Security and Governance in NorthNorth----EastEast Nigeria ii Security and Governance in NorthNorth----EastEast Nigeria Edited by Hussaini Abdu and Chigozirim Okoro CLEEN FOUNDATION Lagos, Abuja, Owerri Nigeria iii First published in 2016 © CLEEN Foundation ISBN: 978978978-978 ---978978978978----533875338753387----7777----5555 © Whole or part of this publication may be republished, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted through electronic, photocopying, mechanical, recording or otherwise, with permission of the publishers. CLEEN Foundation Lagos Office: 21, Akinsanya Street Taiwo Bus-Stop Ojodu Ikeja, 100281 Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria Tel: 234-1-7612479, 7395498 Abuja Office: 26, Bamenda Street, off Abidjan Street Wuse Zone 3, Abuja, Nigeria Tel: 234-9-7817025, 8708379 Owerri Office: Plot 10, Area M Road 3 World Bank Housing Estate Owerri, Imo State Tel: 083-823104, 08128002962 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.cleen.org Produced by Malthouse Press Limited 43 Onitana Street, Off Stadium Hotel Road, Surulere, Lagos Mainland, Lagos State, Nigeria. [email protected]; gsm: +2348026003203 iv Dedication To all victims and survivor of insurgency in Nigeria v Acknowledgements CLEEN Foundation is obliged to many individuals, groups and organizations who contributed to this publication. We are grateful to Ford Foundation for making the North East Security and Governance Project and this publication possible through its funding support. We acknowledge the invaluable contribution of the lead researcher, Dr. Hussaini Abdu, Executive Director PLAN International for his commitment and expertise throughout the study and this publication. We wish to thank our researchers from the six focal states who worked diligently for the success of the study that led to this publication. We appreciate the support of the Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Program (NSRP) of the British Council who collaborated with CLEEN and Ford Foundation to validate the research findings. We acknowledge the efforts of Dr Mu’azu Abubakar, CLEEN Foundation Board Member who played oversight role on the project; Dr. Usman Musa, Department of Mass Community; University of Maiduguri; Dr. Tabi Hamman Joda, Executive Director, GreenAid International Charity, Adamawa State; Dr. Titus Teseer Orngu, Gender Advocate and Human Rights Defender, North East; Barr (Mrs) Rotkang Kyunni Consultant and Mr. Chukwuma Umeh, Technical Adviser, vi German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) whose inputs enriched the publication. We commend Nigeria security agencies and other state and non-state actors who have gallantly fought the insurgents and CLEEN Foundation staff for their commitments and dedication to the realisation of the project objectives. vii Foreword The North-eastern part of Nigeria has attracted significant attention of the public, journalists, politicians, civil society groups, social scientists, foundations and international agencies. The attraction was not a palatable one, but of great concern to the safety and security of people resident in that part of the country occasioned by the activities of the Jama’atu Ahlus Sunnah Liddawa’ati wal Jihad (People Committed to the Teachings of the Prophet and Jihad). The organisation has acquired global notoriety and is popularly referred to as Boko Haram. Since its dislodgement in 2009, it has succeeded in reinventing itself into a guerrilla force unleashing deadly attacks on people, villages, police stations, military posts, prisons, churches/mosques, motor parks, markets and schools; kidnapping men, women, children; conscripting young people; releasing videos celebrating its mindless attacks or threatening to launch attacks or showing gruesome murder of its victims in its self-acclaimed drive to Islamise Nigeria. The result is widespread insecurity in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, places that bear the brunt of the activities of Boko Haram. CLEEN Foundation, in line with its mandate, organised this research in six states – Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe Taraba and Yobe States – on Governance and Security in North East Nigeria. The researchers have been able to gather and analyse data from different respondents using a combination of research viii instruments – questionnaires, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KI-I) supplemented with desk research and drawing on secondary data. The result of the research conducted in each of the six states constitutes the content of this volume. The individual state focus has allowed the researchers to provide a more insightful perspective on each of the states. While there may be issues common to the states, which some informed people may find repetitive, this allows for a treatment of the common issues in different contexts which may not be common to all the states. Readers will find that while the states are ethnically and culturally diverse with some ethnic groups existing in all the states, this does not confer commonality. The strength of the individual researchers lies in this detailed discussion of the situation in each state. There is a sense in which the result of the study makes a case for a wider understanding and recognition of security beyond the physical. The respondents’ concerns sounds like a cry for help to live a more meaningful existence in terms of education, health, employment, electricity supply, clean water, good road network, farm inputs, secure markets, religious tolerance, validation of ethnic and cultural identities, connection with elected representatives, and ensuring safety and security. It is in this that one finds the connection between governance and security being salient issues of concern to the public but which is treated with apparent shoddiness by the authorities. There is inherent in this, an invitation for civil society presence to help drive respect for the people, listening to them and involving them in the process of governance. Though this is not stated explicitly, but the under currents and the subliminal ix references to the failures speak to that concern. It is to the credit of the researchers that they were able to tease out these from the respondents. It is not in doubt that the situation in the north east cannot remain as it was going by the experiences of the people under the onslaught of Boko Haram. The people in that part of Nigeria have now become conscientised by practical experience of the failure of governance and would need to find ways of engaging with the various state governments on their security. This is also a wake-up call to the elected and appointed representatives, exercising power on behalf of the people, to find ways of connecting with the citizens, addressing their concerns and ensuring that service delivery not only reach, but are also meant for the relevant people in relevant places. The failures that gave birth to the insecurity in the North East has shown that even those who exercise power and authority cannot operate unless they are transparent, accountable and deliver services to the people otherwise, they themselves, will not have the space and peace to operate the machinery of government. It is in this context that they must pay heed to the cry for help as captured by the researchers on governance and security in the six states of the north-east. The North East may be statistically the poorest of the country and, indeed, its people enmeshed in poverty. However, its rich arable land, existing rivers and dams, its diverse, creative and energetic people suggest that new thinking is required to pursue governance in partnership with the people. Governance is not one set of officials operating in isolation on behalf of the majority of the people. The various researchers have shown respect for the people and their participation are necessary to x create a more secure and peaceful environment for the development of the North-East. Abubakar Mu’azu, PhD University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri Borno State, Nigeria January 31, 2016 xi Preface Nigeria has witnessed a deteriorating internal security situation since the return to democratic rule in 1999. This may be seen from the proliferation and involvement of non-state actors in security across the different sections of the country. There are various forms of non-state actors (apart from private security outfits) in different parts of the country ranging from Bakassi Boys in the south-east, Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) in south-south to Boko Haram, Sara Suka and Yankalare in the north-east. The military being present in more than thirty-two states of the nation to restore order appears to be virtually overstretched. Many reasons have been advanced to explain the continued deterioration of security in Nigeria. The main causes of insecurity in the country are twofold - remote and proximate causes. These may include: • absence of institutional capacity resulting in government failure; • the gaping chasm of inequality and absence of fairness and justice; • ethno-Religious conflicts; • disconnect between the people and the Government. These and many proximate factors like, porous borders, rural-urban drift, poverty, and unemployment have combined to further aggravate the problem of insecurity in Nigeria. Nigeria has experienced both military and civilian rule at different times of her national development, each with its unique xii style of maintaining national security. It is generally believed that the management of security under civil rule is also tinted with elements of repression characteristic of military regimes in Nigeria,