….Nigerians depend on media to hold military accountable over money spent

….we respect nat’l security information management

By Gabriel Ewepu, Abuja

Amid rising insecurity across the country, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, has asserted that conflict entrepreneurship is seriously booming, so accountability is demanded from the nation’s defence and security sector.

CISLAC also pointed out that Nigerians depend on the media to hold the military accountable for the money plunged into the defence and security sector.

The assertion was made by CISLAC through its Senior Programme Person, Peace and Security, Bertha Ogbimi, on the sidelines of a ‘One-day Media Workshop on Defence Anti-corruption Reportage, Civic Space, and Oversight’ organised by CISLAC in collaboration with Transparency International-Defence and Security Programme with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Ogbimi said the essence of the one-day workshop is to build the capacity of journalists to effectively oversight the security and defence sector, as journalists remain the mouthpiece of civil society.

She maintained that it is the right of citizens to know how monies on defence are spent for the purpose of accountability and transparency, and that it would build confidence in citizens on the efforts of the military, because the monies are taxpayers’ monies.

She said, “Journalists are to ask the right questions and receive the right answers, also hold the military accountable where they fall short of good practices.

“If you look at the security and defence sector in Nigeria, it is bedeviled by multidimensional security challenges, and because of this, a lot of allocations have been plunged into the defence and security sector.

“One would expect that normally, with the amount of money channeled to the security and defence sectors, the issues patterning to insecurity would have been addressed. But unfortunately, we see an uprise in these challenges.

“As a matter of fact, that area called conflict entrepreneurship is booming, and we begin to have counter-reactions while we are plunging so much money.

“Sometimes you see so much money channeled towards the procurement and welfare of security personnel. One begins to wonder where the money goes, or if some persons are using the money to enrich themselves.

So some questions need to be asked because these monies are taxpayers’ monies, and we need some answers.”

However, she said CISLAC understands and respects defence information management. “Of course, we are not saying that operations, procurements, and finances of defence and security institutions should be made completely bare.

“We recognize that there is national security, we are all patriotic citizens, and we cannot bare our military in public, but what are those information that are not detrimental that could be made available for citizens to understand where their taxpayers’ monies are going, especially since insecurity keeps increasing rather than reducing.

“Journalists are the people that can ask these questions and get back to Nigerians, even hold the leadership of the defence and security sector accountable, including the politicians that are now influencing the defence and security sector.”By the time we start doing the naming and shaming, and when that is done, we will get them to sit-up.”

She also added that journalists are to speak on behalf of military personnel on improving their welfare in order to be effective in carrying out their mandate.

Meanwhile, she called on President Bola Tinubu to “look into the challenges in the defence and security sector, especially personnel in the deep field; how can they be catered for? Have modern technology provided for to enable them to carry out their mandate effectively.

“And something needs to be done in the procurements in getting the right and sophisticated equipment, putting the right persons to man the security and defence institutions for them to act properly, and that needs to be done.

“For the legislature, the legislators who carry out defence and security sector oversight functions, there is a need to build their capacity, and if their capacity on military issues is built, they will know, ask, and get the right answers.

“Also, the relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, or MDAs, that oversee the security, including the legislators, media, and CSOs, if we all sit-up and get it right, I am very optimistic that the security of Nigeria will fall into place, and we will all sleep with our two eyes closed.”