By Moses Okorie
The Commandant General of Nigerian Forest Security Service (NFSS), Dr. Wole Osatimehin, has revealed why Nigeria is facing unabated security challenges despite efforts by government to curtail it, and gave advice on how to overcome it.
Osatimehin stated this on Saturday in Abuja at the Security Summit organized by the NFSS FCT Command under the leadership of Commander Bawa Kyauta on the theme ‘Enhancing Forest Security in Nigeria: Challenges, Opportunity and Innovation’.
The event which took place at Apo Resettlement in Abuja had in attendance the former national commissioner of Public Complaint Commission (PCC), Mr. Ezekiel Dalhatu; the Commandant General of NFSS, Dr. Wole Osatimehin, deputy commandant generals of NFSS, traditional rulers, representatives of the FCT administration, the chief host, Bawa Kyauta and many others.
He said about nine paramilitaries operating in Nigeria are domiciled within the town, except the military while the Nigerian forests are left ungoverned, which the bad eggs have taken advantage of to use as their safe haven.
“After military, we have the police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Department of State Service, the National Intelligence Agency, the Defence Intelligence Agency, the Federal Road Safety Corps, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service; all of them are working within the town, they neglect a one-faction portion, which the forest”.
“That is why Nigeria is facing insecurity; the result is devastating. Establishing Forest Security Agency is not just for protecting of trees, it is about protecting our future. We are going to protect biodiversity and ecosystem and the national security.
“Now, Nigeria’s total landmass covers 92 million hectares. The forested corridor is about 9.1 million hectares; meaning, if we divide the entire Nigeria into nine today, one-over-nine are forested”.
He said some factors that necessitate the call for the establishment of forest security is that Nigeria has 1,129 forest reserves, 29 game reserves, 17 national parks, 470 grazing reserves; all these things are located across the forest corridor and have because safe haven for enemies of the country.
Apart from security of the forested areas, the NFSS boss said the level of deforestation going on needs urged attention: “Nigerian Forest Security Service is the only solution for the human, environmental and economic dimension. Nigerian forests are not just environmental assets; they are economic and social assets. Over 60 million Nigerians depend on forest reserve for food, medicine, shelter and income.
“It is clear that current forest management system is often understaffed and underfunded, forest department are no longer sufficient, what we need is dedicated Forest Security Agency to empower professional for the protection and security of forest reserve from illegal activities and encroachment, enforce forest law through surveillance, patrol, and prosecution.
“Work with local community to promote community-based forest management, collaborate with forest agency to address criminal network being illegal logging, to deploy technology like drone satellite monitoring and partial data for forest surveillance, to support deforestation and the restoration effort in degraded areas”.
Wole called for urgency, saying without decisive action, Nigeria will, aside from insecurity, risk losing nearly all its remaining forests, and this will worsen climatic impact, increase rural poverty, and threaten water security for major cities.
On his part, Commander of NFSS in FCT, Bawa Kyauta expressed gratitude to those who took their time to attend the security summit, pledging that he and his officers are battle-ready to keep the nation’s capital safe from activities of criminals operating through the forested areas.
Other speakers eulogized the efforts of NFSS, which has assisted the conventional security agencies in combatting criminalities.