Abdullahi Mohammed Gana was appointed as Commandant General of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in July 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari. His appointment was greeted with celebration at the headquarters of the NSCDC. Five years after, Gana has a sprawling new headquarters, 13 State Commands and the establishment of the Agro-Rangers and mining protection sector units as some of his achievements. In this interview with, KEMI YESUFU, the NSCDC C-G gives insight into his tenure, the challenges he has faced and why he prioritized the training and discipline of his personnel.
When you started your career in the NSCDC, did you envisage your becoming C-G?
I was a banker. I rose to level of a branch manager in Port-Harcourt. My banking career saw me working in places like Onitsha, Jos and Lagos as a manager. In Lagos, I was walking around Kingsway Road Ikoyi, with my cousin and I saw an old man walking with this ‘red neck’ (points to uniform collar). I told my cousin, that I liked the uniform the old man wore. He dismissed my admiration, saying ‘Those people are touts’. I never knew it was destiny calling me. After some years, I just found myself registering as volunteer in the corps before the law to make it part of government was enacted. I never dreamt of being the CG of the NSDC, but God willed it and today I am doing my best to justify the confidence reposed in me.
After 53 years of NDSDC, what would you list as pivotal moments in your history?
Most people are not aware of the International Civil Defence Organisation based in Geneva. The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) is the Nigerian chapter of the International Civil Defence Organization. The mandate worldwide for civil defence corps is disaster management, both for man- made and natural disaster. In Nigeria, the civil defence corps was born out of necessity. It was created during the Nigerian civil war in 1967. It was given three mandates. First was it was to cater for injured soldiers from the war front. Second was teaching the civil populace precautionary measures in case of emergencies. Thirdly, it served as a reservoir for the military. This is why the bond between the military and the civil defence is tight. It is like a relationship between a father and child. So, we celebrated the 53rd anniversary of the corps in Nigeria and we look back at how we started as a voluntary origination, outside of government and today the corps is not only part of government, its mandate is wider. In fact, we do all we can to meet up with the expectations of the public, as more people now recognize our contributions to the peace and stability of the country.
In Nigeria, people now realise what civil defence is all about, like some other parts of the world, a good example of such places in RUSSIA. I was in RUSSIA for three weeks. There they have the ministry of Civil Defence, they have the University of Civil Defence. For the three weeks I spent in the country, I didn’t see the police until the day I was leaving. So, everything that has to do with the civil society is done by Civil Defence. We are doing more to enlighten Nigerians on the real roles of the corps, I am sure with time, the recognition of our role will improve. But when you look the corps from 1967 to 2003 when the bill establishing the NSCDC was passed into law, in less than 20 years we have achieved a lot.
From 1967 till date would you say the corps has achieved its mandate?
Looking at it first from our international mandate, you know in Nigeria we have the National Emergency Agency (NEMA). But the NSCDC is the only organization of government that has about 10,000 personnel dedicated to disaster management. We are the only organization that has a directorate for crisis management. We have achieved a lot in terms of our international mandate, especially as we work hand –in-hand with NEMA.
How did you instill discipline within your rank and file?
The watchword of every uniformed organization is discipline. This is achieved through training. We place premium on training and retraining our men. We a product of the Nigerian military, ninety-five percent of our training is handled by the military. Even our recent training of ‘Agro-Rangers’ done in Katsina State was handled by the military.
Under your leadership the quarrels between NSCDC personnel and other security agencies, has reduced. How did you do this?
I keep on drumming it into the ears of my men, that we all have the same goal, which is to serve the people. Why should we quarrel in the process of serving the public? I keep preaching tolerance and patience to my men as we work with sister agencies. No one can do it alone. If you go to the North-East today, the military go with our men. Go to the liberated areas of the North-East, the military go with our men. So, why quarrel when you are serving the same government and people? I place a lot of emphasis on synergy between security agencies. I believe in sharing information. If we arrest kidnappers, we hand them over to the police. When we arrest drug peddlers we had them over to NDLEA. If we arrest human traffickers , they are handed over to NAPTIP. This how it should be and with this we have less crisis.
