By Tayo Ogunbiyi
Public security is the function of governments which ensures the protection of citizens, organisations and institutions against threats to their well-being and to the prosperity of their communities. Of late, there has been a pervasive concern over the state of security in Lagos State. Pockets of incidents of traffic and robbery cases across the state have heightened fears over security in the state. Unfortunately, it will be an arduous task to extricate the insecurity in the land from the socio-economic challenges that we currently face as a nation.
Nigeria’s growing unemployment rate is of major concern. Official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) put this figure at about 20 per cent (about 30 million). But this does not actually include about 40 million other Nigerian youths captured in World Bank statistics in 2009. By implication, it means that 50 per cent of Nigerians are unemployed.
It is, therefore, imperative that concerted efforts are made by the federal government to fix the economy. A cursory look at apprehended criminals, of late, will reveal that most of them are unemployed people, especially artisans whose businesses have been crippled by the energy crisis in the country. The most systematic approach to reducing crime in any society is through the provision of an enabling environment for entrepreneurship to thrive and catalyse employment generation.
The current security situation in Lagos has connection with the present economic downturn in the country. By 2016, unless a miracle occurs, a greater percentage of the states in the country may not be able to pay workers’ wages, not to talk of embarking on development projects. Few self-sustaining states like Lagos may have to really brace up, as more pressure would be exerted on their socio-economic potentials. This is exactly what Lagos is currently experiencing. A recent data reveals that over 25,000 people move into Lagos on a daily basis from several parts of the country for various reasons. This is aside hundreds of others that daily troop into the state from neighbouring West African countries. Sadly, when their aspiration for economic salvation becomes a mirage, most of them readily take to criminality.
Despite that security remains the exclusive preserve of the federal government, as it controls all security agencies, the Lagos State government has continued to invest heavily in security. In the last 15 years, for example, the state has invested billions of naira in the state police command and other security organs in the state.
One of the earliest tasks of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was to meet with individuals and corporate organisations that made commitments of over N1 billion in cash and kind towards advancing the cause of a safer Lagos. Consequently, 10 new Hilux vehicles and 15 motorbikes were handed over to the Lagos State Police Command as part of the state government’s commitment to ensure a secured and investor-friendly state. Likewise, 100 new power bikes, 10 armoured tanks and a helicopter have been acquired by the state government to reinforce the security of the state. This is in addition to the purchase of 100 new squad cars for a new initiative tagged Special Operation Service (SOS), which will harmonise community policing in partnership with the Rapid Response Squad (RRS).
To properly address the security question in the state, we need to tackle the contentious issue of state police. No matter how much a state government spends on security, the reality is that it has no direct control over any of the national security organs. The current centralised police structure in the country will continue to limit the capacity of states to effectively address security issues. Nigeria is too large and complex to be policed centrally. In an ideal federal system, the issue of state police should not be a contentious matter. To enhance security in the country, the issue of state police must be urgently addressed.
Equally related to this is the issue of according Lagos a special status. The special position of Lagos as the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, and indeed West Africa, has its peculiar infrastructure and security challenges. Its sheer human density driven by an increasing population due to endless survival and economic-driven immigration, its ports and waterways, its border with Benin Republic, its high concentration of banks, industries, companies, and other commercial enterprises make it a very complex state to govern.
When the federal capital was moved from Lagos to Abuja, there was a subsisting agreement that Lagos would not be abandoned. However, successive federal governments have refused to take a cue from countries which relocated their national capitals without abandoning infrastructure development of the former capitals. It is now time for Nigeria to imitate Germany, Brazil, Malaysia, Australia and Tanzania, which, after relocating their capitals, did not hold back developmental programmes in the former capitals. From 1954 to 1994, the capital of Germany was Bonn. It was moved to Berlin, following the endorsement of the ‘agreement of movement’ which spelt out the responsibilities of German government for the maintenance of the old capital and which it has been meeting conscientiously.
Also, Brazil moved its capital from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia. To date, all federal roads, buildings and other infrastructure in both cities are maintained simultaneously by the central government. Malaysia has also maintained two capitals. Its old capital, Kuala-Lampur, has been retained as the legislative capital, where the National Assembly operates. Its new capital, Putrajaya, which is the most computerised city in the world, is the administrative capital. In Australia, the old capital, Sidney, still enjoys special recognition. Although Canberra is the new capital, most activities of government, international conferences, party conventions and meetings still hold in the former capital city. The former capital of Tanzania is Dar-es-Salam. When Dodoma became the new capital, the old capital did not suffer neglect.
The federal government should take a cue from these examples by according Lagos a deserving special status. There is hardly any Nigerian that doesn’t have a stake in Lagos. According Lagos a special status remains a necessary blueprint for addressing the state’s security and infrastructure concerns. It should, however, be noted that an effective public security cannot be obtained without the active involvement, participation and support of every segment of the society because public security is the responsibility of all individuals, groups, communities, organisations and other units that constitute the state. In as much as everyone in a state pursues varied interests, the pursuit of public security should, nevertheless, be the common goal of all. The involvement and participation of individuals and non-governmental actors in the issues of public security is, therefore, a necessity for the actualisation of a secured society.
• Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.
