Security Challenge: Atiku to Adopt UAE Security Model
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar; and his running mate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa have said if elected, his administration will adopt the United Arab Emirates’ security model in solving the country’s security problems.
They stated this on Sunday, during a live discussion on People’s Townhall, a brainchild of Channels Television and its partners. The duo disclosed some of their plans to solve Nigeria’s major challenges if elected in 2023.
In Atiku’s view, deterring criminal activity would be accomplished by adopting the UAE strategy of tracking everyone’s movements.
“The security architecture I admire is the UAE security architecture and it’s primarily based on monitoring. You don’t see policemen in uniform in UAE, you don’t see soldiers but virtually everybody is being monitored daily and particularly if you are a visitor; from the moment you step into the country or go out, anywhere you are going you are being watched and that is the deployment of technology as far as security is concerned.
“That is to say we are aiming for the ultimate, but we have to deal with our current security structure. How we reform it to ensure that we give our people a more secure environment to undertake their legitimate businesses wherever they may be, whether in the rural areas, semi-urban, and so on?” Atiku said.
Other of their plans include the abolition of multiple foreign exchange rates, ending the subsidy regime on petroleum products, payment of backlog owed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities, and privatisation of national assets, amongst others.
According to the PDP running mate, negotiations and restructuring will be used to put an end to separatist agitations in the South East. Okowa stated that in order to make South-Easterns feel like they are a part of the country, strategic participation in security architecture is crucial.
Additionally, Atiku stated he would not abolish security votes for governors and other officials. Insisting that government officials could not use security votes any way they pleased, he said he would rather argue for responsibility for security votes.
He also promised to make health insurance available for all Nigerians with incentives accessible to all to provide the majority of Nigerians healthcare.
Speaking on Boko Haram Insurgency, Atiku went on to say that he had visited the famed Sambisa Forest but was not able to locate any Boko Haram hideouts in Borno. According to him, Boko Haram has economic and political motivations, and only effective leadership can end the decade-long terror conflict.
