Nigeria Urgently Needs New Approach To Tackle Insecurity - Amnesty International

Human rights organisation Amnesty International says Nigeria needs to urgently find a new approach and alternative if it must address the many security challenges facing the country.

Osai Ojiaho, Director, Amnesty International, National office, Nigeria, said the country needs an inclusive approach that must serve everyone's interest and “not just a selected few”.

The director said this recently at an Executive Roundtable on the Intersection of National Security and Civic space in Nigeria organized by Whiteink Institute for Strategy Education and Research (WISER) in conjunction with Open Society institute for West Africa (OSIWA) held in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to her, national security is all about safety and access to opportunities regardless of religion, gender, sector, and statutes.

She added that the civic space encompasses all actors who are engaged in interrogating or providing platforms for the voices of everyone represented within the territory.

She also reminded everyone that 2021 marks the 16th consecutive year of decline in global freedom with an increase of insecurity all over the world.

In his opening remarks, the Founder of WISER, Brig-Gen Saleh Bala stated that the importance of the civic space and its promotion by the equally active organized civil society is increasing in relevance as a rightful medium for individual and group expression, as well as a rightful medium of agitations for good government at all levels of society.

He said that the nuances in the definitions and manifestations of civil actions as in protests, demonstrations, riots, work to rules, insurrection, separatisms, and insurgencies, and the ways and means of expression by their proponents are increasingly becoming blurry.

In his keynote address, the special guest of honour, Mallam Lawal Batagarawa, a former Minister for Education and Former Minister of State Defence noted that there must be a limit to liberty.

He said liberties should not be allowed to surpass the interest of the greater society, stating his belief that liberty should be checked and levels of liberty should be clearly defined.

Mallam Lawal noted that it is impossible to talk about security and the intersection of security into civic liberty without defining some basic intellectual concepts.

Lt. Gen. (RTD) Bello Dambazau, former Minister of Interior and Chief of Army Staff, Nigerian Army, said National security should be people-oriented or people-centered.

Continuing, he said the civic space is an imaginary space occupied by the civil society actors, which includes, the media, civil society organizations, NGOs, trade organizations, and others.