Still talking discipline how have you managed to keep incidents of stray bullets and extra-judicial killing low among NSDC personnel since you started bearing arms. Aside from a case when one of your men who shot a young man in Lagos, it seems your men are more circumspect in using arms?
You hardly hear of accidental discharge in the military… what happened in Lagos we are yet to unravel it. The man resumed from leave, he picked his gun and decided to shoot…..after the incident I saw to the psychological profiling of all the arms men. After the profiling we had staff, who decided to stop baring arms, I challenge all agencies to do the same. Even the recruitment we are carrying out now, I insisted that they all undergo psychological profiling. Our duty is to protect people and not to kill or harm them. We say we defend the defenseless, so you can’t shoot those you are supposed to defend.
Can you chronicle some of your achievements for us?
I have created a conducive atmosphere for my staff to work. When I came on board, we didn’t have a single state command owned by us. Today I am constructing the13th NSCDC state command in Osun State. I also established the Agro-Rangers Unit. This unit provides security for agric investments and ranches. I also established the mining protection department on the request of the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, that we have an arm-carrying unit that will checkmate illegal mining in Nigeria. We have trained our men for this. We have deployed our men to liberated areas in the North-East. After the kidnap of the Dapchi school girls, we asked to deploy to secondary schools in the North-east. I personally oversaw this by traveling to Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe and Borno. I have moved our headquarters over here on the Airport Road. We have also focused on training and the retraining of our men. Soon, some of them will be going on peace keeping missions.
What challenges have you faced reaching some of your achievements?
If wishes were horses, beggars will ride. If the NSCDC has received higher funding, I would have done much more. But I also recognize that this is the very first time the Federal Government has given us the level of funding we received. I want to thank President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo for the tremendous support shown the corps.
What role is the NSDC playing in managing the COVID -19 pandemic?
We met with the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 and the role assigned to us is that of enforcement. In carrying out this assignment, I cautioned those sent out to be civil with the public. In fact, I didn’t send any armed personnel out for the enforcement of the COVID-19 lockdown. I instructed that no one on COVID-19 lockdown enforcement should carry arms and this instruction is fully obeyed.
We are all over the country for this assignment. Initially, I deployed 9,500 personnel. But we soon realised the need to add more personnel to achieve the aims of the Federal Government to stop the transmission of the virus through an effective lockdown. So I sent out an additional number of two thousand NSCDC personnel. As I speak with you we have over eleven thousand personnel enforcing the lockdown. It is important that we rid our country of this disease. I have appealed to Nigerians severally, that we all need to cooperate on important issues like fighting the COVID-19 virus. Nobody enjoys stopping his fellow citizens in the rain or sun. Why should I or any other security personnel enjoy stopping Nigerians for no good reasons? If security personnel, especially NSCDC personnel stop anyone as part of the enforcing the lockdown, please cooperate with them as we are on the streets for the good of our country. We are dealing with a virus that is highly infectious, a virus that by mere shaking of hands or a person sneezing can infect others . I appeal to Nigerians to cooperate with the police, NSCDC personnel enforcing the lockdown.
As you move NSCDC forward after 53 years, what are your plans?
I want to see the NSCDC at the next level. When I say I want the NSCDC to achieve its next level, I am talking about the example I gave you on RUSSIA. The role civil defence plays in RUSSIA is what other agencies are carrying out in Nigeria. I was in Qatar where they have four aircrafts dedicated to civil defence, they have ambulances dedicated to civil defence. I wish to see the day that the government and people of Nigeria will recognize the real duties of civil defence and the mandate given to the NSCDC.
How do you relax?
I read a lot and listen to music. I listen to local music like Mamman Shata and Hajiya Lolo.
Given Nigeria’s huge population, do you think we have the required number of security personnel to protect the people?
Aside from internationally dictated mandate of disaster management, in Nigeria our duty is to protect national assets, critical infrastructure, oil pipelines, water lines, dams, communication masts and bridges. Coming to your question, the internationally set ratio of 1/400 policeman to persons, today in Nigeria you have an estimated 200 million people and we about 371,000 personnel- look at the gap. So, there arose the need for the NSCDC to license private security companies that are registered and supervised us. This shows you that the number of security personnel in Nigeria is grossly below what is required.
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