A security expert, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, has described the proposed security as a good initiative but with little chance of solving Nigeria’s insecurity challenges. He argued that the summit would not achieve the desired result because it will be hijacked by the same politicians, who created the problem in the first place.
Waxing philosophical, he said a new broom sweeps better but it doesn’t know every corner of the house. In an exclusive chat, Ekhomu said: “My fear is that it won’t amount to much. What I mean by that is that knowing the Nigerian character, they will just call politicians like themselves. They will talk to themselves, vote a lot of money, which they will pocket and that will be the end of the matter.
“It is not going to deal with the actual issues because there is a knowledge deficit. If you want to do a security summit, you get security experts to do it, not government officials who got wherever they are because of their political connections.
“You need people who are knowledgeable about security matters. This is why the western world grows faster than us. When they have a problem, they look for talent wherever it is hiding. In our place, when we have a problem, we will call the same people that caused the problem to come and give a solution. What kind of solution do they have to give?
“They have the authority, but there is a problem to be solved. For example, if you are sick, you go to the doctor for treatment or cure. You can’t say because you have the money you will cure yourself. When you are sick, you go to a doctor whether you are richer than the doctor or not. You submit yourself to the doctor to treat you. That is the same thing here.
“We have security malaise so we should call security experts, not government people who caused the malaise because of inefficiency and ineffectiveness. It is like asking the owner of the problem to solve it.”
