TheCable

Spaces For Change (S4C), a civil society organisation, says the federal government must understand the root causes of insecurity in the country to be able to design an appropriate response strategy.

S4C works to infuse human rights into social and economic governance processes in Nigeria.

Speaking on Thursday at a panel discussion on “national security and civil society dialogue”, Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri, S4C’s executive director, said CSOs have been at the forefront of collaborating with the government in drawing up solutions for security challenges.

She said while CSOs have been allies in promoting democracy, independent government strategies must prioritise the protection of human rights in the country.

“The origin, triggers, root causes, enablers, and the essential characteristics of the security challenges faced in the country must be understood in order for the government to design an appropriate response strategy,” Ibezim-Ohaeri said.

“And any such strategy must recognize that human rights and national security are interdependent and mutually reinforcing objectives.”

The S4C executive director described the collaborative efforts between government agencies and CSOs as commendable, noting that they are important steps toward building trust and cooperation.

“What originally started as difficult conversations are now softening into constructive and sustained dialogues between law enforcement agencies and civil society groups,” she said.

“For instance, Nigeria has now conducted a standalone terrorist-financing national risk assessment of the NPO sector to identify subsets of NPOs at risk of TF. Efforts are underway to develop proportionate mitigation measures for identified risks.

“New legislative initiatives, specifically the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 (MLPPA), enacted in May 2022 have also delisted NPOs from the official list of designated non-financial businesses and businesses (DNFBPs) as required by the FATF Standards.

“These recent developments are commendable and are important steps towards building trust and cooperation.”

She urged concerned stakeholders to prioritise national security and flesh out new approaches that allow collaborative problem-solving, and transformative and scalable initiatives at national, regional, and international levels.