Recruiting 1 million personnel won’t solve Nigeria’s security challenges – Herders to presidential candidates

Kulen Allah Cattle Rearers Association of Nigeria, KACRAN, has rejected the idea by some presidential candidates to recruit one million security operatives as a way of addressing the prevailing security challenges in the country.

The position of the Association was made known in a statement issued by its National President, Hon. Khalil Mohammed Bello, and made available to Track News in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital.

He said KACRAN finds it necessary to react to the presidential candidates’ so-called plan when they featured on BBC Hausa’s flagship program, ‘RA’AYI RIGA’ which was aired last Friday, arguing that the move cannot solve the nation’s security problem; instead it would exacerbate the security situation.

Bello opined that considering the current economic realities, the nation can only afford to recruit around 50,000 to 70,000 personnel and adequately train and arm them with sophisticated weapons to meet contemporary challenges.

“Our major concern is if the government employs hundreds of thousands or one million personnel into the military, they will not be adequately trained or given enough superior weapons.

“And where are we going to get money to pay their salaries, especially now that government often resorts to borrowing money to pay salary?” he querried.

He expressed the fear that if the new recruits for instance are not being paid sufficiently, that alone can amount to mutiny as well as other issues that fuel insecurity in the country.

“It should not be forgotten that even our current military personnel on many occasions have complained bitterly for not being catered for, or supplied with enough sophisticated weapons to fight their enemies”, he said.

According to him modern warfare does not require large number of personnel, but only requires advanced weapons