Expert seeks more funding for military, others

A security expert, Dr Saddiq Hassan, on Sunday advised the Federal Government to increase the funding of the military and other security agencies, to enhance their performance.

Hassan, Managing Director, Hassino Security Strategic-Consult Ltd, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He said that improved funding of security agencies had become imperative in view of the security challenges facing the country at the moment.

The expert said that with improved finding , the nation’s military and other security agencies would function optimally.

Hassan also called for training and retraining of personnel to sharpen their competences and improve their capabilities.

According to him ,training of personnel together with improved intelligence gathering and information sharing, will go a long way in tackling the myriads of security challenges currently plaguing the country.

”This is required especially in the north-east, north-west, north-central, south-east and other parts of the country.

“Therefore, intelligence gathering, information sharing, training and re-training of personnel with the requisite equipment,are key in military operations and successes ” he said.

Hassan urged the government to better the welfare of police personnel and recruit more hands to strengthen internal security.

“Over time, they(police) have been underfunded with poor salaries,poor housing and inadequate modern equipment. This is not encouraging at all.

“If you look at Egypt, whose population is not by any means close to Nigeria’s population, they have about a million police officers, while we have less than 500,000 officers for a population of over 200 milion.

“ So, compare the population of both countries, you will discover that police need more manpower to function optimally.”,he said.

Hassan said that improved funding of police would reduce the crime rate in the country.

On the general elections in 2023,the expert said though the country had been faced with serious security challenges in recent times, he did not see it as a threat to the elections.

“I see the forthcoming election as the normal exercise that takes place every four years and as usual, the Federal Government will always do the needful, by deploying security personnel for a peaceful process.

“However, I would advise the government to deploy more security personnel to maintain peace before, during and even after the elections especially now that the security of the country is under threat”,he said.