National War College, Abuja, Nigeria
"Inter-service Relations: Imperatives for
Jointness".
By
Dr. Nowa Omoigui
nowa_o@yahoo.com
... from Part 111
Friday, January 27, 2006
PART 5//CONCLUSION
THE NOTION OF INTER-DEPENDABILITY OF
SECURITY AGENCIES
Let me introduce the concept of
Inter-dependability of Security services and roles.
Recent experience has taught us that
transnational problems can manifest domestically while apparently domestic
issues can spill over borders. It is also important to factor in the
extension of the security arena into ill-geographically defined areas such
as computer networks and the emergence of asymmetric threats (low
intensity warfare) as the dominant paradigm for current and future
Military operations other than war.
Functionally, it makes sense that some of
the domestic security responsibilities should be primary, based on core
competence and capability to function as the first responder and lead
agency. Other responsibilities should be secondary, based on the need to
provide depth to other agencies that are better oriented, equipped and
maintained to be first responders to such matters in support of National
Security. (See Table below)
TABLE OF POTENTIAL DOMESTIC MILITARY AND
POLICE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
(Adapted from a presentation by Dr. Nowa
Omoigui on “Civilian views of civil-Military relations in democratizing
states” at the “Next Generation of African Military Leaders Program”, on
January 24, 2006 - National Defense University, Washington DC.)
Responsibility |
Military role |
Police role |
Role of other government departments
|
|
Primary |
Secondary |
Secondary |
Prevention and investigation of civil crimes |
None (unless requested for support on a
case-by-case basis) |
Primary |
Secondary |
Small scale emergency services |
None (unless requested for support on a
case-by-case basis) |
Primary |
Co-primary (Fire service, hospitals) |
Assurance of State control of the machinery of
government |
Secondary (could be primary in major
insurrections, strikes, etc.) |
Primary (could be secondary) |
Secondary |
Environmental security |
Secondary |
Secondary |
Primary |
Information security |
Secondary |
Secondary |
Primary |
Financial security (Counter-money laundering) |
None |
Primary (could be secondary) |
Secondary (could be primary) |
Domestic Intelligence |
Secondary |
Primary (could be secondary) |
Secondary (could be primary) |
Counter-intelligence |
Secondary |
Primary (could be secondary) |
Secondary (could be primary) |
Immigration and Customs control |
None (However, Naval units have sometimes been
tasked to assist) |
Secondary (may be primary in some countries) |
Primary (Customs) |
Counter-Smuggling |
Secondary (e.g. maritime interception) |
Secondary (could be primary) |
Primary |
Counter-Inland waterway Piracy |
Secondary (could be primary) |
Primary (could be secondary) |
Secondary |
Counter-Proliferation of small arms |
Secondary (could be primary) |
Primary (could be secondary) |
Secondary |
Counter-Proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction |
Primary (could be secondary) |
Secondary |
Secondary (could be primary) |
Anti-Terrorism |
Secondary (could be primary) |
Primary (could be secondary) |
Secondary |
Counter-Terrorism |
Secondary (could be primary) |
Primary (could be secondary) |
Secondary |
Drug enforcement (Counter-Drug operations) |
Secondary |
Secondary |
Primary (Drug Enforcement Agencies) |
Critical Infrastructure Security/Key Asset
protection |
Secondary (could be primary) |
Secondary (could be primary) |
Secondary (could be primary) |
Public Health security |
Secondary (extreme cases) |
Secondary (extreme cases) |
Primary |
Complex Disaster Search and Rescue; Evacuation
and resettlement; Famine relief |
Primary (could be secondary) |
Secondary |
Secondary (could be primary if dedicated) |
Civic works (roads, bridges, dams, irrigation
projects etc.) |
Secondary |
None |
Primary |
Space exploration |
Secondary (could be primary) |
None |
Primary (could be secondary) |
What this table shows is that the Military
and the Police are only two among many inter-dependable partners for
National Security.
