The National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) will be a key component of the solution as the House of Representatives has decided to involve it in revamping the country’s security protocols.
The Green Chamber has also decided to improve the incentives for those who risk their lives to protect the country by reviewing the welfare of members of the armed services and paramilitary groups.
The House adopted the resolution after Hon. Abdussamad Dasuki’s motion was made at Wednesday’s plenary session.
Dasuki, the motion’s proposer, stated that there are many security issues that Nigeria faces, such as terrorism, banditry, abduction, intercommunal conflicts, cybercrime, and general criminal activity that affects all areas and the lives of its residents.
He noted that in order to confront the serious decline in the country’s security, the 9th House formed a Special Committee on National Security on March 17, 2021.
Dasuki said that the committee, which was presided over by the former speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, was made up of seasoned lawmakers and subject-matter specialists who collaborated closely with pertinent security agencies to analyze the underlying causes of these problems and provide workable remedies.
According to the lawmaker, the Committee’s conclusions emphasized Nigeria’s security challenges, which include state-based militias, non-kinetic tactics, overlapping security institutions, professionalism issues, difficulties collaborating with other countries in the region, tensions between different ethnic and religious groups, inadequate border control, corruption, and environmental issues.
He voiced concern that in order to solve these security challenges, stop the further escalation of violence and instability in the region, and protect the lives and property of the people, vital and immediate interventions—as stated by the committee’s summit findings—are required.
“The 10th Assembly has discussed 103 security-related motions as of last Thursday, which means a lot,” he stated. That implies that we prioritize the safety of our constituents above everything else.
“I am bringing this motion back because it includes many suggestions that would benefit Nigeria as a whole, as we have seen with the other security-related motions we have seen today. The purpose of putting up this suggestion is to avoid wasting taxpayer funds once more, and I firmly feel that justice will be served when this report is presented to the 10th House of Representatives.
“And I think it will be much simpler to implement because the executive has never had it so good—that is, with members of the parliament supervising most of its executive functions.
“They understand the implications of holding a summit of this size, and the most crucial factor that, in my opinion, will enable us to expedite the report is the fact that the committee’s chairman was the Speaker at the time, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who is also an executive member.”
As a result, the House decided to read the report again and give its suggestions some thought. It was produced by the 9th House of Representatives Special Committee on National Security.
Additionally, it decided to “Adopt the report and take the necessary steps for the Executive to fully implement its recommendations.”
Include the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in the process of revamping the country’s security protocols and include it into the solutions.