NSA: Boko Haram Threatening Democratic Foundations

 NSA, Col. Mohammed Sambo Dasuki (rtd)

By Senator Iroegbu 

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Mohammed Sambo Dasuki (rtd) has said the activities of the Jamaatu Ahlis Sunna Liddaawati Wal Jihad commonly known as Boko Haram, is threatening the very democratic foundations and good governance structures of Nigeria.
Dasuki stated this at the weekend in the United States while delivering a keynote address on "Challenges of Governance in an Era of Insurgency" at the Nigeria Security Summit, themed: Insecurity, Nigeria and Beyond, organised by Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

He said that the terrorists strive not only to dismantle democratic structures, but to prevent the provision of state services, such as health, education, commerce and security.
He also disclosed that "their activities have forced thousands to flee their homes, jobs and communities, pushing them into poverty."

Stressing the need to understand the effects of insurgency on governance, he noted the additional challenges leaders face in their bid to deliver on their promises to citizens.

According to the NSA, one very glaring consequence of insurgency was that all other governance issues become subordinate to security considerations.
He said: "This consumed both time and energy on the part of the general public and the government in particular.

"A central casualty of the insurgency was that government had to divert scarce resources that could better support development needs to security issues."  
   
Dasuki explained that before the onset of Boko Haram, many foreign partners of Nigeria were mainly interested in governance issues, as it relates to corruption, followed by concern about the conduct of free, fair and credible elections.

He lamented that currently, the pressure on Nigeria and the main focus of foreign intervention, especially from foreign governments is how to tackle insurgency.

Consequently, he added, assistance from donor countries is slowly shifting from economic issues to security issues which necessitates that the relationship between Nigeria and many countries, including her neighbours, which used to be dominated by trade and technical cooperation have been replaced by security considerations.

"The insurgency has re-shaped and redefined the classification of Nigeria in many peoples’ minds all over the world.

“The country’s name is now being mentioned along with those of other countries that have had long standing terrorism challenges. Ordinary Nigerians have also redefined their views of the security situation in the country," he said.

According to him, the issues that used to agitate the minds of the people, in the immediate past, such as armed robbery and kidnapping have been downgraded given the scale of destruction and devastation caused by Boko Haram’s indiscriminate targeting of civilians.      
Dasuki has however emphasised that "the ability to adapt to this new environment (of insurgency) while staying focused on real gains (of democracy and good governance) will be key to government’s success."

He went further to catalogue some of the efforts of the Federal Government to tackle the growing threat of insurgency and terrorism in the country, especially the through Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013, "significant progress has been made.

"It has allowed us to not only define terrorism, but block avenues of financing for their activities while putting in place structures to deal with our current threats,” he said.
Dasuki also noted that through the establishment of a Counter Terrorism Centre and, working with key stakeholders, "we have developed a National Counter Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST)."

He explained that NACTEST is new and is the first major attempt by the government of Nigeria to holistically address the terror attacks that are being perpetrated by violent extremists.
As a sub-set of the overarching National Security Strategy, he said, it holds a strong promise for Nigerians and seeks to re-engage a stakeholder population that is losing or may have lost faith in on-going efforts aimed at addressing threats.

According to him, the strategy explains what organisations and individuals can do to help in its implementation in order to reduce the risks and ensure that people go about their lives freely and with confidence.

He said: "The NACTEST is organised around five streams, each with key objectives and indicators. FORESTALL; to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting attacks. SECURE; strengthen protection capacity against terrorist attacks.

"IDENTIFY; pre-empt through detection, early warning and ensuring that terrorist acts are properly investigated. PREPARE; to mitigate the impact of terrorist attacks by building resilience and IMPLEMENT; a framework for the mobilization of a coordinate cross government effort."

He said that 17 Ministries and 27 Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government are involved in the implementation of the new strategy.

The NSA, however, said that  in order to achieve the objectives of NACTEST, prevent radicalisation and build community resilience, a Soft Approach to counter-terrorism was designed which has resulted in Nigeria’s Countering Violent Extremism Program involving local governments, state governments, civil society organisations  and the private sector.

Also, Mr Robert Rotberg, while delivering a paper on "Fixing Nigeria's Leadership and Governance Problems Will Assist the Battle against Boko Haram" warned that "Nigeria is as close to being a failed state as it has ever been."

Rotberg said that failure to provide basic services like security, schooling and medical clinics amongst others in large sections of the nation reflects weak if not poor governance.

He listed five categories of governance including security and safety, rule of law and transparency, participation and respect for human rights, sustainable economic opportunity, and the provision of human development (education, health, etc.).

"Nigeria clearly does poorly in the first of those categories, very poorly in the second, not well in the third, badly in the fourth (especially in the failure to provide power, roads, and rail), and rather not so well in the fifth.

"All of these long time weaknesses of governance, leading to state failure, have been exacerbated under President Goodluck Jonathan," he said.

According to him, to defeat a disciplined and fanatical insurgency like the one waged by Boko Haram, inspired by some kind of ideological fervour, disciplined leadership is fundamental.
"Without such leadership the security forces are faced with serious morale problems,” he insisted.

He said that "victory over Boko Haram is only possible if President Jonathan makes such a victory a national cause and if he and his close followers find a way to strengthen the legitimacy of the state and of key state institutions such as the military.

"This would mean Jonathan demonstrating a real belief in the integrity of the nation, casting aside party and ethnic considerations, and showing that he really is the leader of all Nigerians, not just southerners, Christians, or the denizens of Abuja.

"Can President Jonathan rise to such heights of good leadership? Or should we even expect him to be able to aspire to effective leadership given Nigeria’s many frailties and some of its structural deficits and difficulties?

"Given the extent to which Boko Haram has made mockery of Nigeria’s established institutions, including the military, it is essential that Boko Haram be stopped now, not after Nigeria has elected a new leader. For all of his weaknesses, this is Jonathan’s test of strength.”

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