Nigeria Must Leverage Expertise of Retired Service Chiefs to Tackle Insecurity – Agboworin

A member of the House of Representatives representing the Ibadan North East/South East Federal constituency, Oyo State, Rep. Abass Adigun, popularly known as Agboworin, strongly opposed the suggestion of employing foreign military mercenaries to address the issue of insecurity in the nation.

Agboworin, who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Narcotic Drugs, stated this while contributing to an amendment motion proposed by Hon. Ahmed Jaha (APC, Borno), which called for the invitation of foreign military mercenaries to assist in combating insecurity.

A statement signed by his Head of Media Unit, Mayowa Okekale, quoted Agboworin as saying that it would be demeaning for Nigeria, the Giant of Africa, to hire foreign military mercenaries to fight insecurity. He added that the federal government must work on recruiting more security personnel and leverage the expertise of retired service chiefs to tackle insecurity internally.

“I want the House to know that we have a lot of brave personnel in the country. We have brains among the Air Vice-Marshals, Brigadier and Major Generals, and Admirals who can handle the insecurity situation in this country. So, asking other countries to send us mercenaries, to me as an ex-military man and to Nigeria as the Giant of Africa, is an insult,” Agboworin stated.

He emphasized the need for the federal government to bring in all senior officers who were forced to retire and to undertake massive recruitment in all security agencies, including the Army, Navy, and Police Force. Agboworin also highlighted the importance of considering the welfare and well-being of security personnel and upgrading their equipment to effectively confront insurgents.

In his words, “We need to find a way to increase the capacity of our security agencies. The welfare and well-being of security personnel must also be considered. We should have provisions like life insurance for our security personnel, similar to what I had when I served in the U.S Navy. Additionally, we need to upgrade their arms and consider the establishment of state police to address language barriers and enhance local security operations.”

In a session presided over by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, RT. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, other lawmakers supported Rep. Agboworin’s argument, leading to the dropping of the amendment while the motion was adopted with other recommendations. The House decided to meet with the President to find solutions to the insecurity challenges and urged police authorities to allocate funds for repairing damaged security assets nationwide

Photo credit: Agboworin Media team