WARRI—A Niger Delta activist, Mr. Omolubi Newuwumi has blamed the security breakdown in the country on old-fashioned security policy of the Federal Government, warning that until the guidelines were reviewed, the country will continue to witness emergencies in its security sector, such as the most recent cases in Jos and Maiduugri.

Speaking with Vanguard, in Warri, Omolubi, who is a member of the Delta Waterways Security Committee, DWSC, said, “after a careful assessment of Nigeria’s security system and the primary responsibility of government, which is to guarantee and protect the lives and property of its citizens, I found out that our security system is porous, outdated, inefficient and hence, cannot protect its citizenry.”

Recalling the theft of INEC Direct Data Capture  machines at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, belated discovery of some cache of arms at the Apapa Port , Lagos and the unsettled  confrontation between the Joint Task Force, JTF, on the Niger-Delta  and militant forces in the region, he said the Federal Government was yet to properly appraise the situation and fashion a workable blueprint.

“The degree of hunger, anger, deprivation, unemployment, suffocation, oppression, lack of social justice and order in the midst of plenty has further worsened the inefficiency of Nigeria’s security system and a country that cannot guarantee the survival of its poor citizens cannot also guarantee the safety of the few that are rich,” he said.

Omolubi opined that the emergence of various militia groups like the OPC, Boko Haram and Bakassi boys was a reflection of the country’s failure to protect its citizens, hence Nigerians  who lost  confidence in the ability of security agencies to protect them , resorted to these militia groups for protection.

He stated,  “The killers of the  former minister for justice,  Chief Bola Ige,  politician and business man, Chief Harry Marshall, industrialist and Niger_Delta leader, Chief Alfred Rewane, wife of the late Chief Moshood Abiola, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola , among others, have not been brought to book. The government has also not been able to effectively handle the Warri crisis,  which lasted for over eight years, the Jos crisis has reared up its ugly head again and the activities of the militants in Niger Delta  still on. These are  reflections of government failure in security matters”.

Omolubi called on the federal government to urgently address the issues, as the country was facing the risk   of disintegrating along sectional tribal militia groups, which might snowball to regional armies for full_ scale wars in the days to come.

He advocated among other things:  the setting up of a National Commission of Inquiry on security to probe all illegal services and possession of arms and ammunition in the country; a stakeholders summit to address current security challenges; and the need for the National Assembly to urgently overhaul all existing legislations on security issues in order to meet acceptable conventional standards.

The activist also harped on the need to enhance food security through relevant agricultural policies and mass employment of the teeming unemployed youths through the immediate reactivation of ailing industries, saying the anger of a hungry man was better imagined than felt when he is pushed to his limit.