At no other time in our history has the issue of security been brought so urgently to the front burners like now. The security of lives and properties of our people have been so wantonly violated; the very territorial integrity of our nation has been violated, and the scale of violence and crime that we could only imagine many years ago have become the daily reality that we live with.
The primary responsibility of any government is the protection of lives and properties of its citizens. The aggregate of several factors have made this task a lot more difficult in recent years. However, no government can hope to enjoy the trust and respect of its citizens as long as that government continues to fail in this all-important responsibility to its citizens. Indeed, security is the very essence of the social contract between the people and the government.
In seeking to tackle our security challenges, we have to embrace a holistic definition that enables us to see security as freedom: freedom from fear and freedom from want. This is the intention of Nigeria's 1999 Constitution when it states in Section 14(2B) that the security and welfare of the citizens shall be the primary purpose of government.
I completely align myself with this perspective, as I believe that poverty, deprivation, inequality and injustice remain potent threats to national security.
I intend to embark on a comprehensive Security Sector Reform, which will include among others, the long overdue governance challenges in these sectors, which limit their effectiveness. I am committed to ensuring that Nigeria's Security Institutions and agencies discharge their mandates in conformity with the rule of law, fundamental human rights, civil and liberties of Nigerian citizens. These are rights guaranteed in our constitution. I also believe that a bad and corrupt government is as much danger to national security as armed robbers, kidnappers and terrorists. Improving governance in all our institutions will be a major component of my Security Sector Reform.
No doubt, the biggest security challenge that we face today is that of terrorism in the hands of the so- called Boko Haram. Understandably, our response to this unprecedented threat to our national security has been characterized largely by the use of force. And let me commend our Armed Forces for the recent successes that we have recorded against the Boko Haram.
However, experience has shown that even as we step up military actions against these terrorists, we must also begin to explore other approaches that would bring a total and final end to insurgency in our country. My approach will be multidimensional, combining the use of force with robust assessments of the key drivers and ingredients of this insurgency, including proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons, the booming trade in narcotics, smuggling as well as other cross-border crimes. We must rebuild and strengthen our customs and immigration to make them more efficient in policing our borders, which are currently so porous, thereby allowing criminal gangs and terrorists to bring weapons into our country at will either for the purpose of terrorism or for other criminal activities, including oil bunkering in the Niger Delta, kidnapping in the South East or Armed Robbery in the South West. We must re-focus our foreign affairs relationship in a concentric circle, prioritizing our relationship with them, thereby ensuring that our neighboring countries do not provide safe havens to terrorists.
We must continuously engage, consult and cooperate with our neighbors, the entire West Africa sub-regional and the international community on matters of security. Let me take this opportunity to thank Chad, Niger and Cameroon in their ongoing efforts to assist the Nigerian troops in combating the Boko Haram Insurgency.
However, no matter what we do, we must ensure that the kind of disgraceful experience we have had in the last couple of months does not ever happen again. We must ensure that the military is always equipped and ready. I find it personally embarrassing to see that a band of thugs and terrorists were better equipped and better motivated than our military. Under my government, this will never be allowed to happen. We will equip our military and we will provide the right incentives to give their very best in defense of their fatherland.
We will also ensure a refocus of our internal security infrastructure. The Police and the Department of State Security (SSS), must be re-oriented to focus less on regime security and more on citizens security. They must always remain professional and above politics. This is the only way to win the confidence of Nigerian citizens. We will ensure that these two institutions, along with other such agencies are aligned to function together under a new security architecture that guarantees TOTAL security for our country.
In conclusion, I will like to emphasize that the TOTAL security concept will touch directly on improving the quality of lives for our people, expanding opportunities and reducing inequalities. Even if we have the best Military and Police in the world, we would not be able to guarantee security in our country as long as 53 per cent of our youths remain unemployed and 70 per cent of our people continue to live below the poverty line. These are all the issues that my party, the APC and myself are committed to. It is along this line that we have promised a "Marshall Plan" for the North East of Nigeria as the best guarantee of ensuring that never again will our country experience the kind of human tragedy that is currently going on in that part of the country.
I thank all of you once again for coming here today. I am confident that with God on our side, we can make our country safe and great again.
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR
APC Presidential Candidate
APC Presidential Candidate
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