APPLYING INSIGHTS GAINED TO CONTEMPORARY
NIGERIAN PROBLEMS
As we have seen, joint operations are not a
new idea in Military history. Nevertheless, the two primary reasons for
contemporary “Military jointness” are as follows:
-
It enhances optimal matching of
commitments, resources and capabilities, as the Armed Forces develops
the ability to function seamlessly and in a timely manner within an
integrated battle space that includes not only sub-surface, surface,
near-surface, air and space environments, but also cyberspace. To attain
this, joint vision, joint tactics, joint doctrine, joint staff
procedures, joint budgeting and joint training must be developed and
implemented.
-
Based on the foregoing, jointness helps to
win wars and ensure success of selected “military operations other than
war” by allowing the Joint Commander to exercise any permutation and/or
combination of choices in his tool box dictated by circumstances.
Similarly, the two primary reasons to
minimize rivalry and enhance cooperation between the Military and Police
are:
-
It saves resources, by allowing optimal
matching of domestic commitments, resources and capabilities.
-
It enhances individual, public and state
security by ensuring security inter-dependability.
Thus, from the standpoint of Military
jointness, Nigeria should:
-
Consider separate career tracks for future
service chiefs; one which leads to appointment of individual service
chiefs on the basis of certain “individual service” criteria and the
other for future Chiefs of Defence Staff, based on aptitude for and
experience in “joint” appointments. The system of rotation among the
three services should be continued. The structure of the British
Ministry of Defence and Joint HQ deserves further study to determine
applicability to Nigeria.
-
Consolidate Joint Staff, Joint
Intelligence, Joint Logistics, Joint Training, Joint Operations, Joint
Procurement and Joint Personnel planning
-
Develop Joint Command, Control,
Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and
Reconnaissance (C4ISR) Tactics
From the standpoint of Military-Police
cooperation, Nigeria should:
-
Facilitate a Joint Vision, Joint Values
and Joint Ethics across the Security services (including the Military
and Police) for a variety of Security roles (See Table of domestic
roles). This will enable the introduction of super ordinate goals of
high appeal value for both soldiers and Policemen whose attainment is
beyond the resources and efforts of either group alone.
-
Ensure that the Military and Police
leadership understands that there is no such thing as a bad soldier or
bad Policeman; only bad Military and Police officers. It is the
responsibility of the leadership to show good example to servicemen at
lower rungs in the system and enforce professional values and ethics.
The notion that all is well between senior Military and Police officers,
while their men shoot each other to death, is an unfortunate admission
of command failure.
-
Consider establishing a Joint National
Security Academy, where various courses that cut across the entire field
of Human Security can be offered to service personnel at low,
intermediate and senior levels drawn from Military, Police and other
security agencies, as well as the public. In the alternative, offer
such training at Military and Police institutions to which service
personnel from any service can subscribe or be sent. This will support
other efforts to nurture corporate esprit de corps at the
supra-service level of "National Defence and Security."
-
Exploit the opportunity presented by the
threat of contemporary asymmetric, space, and cyber-space warfare to
create new non-traditional joint Force Structures. This could include
establishing a Constabulary (or National Guard) to which soldiers and
Policemen may be deployed (after re-training) on rotation for duties
that fall in between traditional Military and Police roles. During
these rotations the Constabulary will enable soldiers and Policemen to
co-exist, guided by joint etiquette, customs, ceremonies, and
traditions.
-
Upgrade physical, moral and academic
requirements for entry into the Police. Although Police training should
be specialized and adapted to Police tasks, Military personnel should
not be allowed to acquire the perception that the Police accept recruits
of lower physical, moral and academic stature.
-
Revive the office of Military-Police
Liaison officers at the Police and Defence Headquarters. Liaison
officers, preferably drawn from the Military Police, also need to be
established at state and local levels. These liaison officers should
establish joint mechanisms for resolving misunderstandings before they
get out of hand.
|