“We cannot fight the wars of today with the weapons of yesterday”
Alfred Ali D. Dapal

The late General Sani Abacha is reported to have said that if an insurgency lasts more than 24-hours then you know the government is involved. The near collapse of security in the country lends credence to this statement.

If not, how can one explain the absence of answers to these pertinent questions:

In Feb. the Minister of Information announced that the FG has a list of 96 sponsors of terrorism and their 424 associates – who are they? What action has been taken? Are they being prosecuted?

Similarly, the UAE and US government indicted about 6 persons for sponsoring terrorism – what action has the Nigerian government taken afterwards?

Looking at the modus operandi of these terrorists, how can hundreds of armed criminals on motorcycles travel long distances and you say they cannot be tracked?

What is the essence of having the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) when they cannot use satellites to monitor movements of people around such hotspots?

How can the security agencies be more effective in flushing ESN/IPOB militia from their hide-outs in dense forests in the Southeast, and claim to be unable to do so in our sparse savanna grasslands?

The lack of answers to these questions leaves a bland taste in our mouths and a suspicious look in our eyes.

February last year, I wrote an article titled “A world in Transition – Rest or resting in Peace?” where I stated clearly the need to end nomadic rearing of cattle and embrace ranching, cause doing so will take innocent herders out of the bushes and anyone left behind will be treated as a suspected ‘BANDIT’.

Now that legimate Fulani herdsmen are becoming victims (most notably the chairman of Miyetti Allah Gwagwalada, Abuja), why are they still not pushing for ranching and an abolishment for nomadism?

When terrorists (Aka Bandits according to this APC government) control large swaths of territory – is this not a failure of leadership?

An ancient historian said ‘Emperor Nero was busy fiddling while Rome was burning’…the same can be said of our current leadership in the country and our dear Plateau State.

It’s why we see a Governor who will rather politic in Abuja, taking pictures with ‘political godfathers’ than attend to the fire burning in his State or when another governor will rather buy high end luxury cars for traditional rulers in his State as a strategy for re-election than thinking and implementing solutions to this mayhem.

And sadly we are gradually becoming insensitive to the mayhem caused by Fulani terrorists; over 100 people killed in Kanam and Wase, multiple attacks in Bassa (including an ambush on the newly elected representative) and Southern Kaduna, and there is no national outcry.

On the day of the Kaduna train attacks – we as a people were more concerned with the World cup qualifiers football match between Ghana and Nigeria in Abuja – no blackarm bands on the players nor a minute’s silence to acknowledge the tragedy.

Someone asked me ‘why are you running for the governorship seat of Plateau State?’ and my swift response was – we need a governor who will not make sending verbal condemnations and condolences his default response to cases of insecurity – we need a governor who will not always hide behind the toga of not having control over the security apparatus in his State – using that age old excuse as a shield to hide his lack of capacity and imagination.

My campaign is hinged on NEW THINKING and BOLD IDEAS, because we need leaders who can creatively look at a problem and proffer reasonable, pragmatic and logical solutions, and have the wisdom, courage and firmness to implement the solutions, backed by the political will to see them through.

As it concerns insecurity, firstly governors need to take up the fight for devolution of powers instead of just leaving it for civic societies alone – establishment of regulated State police, who will be more effective given their local knowledge of the terrain should be top of the agenda.

States need to review its laws to ensure quick prosecution of criminal suspects and their local collaborators which will serve as a deterrence, as against the normal practice of suspects being ‘deported’ to their States of origin, from whence they are purportedly let loose in the name of ‘being rehabilitated’.

Strict implementation of anti-grazing laws backed by the establishment of ranches; as I stated earlier ‘take away the legitimate cattle herders from the forests and any groups of people left behind should be treated as criminals’.

Deployment of technology via the establishment of drone surveillance command posts at known ‘at-risk’ entry points to the State, supported by a network of informants in different villages armed with satellite radios/phones to report suspicious movements and ongoing attacks; this information will help security agencies deploy more effectively and precisely respond to threats. We have companies like Aerial Response Solutions (ARS) and Magenta security systems that can be approached for this.

Establish a network of trained local vigilante and hunters who will provide operational support and local guidance to the police and military units present in the State.

In addition to these, we need to make a deliberate policy and effort to re-settle displaced persons in their ancestral lands and create security awareness by establishing compulsory security clubs in all secondary and tertiary institutions, and churches/mosques.

Lastly, we cannot separate the prevalence insecurity from the level of poverty we see in the land. An economy in comatose provides a fertile ground for recruitment of ground ‘soldiers’ into a life of terrorism. And more critically – internal collaborators who for the proverbial 30 pieces of silver will sell-out their neighbours.

Still in the spirit of Easter, it is tempting to focus on the incompetence of our current leadership, who acting as Judas did many years ago, have betrayed us and failed to provide a safe and secure environment, let us however look beyond this and focus on the hope we know came at resurrection, by constantly reminding ourselves that with our PVC’s we are empowered to bring about the NEW PLATEAU and the NEW NIGERIA we all yearn for.

Alfred Ali Damiyal Dapal

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A world in transition: NEW THINKING NEEDED FOR A NEW PLATEAU