With kidnapping arguably our biggest headache in Nigeria at the moment, the president needs to announce drastic measures like this on Independence Day tomorrow to combat the scourge

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Nigeria’s army was created by our former colonial masters along identical lines to the British Army with the primary task of protecting the country from external threats. Well, the reality is that unlike European powers such as Britain, France, Germany, Spain, the Ottoman Empire, Czarist Russia, Italy, etc, 90% of Nigeria’s security challenges are internal. We will thus restructure the Nigerian Army to reflect that reality

[2] A bill will be passed by the National Assembly compelling all intelligence agencies to publish details of any politician, monarch or publicly exposed person on whom they have information that he could be a sponsor of terrorists, bandits, kidnappers or hoodlums

[3] Fulani herdsmen’s body the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and all its splinter groups must be declared terrorist organisations

[4] Divisional police officers will be given the mandate to arrest everyone who is still in possession of an AK47 as from October 2 2025

[5] Mobile courts will be established to try hoodlums in forests

[6] Nigerian Army units will be deployed to schools across northern Nigeria to offer protection against kidnapping

[7] We will initiate a process of fencing our borders. As part of this programme, the Nigerian Army will be deployed along our northern border to address the matter of gun smuggling

[8] Nigeria’s federal government will ask international military organisations like Nato to provide us with intelligence and surveillance data and video footage on all terrorist activities in their possession

[9] Nigeria currently has a police-to-citizens ratio of 35 to 100,000 inhabitants. A major recruitment drive must be initiated to increase this to the United Nations average of 300 police officers per 100,000 inhabitants. We are in a serious deficit at the moment, leaving the force hopelessly overwhelmed

[10] Nigeria’s federal government will initiate plans to launch dedicated anti-terror and elite commando units in both the Nigeria Police Force and the three arms of the military services to tackle this pandemic head-on

ayoakinfe@gmail.com