My administration will protect Nigeria and Nigerians. We will work hard to stem the spate of violent crimes in our country. Cases of mobbing, armed robbery, unlawful killing, lynching, rape etc. will be handled expeditiously and those found guilty severely punished.
We will work with our security agencies to assure security of life and safety of property in Nigeria. We will invest heavily in equipment and training for our security agencies and ensure probity and accountability is restored to their leadership.
We will strengthen our military, navy, police, prison services, air force, civil defence, road safety commission and every security agency entrusted with the safety of people and property in Nigeria. CCTV will be used widely to monitor criminal activities throughout our communities so as to keep our people and our property safe.
We will deal wisely and firmly with those who seek to endanger us or our visitors and friends. We will expand and develop our armaments, provide training for our security forces and agencies, ensure they are properly remunerated, and make sure that they are each committed to keeping us safe, and together as one strong indivisible country.
We will stop at nothing to deter aggression, and promote peace, however we will always use diplomacy and dialogue to confront security threats so as to ensure combat is our last resort.
The Police
The notion is that the police will fare better when it is brought under the control of each State is not entirely correct. I believe that the reason the Nigerian Police has failed our people is very complex, but making them State controlled will not solve the problem. On the contrary, making sure each member of the police force is educated up to Secondary School level, making sure each understands the duty to protect every citizen, making sure they are all adequately remunerated, making sure they all receive comprehensive training on their duties to one another and to the rest of the country, making sure they understand that much as they are required to obey their superiors, they are also constitutionally allowed to say no – when they are instructed to commit crimes in their capacities as police officers.
We will improve the conditions of service for each police officer. We will undertake an upward review of their salaries and concessions. We will provide proper training and equipment, and we will install a technology based salary paying scheme for every police officer in Nigeria.
We will also ensure the members of the police force chosen to lead the force will be men and women of undisputed integrity who have shown outstanding service to the force and to every Nigerian in their careers.
The Army
The Nigerian Military is known and revered globally for the quality of foot soldiers we deploy for peace keeping missions. Our soldiers are considered the most gallant of all in peace keeping operations in neighbouring countries. In the fight against terrorism in Nigeria we see them give up their lives without flinching for the good of all of us. They deserve our respect, and we salute them.
I’m however aware that our Military has been deployed against our people by those in charge of our affairs for the sole purpose of keeping us quite when we have had cause to speak. We therefore propose to look critically at the leadership of our Military, so that while we provide the necessary training and equipment to help them stay safe while they look out for us, we will ensure that only patriotic gallant officers truly united in the effort to help Nigeria grow, are allowed to control and direct our Military.
The Navy
I am of the view that our navy is hardly properly utilised. We will not look to build war ships right away, however our seaways need to be secure. Cases of pirates taking control of vessels which are near or on our shores deserve immediate response, so we will invest in our navy to bring it to the point where it can rapidly respond to cases of emergency on our waters. In situations of attack on, or through our seas, a prepared navy is of immense benefit for the welfare of our country.
The Airforce
We will invest in our Airforce and bring them to internationally competitive standards. Protecting our air space is an important task which is impossible in the face of low quality equipment and poorly trained personnel.
We will ensure our Airforce personnel receive regular up to date training so as to be able to serve when called upon to so do.
The Prison Service
Our prisons are mostly unfit for purpose. I propose firstly to overhaul the entire prison service. Put men and women of integrity in charge of our prisons, review the cases of all the inmates in all the prisons in Nigeria. Demand the immediate release of all inmates who have awaited trial longer than the maximum possible term they would have served, and issue apologies to them on behalf of all of us.
My administration will demand immediate and speedy trial of all the others who were remanded pending a decision on their cases by all courts in whose jurisdictions their matters are being heard. Where a guilty verdict is handed down, the period of detention will be deducted from the period for which they must remain in custody. And for those who receive not guilty verdicts, apologise for the wrongs we have inflicted upon them, offer reasonable compensation and assistance to reintegrate into society without stigma.
We will ensure measures are put in place to rehabilitate incarcerated offenders, help them return to safe communities where they are forgiven and welcome, help them get back to appropriate work, and help them become better versions of themselves for their benefit and for the benefit of society at large.
Terrorist Groups
I am committed to the fight against terrorism in Nigeria. I have zero tolerance for members and propagators of Boko Haram, or other terrorist groups and their affiliates. We will fight them, and we will prevent other groups from emerging in their place.
The recent spate of violence involving Fulani Herdsmen is a serious national concern. There is no reason any of us will forcefully take control of land belonging to others for the purpose of feeding our herds, or for any other purpose for that matter. This is a breach of our constitutionally enshrined right to own land anywhere in Nigeria. There is certainly no justification for the mass killings undertaken by these Herdsmen in their bid to secure control of other people’s lands.
My administration will implement emergency measures to ensure grazing lands are proportionately and fairly allocated to our herdsmen. We will ensure such lands are thoroughly irrigated so that grass will continually grow on them to feed the millions of animals our herdsmen grow for our consumption. In the interim, livestock feeds will be moved up north for the herdsmen to acquire at highly subsidised costs, so as to enable their livestock thrive while the irrigation and allocation of the grazing lands take place. These measures will completely eradicate the need for our herdsmen to move into private lands which belong to other people for the sole purpose of taking them over for grazing.
We will set up intelligence agencies to monitor and quickly stop groups which plan any massacres be they Fulani Herdsmen, or whatever other names they invent in the future. We will improve our intelligence capacities, implement appropriate measures and safeguards to detect terrorist activities before harm is perpetrated on our people. We will connect our intelligence community, with our law enforcement and ensure they are always prepared to deal effectively with the threats immediately they arise.
Separatist Groups
Regional agitations geared towards separating Nigeria has been part of our history from amalgamation, through independence, through Military Rule and even during our young democracy. It is not new to us, and I see why such movements receive the attention and support they get.
I am of the view that Nigeria belongs together. Any group therefore which seeks to divide us, by deliberately inciting others into violence, and deliberately causing agitation among our people for its own selfish purposes, will be dealt with appropriately.
Groups which seek to separate from Nigeria, must first and foremost ascertain they have the support of the majority of their community members. Where such can be firmly confirmed, they can bring their application to break away from Nigeria based on the people’s demand, and my administration will listen.
I believe that every part of Nigeria has the right to come together and in one voice demand to separate from the rest of Nigeria.
Where it is clearly a popular choice by the people within the communities seeking to separate from Nigeria, we will employ appropriate measures to ensure a peaceful and properly effected separation of such groups from the rest of Nigeria.
Unwarranted sectional agitations are unnecessary, therefore will ultimately lead to combat with our forces, which are tasked to protect life and property within the shores of Nigeria.