Q and A With Reuben Abati

Courtesy: NigeriaVillageSquare.com

First of monthly round-table discussions with Dr. Reuben Abati, the Media and Communications Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Interview conducted on Sunday Feb.12, 2012

NVS: We have a few questions that have been submitted by members of the Nigeria Village Square

Abati: No problem.

Boko Haram and National Security

NVS: Ok Good day Dr. Abati, the first series of questions is on Boko Haram and security. How is the president planning to solve the internal security question; Boko Haram, police brutality, kidnapping and armed robbery, rape and pedophilia?

Abati: Well there is a lot in that question but let me just say this. 1. The President has made it very clear that his administration is committed to the rule of law and guaranteeing the security of lives and properties and general welfare of the people. In other words, that means and he is committed to providing security for the people of Nigeria. In several interviews, he has taken on many of these issues you just isolated.

On Boko Haram, and other crimes, the President has made it very clear that 1. the security agencies will be empowered to do their work, to be more efficient, that the security architecture of the country will be improved; full training, provision of equipments and also the strengthening of the internal processes of the various agencies.

And you can see what has been done for example, with the change in the leadership of the police and what has been done in terms of providing better equipments for the various security agencies. And also, the efforts that the various security agencies have been making to tackle the Boko Haram challenge.

I know that Nigerians are very concerned about what has been happening particularly with regards to Boko Haram but in the last few weeks, the security agencies have made a lot of progress in terms of arresting some of the chieftains of the Boko Haram and also in terms of getting quality information with which they were able to make a lot arrests and at the moment it is very clear that there has been a lot of improvements in the response of the security agencies.

However, the president has made it clear that the use of force or the use of the security agencies is not the only way to solve the problem, he believes that the challenge of boko haram and other forms of crimes in society is a collective responsibility that can also be addressed at a community level and to this end, he has been meeting with various stakeholders, leaders of thought, community leaders, traditional rulers, soliciting their support to the extent that the people that are engaged in crime are not ghosts but human beings who live in communities; people know them and its only people that can assist the security agencies with information. He believes that very strongly that mobilizing the people of Nigeria to support the government to fight crime will be a major step forward in tackling the challenges.

The third point the President has also made repeatedly is that there is an economic dimension to any form of crime that we may have whether it is boko haram or armed robbery or kidnapping, and that his administration is committed to providing an enabling environment for people to realize their potentials and to have jobs. In this regard, the emphasis is on job creation and many of efforts have been made in the last 6 months particularly in agriculture and by the ministry of finance in collaboration with the various state governments. These efforts have been targeted at creating jobs, at mobilizing Nigerian youths to see them more constructively engaged.

The fourth level of intervention that the President has focused on and that the administration is working on is also to place a greater emphasis on the education of the youths; because he believes that if the people are properly educated and you create opportunities for them, then of course, there will be fewer people to be recruited to engage in crime. He is however aware of the fact that the magnitude of the problem is big and that the problems were not created yesterday. But the government is determined to make sure that it continues to make a difference and this can only come about with the FG playing its part; the state government playing its part and also even the local councils and then the people.

NVS: I will like you to answer the question regarding police brutality because there is this video on Al-Jazeera on YouTube that shows suspected Boko Haram members being assassinated by our very own members of the Nigeria Police that are supposed to be protecting citizens and due process was not followed. This video is all over YouTube and we see the images of these police officers that are responsible for the gruesome murder of Nigerian citizens without due process.

Abati: This is an old issue!

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