Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, who was, at various times, Minister of Labour, Tourism, Justice and Defense, recently spoke with some journalists on security challenges facing the nation, among others issues. Regional Editor (News), Olawale Rasheed, brings excerpt:WHAT is your take on the state of the nation with particular reference to the handling of security challenges facing the nation'Our nation is passing through difficult national security moments which demand all stakeholders rally round the government and security forces. I am convinced that these security challenges have multi-sectoral origins and with that, you can no longer judge the situation as a mere security matter. We all know the pedigree of the National Security Adviser and there is no way anybody can accuse him of incompetence or lack of knowledge in these matters. He was a former Director of Military Intelligence, Chief of Army Staff and later a Chief of Defence Staff. You cannot have a better qualified hand as a National Security Adviser at this critical time. Are you saying the security set-up needs no tinkering as it is'Every institution needs to be renewed. Innovations for better performance are parts of dynamics of life. Of course, the security services can do better with internal organizational restructuring, better infrastructures, modern planning and training to cope with contemporary challenges. I believe the Office of the NSA is pushing ahead with many laudable reforms to strengthen our national defence and internal security capabilities. For example, the ongoing integration of technology in security operation is a welcome development. We also need more hands on the job especially at the lower levels. However this and other measures can only succeed when there is stability in leadership. What manner of stability'I mean restructuring does not necessarily implies change of leadership of the security apparatus except when particularly compulsory. Reforms for effectiveness when introduced can achieve better outcome if stability of leadership is sustained. I am not supporting or canvassing for mediocrity or inefficiency in security leadership but we should avoid changes for the sake of changes.The National Security Adviser (NSA) recently made a controversial statement on the Boko Haram crisis. Will you say he is out of line'Absolutely not. The mandate of an NSA is to give a holistic security assessment while detailing likely solutions. Most of the time, this is not and need not be palatable to the political class as the situation you refer to. Security assessment is expected to be very frank and fearless but also circumspect. Nigeria cannot be an exception. The fact is that the NSA as a thorough bred security professional delivered his assessment to a high profile gathering of economic and political leaders, with a view to alert them and excite solutions. We may not like the way he presented it; but we can hardly fault the premise of his submissions. The statement I think put the entire political class on notice. He was to force us all to be engaged in that search for a way out. Are you saying he should not be sanctioned over the issue'By speaking out, he was performing his duty. He called our attention to the fact that politics, religion, ethnicity and poverty create an insecure society which hampers successful outcome of security and intelligence operations. Well, politicians may have expected him not to be so blunt. But his bluntness opened our eyes to the depth of the problem, to the fact that socio-economic and political factors are driving the insurgency to an intolerable level for national security.But many believe he is part of the government and should have made an internal report rather than speaking publicly... If an experienced security official like the NSA spoke in such a manner, I believe we should trust his judgment, no matter how unpalatable. He has the overall security outlook from his vantage viewpoint. I think on this issue we should listen to Azazi. Already, you can see the renewed calls for dialogue now dominating national discourse. We should listen to Azazi.But that does not solve the problem he identified in that Asaba statement...The problems you are referring to transcend the security sector. President Goodluck Jonathan is indeed attending to issues of job creation and economic transformation. Let me tell you this-the president has direct and detailed grasp of policy matters with respect to job creation among others. Even as a vice president, he took particular interest in employment matters leading to his address on employment at an International Labour Organisation (ILO) conference in Geneva in 2009. Without peace, development can hardly be attained. We need peace, reconciliation for the many good programmes of government to manifest.The state governments also have to be seen to be actively doing something about employment through collaboration with the private sector.
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