THE recent announcement by the Minister of Transport, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, to the effect that an Israeli firm had been commissioned to secure and patrol Nigeria’s territorial waters was, to put it mildly, alarming. Observers are left wondering what actually happened to the Nigerian Navy that it can no longer perform a major part of its statutory functions.
Part of the reasons given by the minister was the rising wave of crime on the high seas by all sorts of felons ranging from oil thieves to kidnappers. But ideally, the crime wave should be within the capacity of the Nigerian Navy to contain and apprehend without subjecting the country’s sovereignty to another country. Why would the Federal Government decide to contract the security of the nation’s territorial waters to a foreign firm? Is the rising wave of crime on the high seas really too overwhelming for the Nigerian Navy to handle? If the safety or security of the country will have to depend on the expertise of a foreign firm or country, how does that impact on Nigeria’s sovereignty without necessarily compromising it?
We recall that the immediate past administration, at a point, contracted the security of the territorial waters to former militants as a form of patronage. But odd as this was then, it could still be understood since the major criminalities on the high seas arguably were within the purview of the militants and the terrain under discussion is without doubt familiar to them. If the former administration was pilloried for contracting the patrol and surveillance of the country’s territorial waters to the militants for patronage, is contracting the same job to entire foreigners now justifiable? The Israeli outfit that has been commissioned may take time to familiarise itself with the terrain with which the Nigerian Navy arguably is already familiar to do an acceptable job.
It probably might have been understandable if the Israeli outfit was engaged to offer its services in training the officers and men of the Nigerian Navy even though Israel is landlocked. It is hurting to the national pride for the country’s territorial waters to be patrolled and secured by a foreign country when the Nigerian Navy should be able to do the job. After all, that is its statutory role. The implication is that any of the country’s security agencies like the police, Army and Civil Defence may have their duties eventually consigned to a foreign outfit on account of the rising wave of criminalities that may be considered too overwhelming for them to handle.
Ideally, the Nigerian Navy should develop the capacity to secure the integrity of the country’s territorial waters and the defence should be locally sourced because anything short of that will be compromising the Nigerian sovereignty, which is totally unacceptable to any self-respecting country. This is even without considering the cost of the whole enterprise against the backdrop of the country’s lean purse. Obviously, this commission may not be reversible but the contract must not be renewed once it expires. The idea of commissioning the security of the country to foreign firms is quite odd and we are disturbed that it sailed through all the checkpoints of the executive decision making process.
The proper thing for the country is for all of its security agencies to be self-sufficient even if they may occasionally collaborate with other countries during foreign missions. That is different from having foreign outfits in the country doing local jobs on the flimsy excuse that the security agencies billed for the job are overwhelmed or that they lack the capacity to do it. Ideally, the security agencies must be adequately equipped to cope with their statutory duties and responsibilities at all times. That is real governance.
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