At its 8th meeting held in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on September 9, 2023, the Northeast Governors’ Forum expressed its concern about the new dimension of growing banditry in Bauchi, Gombe, and Taraba states as a result of the concerted efforts of the military bandits from other parts of the country. The governors called on the federal government to intervene. With this new development, it’s obvious that Adamawa State is doing well among the six states in the North East sub-region in the area of internal security. How did the Governor Fintiri-led government achieve that? Through planning and strategies or just sheer luck?
The Adamawa State government has employed three approaches. First, the Fintiri-led government looked at the areas affected by Boko Haram’s senseless insurgency, and then the government developed excellent and feasible post-war programmes and projects with a comprehensive implementation strategy that fast-tracked the healing of the war’s scars. The government restored basic infrastructure and local economies, returning the affected communities to their peaceful and productive pre-war status. A simple example is the burbling economic activity in townships like Mubi, Michika, and Madagali. Secondly, after the restoration of basic infrastructure and integration of the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people, the government employed a quick rehabilitation of agricultural land, places of worship, health centres, bridges, and schools, including the creation of productive employment for the teeming unemployed citizens, especially young people, and women.
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Over the years, most developmental efforts in many states laid emphasis on urban development at the expense of rural development, which has led to a substantial rise in inequality among Nigerians—inequalities beget insecurity. What the Fintiri-led government did was balance urbanisation and rural areas’ needs. While Adamawa State’s capital, Yola, is gradually being transformed into a working city that accommodates all segments of society and provides basic and modern infrastructure, other local governments are getting what they ought to have in the areas of agriculture, basic electricity, healthcare, and human development. What the government did was to equate each community’s basic infrastructure needs with youth employment needs to curtail crime. For example, when the notorious Shila Boys re-emerged, the Fintiri government used a soft and hard approach: the government provided young people with cash grants, loans, and training on new skills through the Poverty Alleviation and Wealth Creation Agency (PAWECA) and the Adamawa State Social Support Programme (ADSSSP). While those who refused to change their ways were dealt with the hard way by law enforcement agents. Another approach that helped Governor Fintiri to sustain the success recorded in its internal security management- the government reinforced its more knowledge-based approach, thus the coming onboard of Deputy Governor, Professor Kaletapwa Farauta, Secretary to the State Government, Awwal Turkur, and Chief of Staff, Dr Edgar Amos, etc. These are people who are well-read and have been through the mills in their respective fields.
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), community security seeks to operationalise human security, human development, and state-building paradigms at the local level. This is the concept the Fintiri government used to douse tension due to farmer-herder conflict in some communities. However, there is a theory that says no one can experience perfect security because individuals or states are not perfectly secure or completely insecure, but the Fintiri model of community engagement, local people’s parley, and provision of basic needs has helped Adamawa State curtail farmer-herder conflicts, youth restlessness, with attendant peaceful co-existence, assurance of safety, absence of fear, etc. within the state. The Fintiri model of internal security management is working; other states in the North East sub-region can copy it.
Zayyad I. Muhammad writes from Abuja
