By Bamidele Akinola Ogundana
The Nigerian security situation has been described by experts as self-inflicted. This is because most of challenges the country presently faces, security-wise are not caused by outsiders but brought upon the nation by her citizens either out of greed or perceived inequity in distribution of dividends of good leadership.
When citizens take up arms to sabotage or pilfer critical assets of the country, it becomes more dangerous because few would be willing to give information if they know that they will benefit from the pilferage.
When enemy within attacks, it is easy for such people to mix with the society more so when what is involved is the common wealth and some people believe they can get away with stealing chunks of it.
Every society, however sophisticated and well-policed have to deal with deviants who believe that crime pays.
Perhaps it was this that prompted the creation of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps as the country’s chief protectors of critical assets.
These critical assets include rail tracks, pipelines and crude oil and other refinery-related installations, electricity installations, Farms, mineral resources deposits also also come under critical assets.
For years, especially since around 2005 when the legal framework for the operations of the NSCDC, the Corps virtually struggled to put its feet on the ground. Not just that the resources were not available, the leadership then, as it were were simply overwhelmed.
This perhaps explains the sudden spring into national consciousness under the leadership of Ahmed Abubakar Audi.
Coming in with a high cerebral academic pedigree, Audi stood metres above the earlier Commandant Generals. He was already a successful academic even before being appointed as the head of the NSCDC. His ‘bookish’ background was not just a rise or for clout. Buoyed with academic research, presentation and papers in Peace and Conflict Studies Audi looked like a good pick at his appointment.
Perhaps more importantly was the fact that he had served in virtually all critical departments of the Corps, having joined at its inception. Among all the other CGs this set him apart. Many cut their teeth in other professions and ended up joining the organization at management level. The challenge of transforming the organization and giving it a vision based on its core mandate was what Audi inherited.
Ahmed Abubakar Audi was named as the substantive Commandant General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC in September 2021 by the then President, Muhammadu Buhari.
Audi, born in 1967, same year the Civil Defence was first introduced to the country by then military government succeeded Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu who was proceeding to retirement.
According to reports surrounding his nomination and appointment, ‘Ahmed Audi emerged as the top best candidate out of those that went through the transparent selection process initiated by the Ministry of Interior through the Board to ensure that the most suitable among the top-ranking officers in the service was appointed to replace the then Commandant-General of the NSCDC.
Putting in place structures
Audi’s task in the last four years have involved reorienting the Corps towards holistically embracing their core mandate and making them realize that they are a part of a whole despite being distinct.
Through the evolution of critical departments, he has been able to design tailor-made teams to combat the issues that bear on this core mandate.
The first key adopted by Ahmed Audi was training. Given his love for teaching and general impartation of knowledge, he put in place a system that set out to change the orientation of the men and officers of NSCDC. With a streamlined system of recruitment, promotion and payment of enhanced salaries, officers now know that much is expected of them. Civil Defence is no longer an all comers affair. You need a certain level of reorientation once you are employed and given the pay you receive, and the commitment of the government to paying you regularly and promoting you as at when due, you are under obligation to show yourself as a ‘Defender’ of the nation’s critical assets.
After changing the orientation of the rank and file, specific new departments have been created to tackle long-standing national challenges that have bedevilled national assets.
One of the first to be tackled was the issue of bandits and kidnappers attacking schools especially in parts of the North. The CG put on in place a well-trained, counter-terrorism team under the Safe Schools Initiative. The team consisted essentially of female members of the Civil Defence Corps. After undergoing gruelling training, they were deployed to areas most vulnerable.
There is no doubt that since the deployment of the crack team, working IN conjunction with other security agencies, as well as using active intelligence, incidences of bandits raiding schools have been drastically contained.
Prior to the challenges posed by abduction of school children, one major issue Nigeria had battled with little success was the stealing of crude oil. Vandals who burst pipelines and steal crude as well as process same are Nigerians. And they operate under the most discreet environment because of the nature of their nefarious act.
Containing them under Ahmed Audi, has been a rough but fruitful effort.
Sometime in 2022, the Commandant General was forced to come out and confess that some of his men were colluding with bunkerers. Based on this he rejigged his team, established the NSCDC Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad which has since been up and doing.
The team, imbued with the NSCDC Commandant General’s unwavering determination has been at the vanguard in waging continuous war against illegal dealings in petroleum products, oil theft, vandalism of oil pipelines and all forms of economic sabotage. The CG’s SIS has dismantled over 700 illegal bunkering sites while hundreds of suspects have been arrested and prosecuted in the court of competent jurisdiction. Working hand in hand with other security agencies to raise the quantity of crude tye country presently exports by cutting off pilferage.
Another area the NSCDC under Audi has recorded great success through direct intervention is policing the mineral resources of the country. With the establishment of Mining Rangers, the Corps has been able to take the battle to illegal miners.
This much the Commandant General confirmed recently when he revealed that ‘over 300 suspects have been arrested and over 200 mining sites recovered from illegal miners and bandits’ as at November this year.
The NSCDC boss who disclosed this at the passing out parade of the 3rd batch of the NSCDC Mining Marshals at the National Headquarters in Abuja recently also recalled that the mining Marshalls codenamed Operation Hayakin Logo were commissioned to provide safety and security for the mining industry and effect arrest of economic saboteurs.
The effect of their operations could be assessed by the regularity in which illegal miners, many of them foreign are arrested these days.
When we realize what Petroleum and mining sectors mean for the Nigerian economy, the success of these specialized units cannot be overemphasized.
Another critical area NSCDC men have been involved in policing the nation’s rails. Reports reveal that hundreds of millions of Naira were being lost to criminals who steal rail slippers and resell them. Thousands have been recovered and culprits prosecuted all in a bid to make the crime unattractive. Same also goes for those who steal electricity cables, with this posing a major challenge in recent times. In the course of policing this, the NSCDC is believed to have gone an extra mile leading to some of its men paying the ultimate price in defending the nation’s critical assets.
One of the specially trained units handed over to the Commandant General when he took over was the Agro Rangers. They have been seriously imbued with strategies to keep off marauders from farms with the objective of ensuring that the farmers enjoy a peaceful environment as they go about their normal duties. The strategic importance of this set of specialized unit cannot be overemphasized given the challenges the country have faced from bandits and terrorists over the years. Sources with the NSCDC revealed that the numbers of the Agro Rangers have been increased with growing consciousness of what they have to offer to ensure that farms, farmers and their products are secure. Most of the agrarian states up North now have them as a backup to their farming activities.
With a fully motivated Corps, who get promoted as at when due, enhanced salaries and other emoluments, Audi has driven the NSCDC to arguably some of its best performances since it was created. Building an organization where men naturally do the needful, perform to their optimum takes time, just like a journey of a thousand miles.
Ultimately, an efficient and committed Civil Defence Corps is a major asset to the country at large. If Nigeria can overcome the major challenges surrounding its critical assets, it translates to more revenue from the oil sector, mineral sector, an agricultural sector without fears of bandits and terrorists and unvandalized electricity cables, rail slippers. What a better country this would be.
Bamidele Akinola Ogundana
