Ayo Akinfe
[1] They should ask President Buhari to set up a fourth military service known as the National Guard or Republican Guard that will be tasked solely with dealing with internal security. It will have an army, naval and air component and be charged with dealing with terrorism, kidnapping, banditry, etc
[2] As part of a plan to check our porous borders, the Nigerian Army shall undertake a five year programme to plant trees along Nigeria’s borders to demarcate the nation’s boundaries. Such trees shall be painted in the country’s colours
[3] Nigeria’s maritime borders will also be marked out with cones right along our 853km Atlantic seaboard. A fifth military service will be created called the Nigerian Coast Guard. Its job will be solely to police our maritime borders
[4] All members of the armed forces will be registered for a national compensation programme that will pay their dependents their full salaries and grant their children scholarships up to university level should they lose their lives during the course of duty
[5] Each state capital shall house at least one mechanised division of the Nigerian Army. Every local government area shall also have one battalion
[6] The ministries of defence, police affairs and internal affairs shall have a coordinating minister for security. It shall then be overseen by the office of the vice president in what will be the Super Security Ministry, which will have overall responsibility for combating terrorism
[7] The minimum qualification for being employed in any of the security services shall be OND
[8] New laws will be passed under which members of the security forces aiding and abetting terrorism will face statutory treason charges with the mandatory death penalty being the maximum punishment
[9] Armed forces commanders convicted of embezzling funds meant for defence will face statutory treason charges with the accompanying mandatory death penalty being the maximum punishment
[10] Nigeria will enter into bilateral defence agreements with friendly nations aimed at getting their equipment manufacturers to establish factories in the country. As part of this, specialist units of the armed forces like the engineering corps of the Nigerian Army will be free to bid for government contracts in their areas of expertise. This will enable them to develop infrastructure in insecure areas
