Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim, a professor of political science in Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), says proper utilisation of taxes and provision of social services are necessary to tackle insecurity in Nigeria.

Ibrahim said this on Thursday in Kaduna at a town hall meeting on national security organised by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.

The theme of the meeting was ‘Setting Benchmarks for Enhanced Security and National Unity in Nigeria’.

According to Ibrahim, serious and viable measures are needed to tackle the deteriorating security of the country.

He said that citizens must support government through prompt payment of taxes while government must use the money to provide services to the people.

“This assumes that the State knows all those who reside in its territory and is able to track them and make them fulfill their fiduciary obligations.

“The State should use the resources it has extracted from residents and citizens to provide public goods such as security, social services and infrastructure for the welfare of inhabitants,” he said.

He noted that citizens were reluctant to pay tax due to corruption, as money generated were not committed to the needs of the people.

“There was corruption in the early days where citizens pay tax compulsorily, but the percentage was low.

Obasanjo lauds Kogi Bello for good governance, tackling insecurity

“There was a time when stealing 10 percent of a project allocation was considered a terrible thing, today, billions can be picked and simply pocketed,” he lamented.

Ibrahim also said provision of stiff laws and application of sanctions was necessary to enhance good governance.

“The task before us is the reconstruction of the Nigerian state.

“We cannot allow our political community to continue to crumble and suffer the outcome of State collapse, which Thomas Hobbes had assured us will make our lives “nasty, brutish and short”.

“Rebuilding the state must take the form of a new approach based on good governance in which there is effective, transparent and accountable use of public resources to provide public goods for citizens.

“If those who exercise state power cannot use it to improve the lives and livelihoods of citizens, then they would have to be replaced,” he added.

Ibrahim further said, it was important to devise effective strategies to stem insurgency and create conditions for the protection of human rights and the deepening of democracy.

He noted that the armed forces have a significant role to play in this direction.

Ibrahim however noted that Nigerians were particularly concerned about the rules of engagement for military operations within the civilian population.

“There are military operations in virtually all states of the country, this means that the normal process of police being in charge of internal security issues no longer operates,” he added.

He said that the new role of the military must be situated properly.

“It is important in this context to publish debate and revise the rules of engagement to ensure that they are in conformity with human rights principle.

“We cannot give up on the police, we must expand the police, train them and build their capacity for effective law enforcement,” Ibrahim said.