A public affairs analyst and House of Representatives aspirant under the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Dickson Ihoegbu, has claimed that insecurity in Nigeria has become a lucrative enterprise for some individuals in positions of authority, insisting that defence expenditure should be subjected to stronger public scrutiny.
Speaking during a discussion on security and accountability on ARISE Television on Friday, Ihoegbu rejected calls for secrecy around security spending, arguing that transparency is essential to addressing the country’s prolonged security challenges.
“Of course there should be scrutiny of defence expenditure. The thought about shielding security issues and all of that is a wrong one. It should be well scrutinised. It’s a business.
“Security in Nigeria is a business for those in high places. Clearly. If not, why are we since 2019, uh, 2009, how come we’ve not been able to nip this in the bud?” he quizzed.
When challenged to provide evidence for his claim, Ihoegbu pointed to ongoing debates over oversight of defence spending, arguing that resistance to scrutiny raises questions about accountability.
“The debate you just talked about!”
He maintained that Nigeria’s security crisis is not primarily due to inadequate funding but to a lack of political will, insisting that leaders must be held accountable for worsening insecurity.
“It’s the absence of political will. It’s as simple as that. As where we are now, it’s not about being an aspirant of that political party, I’m a Nigerian first. We are all Nigerians. Look at that gory narrative that we just got here.
The happenings in Nigeria should call for our collective involvement in the demand for performance from this crop of so-called leaders,” he said.
Ihoegbu also argued that the morale of security personnel has been affected by government policies, particularly the rehabilitation of former insurgents, which he said could undermine the sacrifices of soldiers killed in the line of duty.
“A government policy is that you catch these people who are involved in these heinous crimes, you’re making excuses on their behalf, saying that they were recruited into it without their knowledge.
”And so, the government will use taxpayers’ money to rehabilitate them, possibly even give them stipends from taxpayers’ money, and then put them back in society.
”These are people who have been said to have killed soldiers! Not just rank and file generals! And the Commander-in-Chief is not furious enough.
”I don’t want to use the word that came to my mind. We are too lenient about the issue of security. That’s the truth of the matter,” he stressed.
He further accused the current administration of prioritising politics over governance, alleging that insufficient attention has been given to tackling insecurity despite its growing impact across the country.
“And the crop of politicians we have now are not about us. From day one that the President came on board (it’s three years now), day one he came on board, politics took over governance. And that is why we are in this mess.
”And he has continued to play politics until possibly when the thing gets to his doorstep, that’s when he will probably take it more serious.”
