On Hon. Ayuba Bello's Security and Intelligence Bill by Nwokoma Messiah

On Hon. Ayuba Bello's Security and Intelligence Bill
I wish to comment on the Security and Intelligence Teaching in secondary Schools Bill before the House of Representatives. This Bill presented by a member of the House of Representatives representing Jere Federal Constituency Hon. Ayuba Mohammed Bello  seeks to make the teaching of Security and Intelligence Studies compulsory in our secondary schools. The Bill which was listed in the order paper of Thursday 10th December 2015 and captioned " A Bill For An Act To Provide For Compulsory Teaching Of Security And Intelligence Studies In The Syllabus Of Secondary Schools In Nigeria And For Other Matters Connected Therewith" wouldn't have come at a better time considering the twist which insecurity has taken in the nation's fabric.

According to Hon. Ayuba who presented the Bill at plenary, "the Bill will help inculcate security consciousness among Nigerian youths especially those who have been victims of kidnappings and other forms of criminality". He said the Bill will give them basic security knowledge on what to do when they are faced with such security challenges.

I agree with the position of the authour of the Bill and others who contributed to ensuring that the Bill passed the first and second reading. No peace and security loving Nigerian will fail to support the Bill considering the spirit behind it.  It is estimated that 50% of crimes are committed against those at youth age due to their naivity. But with the attendant training and exposure that will get through the passage of this Bill, they stand a reasonable chance of detecting and reacting positively to such  security challenges they may face.
Nigerians have suffered so much hardship as a result of lack of security consciousness among its citizens. If I had my way I will recommend that it be expanded to make for a general studies GST course in our universities also. We live in dangerous times and efforts must be made to make us fully abreast with proactive measures of dealing with security challenges we face.
If this Bill is passed, we shall soon start witnessing a situation whereby some rather mysterious cases of crime will be exposed owing to proper reportage and description of physical attributes of criminals and crime scenes by eyewitnesses.
As it is today, an average Nigerian cannot describe the physical attributes of a person. The ability to describe the physical attributes, gaits, mien etc of persons by eye witnesses, have led to sketches of the suspected criminal and eventual identification of the criminal (s) involved in the crime.

The adoption of security and intelligence in our school curricular will also help reduce the level of crime in the society because those involved in criminal activities will know that society is better prepared to fish them out if they commit any crime. The impunity of criminals in the country has been bolstered by the fact that they know they are dealing with a society that lacks the knowledge to trace them whenever they commit any crime. Government alone cannot fight crime. The people need to be involved and how can they be involved when they lack basic training? For this, I commend the Sponsors of this Bill for their foresightedness.

Nigeria needs peace and stability something which terrorism and criminality have deprived us of. From the North east where terrorism is taking a heavy toll on the people to the Niger Delta region where militancy has become common place to the South East where kidnapping and other criminal activities are recorded almost on daily basis to other parts of the north where cattle rustling is a major challenge, this Bill on Security and Intelligence teaching in our secondary schools  is one major instrument that can help resolve the myriad of crime that has pervaded our society and in the long run it will make the job of our security agencies easier.
We need this Bill for the security health of our dear country and it is important that the sponsor of the Bill and all those that ensured that the Bill gets to the committee level it is today are commended. I strongly believe that considering the importance of the Bill it will be passed in record time by both Chambers of the National Assembly.