The sophistication of the 21st century crime methods require that surveillance and intelligence gathering be deployed as some of the convoluted procedures that law enforcement agencies must adopt to tackle security challenges. These techniques help them gather sufficient information to prevent a crime that is yet to be committed, intervene in one that is being committed or investigate a crime that has been committed.
Faced by security challenges of monumental proportion when he took office in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari, as a former member of the armed forces himself, knew that the only way to gain quick wins in the war against insurgency in the Northeast, herders/farmers clashes in the North Central and other crimes was to shop for a season professional who is vested in the culture of intelligence gathering and surveillance.
Thus, when on July 13, 2015 he announced the appointment of Major General Muhammed Babagana Mungonu (rtd) as National Security Adviser (NSA), not many Nigerians had an iota of doubt concerning his ability to tackle the insecurity that was ravaging the land at the time.
About four years ago before his assumption of office, not only was the dreaded Boko Haram sect holding or controlling some local governments in Nigeria and had their flags hoisted, other crimes such as kidnapping, armed robbery and herders-farmers crisis was at its boiling point.
Evidence, it is said, is the end of argument. It was incontrovertible that Gen Mongonu’s track records in service and experience in the intelligence community should ordinarily associate him with excellence. Aptly described as a square peg in a square hole by those familiar with his pedigree, General Monguno leveraged on the depth of his knowledge as an astute soldier and former Chief of Nigeria’s Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) to ambush the hydra-headed security challenges that welcomed him in 2015.
Having held sway as the nation’s security chief for almost four and half years now, one can conveniently look back and say he has not done badly. From the daily bloodshed by heartless terrorists, occasioned by farmers-herders clashes, to an era where Nigerians have practically forgotten that once upon a time they were daily confronted with the menace of the losse of their loved ones, which was no longer a phantasmagoria but a pain in the throat of every Nigerian.
Plateau State that was once a tale of sorrow, tears and blood before Gen Monguno’s appointment is no longer in the news for the wrong reasons. Normal life has since returned to the once troubled state. The farmers and herdsmen, who were hitherto at each other’s throat, are now each other’s keeper. The intermittent ethno-religious violence on the Plateau did not disappear miraculously. It was the magic wand of NSA Monguno that changed the game.
The last vestige of Boko Haram-held territory in Borno State was liberated not up to a year after Gen Monguno assumed office. Since then, government has turned its attention to reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation of the Northeast with the establishment of the North East Development Commission.
The kidnapping that reached its peak, especially along Kaduna-Abuja road, which almost became a national embarrassment bowed to Gen Monguno’s intelligence gathering acumen. This led to a permanent solution to the kidnapping on that road.
Before Gen Monguno came on board as the NSA, funds allocated to the office of the NSA were seen as a share of the ‘national cake’. Gen Monguno brought to bear the best known culture of probity, transparency and accountability in management of security allocations. As a man born, bred and nurtured in the culture of contentment, Monguno, throughout his record of service, has never been associated with corrupt enrichment.
He is a man who talks and does not fail. For instance, following the apprehension that trailed the run-up to the last general election, he promised the security of lives and properties before, during and after the elections. He kept his promise. No major untoward incidence of violence was recorded. The election was adjudged to be the most peaceful only after the June 12, 1993 election.
As Richard Paul Evans said, “Broken promises are like broken mirrors. They leave those who held to them bleeding and staring at fractured images of themselves.” This explains why Gen Monguno, a true soldier, will not break his promise. His second pledge to Nigerians before the last general election was to ensure the neutrality of security agencies. He delivered as expected, as Nigerians, irrespective of political leanings, were free to express their God-given political right without intimidation.
Despite the non-negotiable need for pursuit of national security, Gen Mongonu has brought to bear the culture of tolerance of social norms like protests. We have seen people threatening fire and brimstone without arrest. We have seen people calling for revolution, a treasonable offence, granted bail and court orders obeyed.
If security is what it is – freedom from, or resilience against, potential harm or other unwanted coercive change caused by others – Gen Mongonu is doing, at its best, more than what security czars in other parts of the world should do. His performance so far has surpassed those of Robert O’Brien of the United States and Sir Mark Sedwill of the United Kingdom because of the magnitude of internal crisis he has been able to contain and the peace he has restored.
For those of us who travel around the world, visiting the offices of National Security Advisers in other countries, especially world powers like the United States and Russia, have assessed and made our findings that the office of Nigeria’s NSA is the best and most vibrant. This is so when taken into cognizance the fact that security in nascent democratic states like Nigeria is not a child’s play. Because of the complexities and arrays of human right conventions, mischief makers can take advantage of these right laws to ferment trouble. Despite that, Gen Monguno has been able to put Nigeria on the map of democratic states that are upholding fundamental human rights irrespective of provocations.
All that is required from Nigerians is to support this fine personality to carry on his good work for the security architecture of Nigeria. He has done a lot, but a lot more still remains to be done. Security is dynamic; it changes all the time. Gen Monguno must be given all the encouragement he needs to continue to respond to the changing dynamics in security management.
Destructive criticisms are not all that is needed at this juncture. Useful or constructive criticisms will go a long way in improving our coverage of the country. As President Buhari said during his military leadership era, Nigeria has no other country to call their own. We must salvage our country together.
– Ibrahim is Director Communication and Strategic Planning of the Presidential Support Committee
