state governments? By addressing those questions, we begin to see the kind of action that is needed.
Some people suggest negotiating or settling with the bandits as a solution. Do you think taking such a step would bring desired solution?
I have never supported the idea of settling with bandits. For every one you settle, you create 20 more. You are only expanding a criminal-economy. That is dangerous. The Nigerian state must maintain a monopoly over the legitimate use of force. If we allow non-state actors to wield weapons unchecked, we are not just facing violence against citizens, it becomes violence against the state itself.
Both the federal and state governments often claimed they have invested so much in agriculture, or rather, food security. But most of the agrarian parts of the North, at the moment, are under the siege of these elements. Don’t you think there might be a food crisis along the line?
You can’t achieve agricultural targets in a climate of insecurity. You need farmers on their land. You need machinery operating freely. Government must first protect those lands and ensure that displaced people return and live in peace. If that is not achieved, food insecurity becomes our biggest national threat. Reclaiming land from criminals is not just about agriculture—it is about land grabbing too. So, when the government reclaims land, it is also addressing the issue of illegal land acquisition by violent actors. Those lands must be returned to their rightful owners so they can farm and contribute to the economy.
Some local governments in the Middle Belt are still under the control of non-state actors. How do we bring displaced citizens back?
I’ve just explained it—government has to do that. There is no other answer I can manufacture from thin air. Government must act. And let us be clear: citizens don’t have the firepower to reclaim those lands. Only the state does. That is why we must continue engaging the government. And the media, like you, have a key role to play. [You need to] amplify the efforts of state governments that are actually trying.
At the last Northern Governors Forum’s meeting, they discussed state police. The idea is to empower states to manage their own security. If states are empowered, they can design local responses — like strengthening vigilante groups or enhancing platforms like Operation Rainbow in Plateau— fund and support such efforts, and coordinate them with federal agencies. That is how simple the solution is.