Former President Goodluck Jonathan has backed a retired Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Abubakar, on going beyond kinetic approach in the fight against terrorism in the country.
Mr Jonathan disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja during the public presentation and formal launching of a book titled “Beyond the Bullets, Policing Terrorism in a Democratic System”, written by Abubakar.
The former president, represented by his former Chief of Staff, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe, said the title of the book and the subject it addresses could not be more relevant to Nigeria’s experience.
According to him, since the beginning of the Fourth Republic, successive administrations have had to confront terrorism and other forms of violent insecurity in the country.
He said each administration had faced its own circumstances and challenges, and had in different ways sought to protect the lives and property of Nigerians and preserve the country’s territorial integrity.
“I believe the author has pointed out the fact that the fight against terrorism is not the responsibility of one administration or the other.
“It is a continuing national and global challenge that requires sustained commitment, revisionary institutional learning and cooperation across successive governments and generations.
“This is what makes Beyond the Bullets particularly valuable, because the title itself suggests that the response to terrorism must go beyond the use of kinetics, which I fully believe in,” he said.
Mr Jonathan said his administration had engaged in the establishment of Almajiri schools, aimed at providing skills to millions of youth beyond religious education only.
He said the idea was to enable them to earn a living and contribute meaningfully to the national development, while reducing the numbers of youth available for recruitment into violent crime.
According to him, his administration also engaged in the Great Green Wall project, which apart from arresting desertification, also aimed at making more fertile land available for crop farming and animal husbandry.
He said the programme had the potential of providing employment for hundreds of thousands, urging the Federal Government to revisit and review the initiative.
In his remark, the author said the book was written following his over three decades in policing and finding that terrorism posed great threats to democracies.
According to him, terrorism challenges laws, institutions, and moral confidence in the country.
Mr Abubakar said the book was not just about security, but also about the kind of society we would want to build in the face of fear, anger, and real threats.
The author said the book was anchored on four pillars, security management, protecting people and not just controlling them.
According to him, effective security cannot be treated as a purely technical problem solved by security forces alone.
He said effective security requires planning, collaboration, coordination, risk assessment, and continuous learning, while staying accountable.
He said the second pillar focuses on understanding the trade without losing humanity, adding that terrorism is not only an act, but a strategy.
The author said the aim of terrorism is to create fear, provoke overreaction, and undermine confidence in democratic institutions, adding that fighting terrorism should never mean treating the whole community as suspects.
He said the third pillar was on democracy and intelligence, noting that the rule that keeps power from being abused is democracy.
In his remark, the Book Reviewer, Prof. Etannibi Alemika, said the book is a recommendation for the balance of the adoption of military and non-military solutions to the country’s complex and intractable insecurity problems.
He said the focus of the book is on terrorism, involving insurgents, bandits and kidnappers.
Alemika said the book is structured into six chapters in 183 pages with references.
He said chapter one of the book discussed democracy, terrorism, civil liberty and national security, which were interrelated.
According to him, terrorism undermines democracy, civil liberty and national security.
The reviewer said the author discussed how advanced intelligence and community-based strategies could either prevent or combat terrorism in chapter two.
He said chapter three of the book discussed terrorism and its threats, adding that the author noted the lack of consensus on the definition of terrorism or what actions and behaviours were so labelled.
According to him, this underscores the idea that the definition of terrorism is contested, as a terrorist to one person may be a freedom fighter to another.
NAN