Since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, hardly has the job of ending insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation been as demanding as it is today, with the single most daunting task being to end armed banditry which has stopped major and daily agricultural and other economic activities.
In recent years, the country has been wracked by violence and banditry across much of the north and the sabotage of oil assets in the south.
Roads between large cities have been plagued by kidnapping gangs and the mass abduction of schoolchildren, such as the Chibok girls, has become common.
To change the narrative, the proposed 2023 budget shows that a total of N1.25 trillion was disbursed to the federal ministry of defence.
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The allocation consisted of capital and recurrent expenditure to be carried out by agencies and parastatals in 2023. The capital budget stands at N156.26 billion while the recurrent budget stands at N1.09 trillion and makes up 6.09 percent of the total budget proposed for 2023.
Based on the proposed federal government budget, and its allocation of N1.25 billion to the ministry of defence in the fight against insecurity, N6,067.96 is what the federal government has estimated to fight insecurity for its 206 million citizens.
The total allocation to the ministry of defence in the 2023 proposed budget is the highest amount allocated towards security in the Buhari administration. The proposed budgetary allocation for defence increased by 232 percent when compared to 2015 and increased by 5.04 percent when compared to the proposed budgetary allocation of 2022.
Nigeria over the years has witnessed a drastic rise in insecurity, ranging from farmer-herder clashes, kidnapping for ransoms and attacks by the Boko Haram and Bandits. It is no surprise why the amount budgeted towards defence has increased over time, although it hasn’t been reflected in curtailing insecurity in Nigeria over the years.
Is N6,067.96 Per Nigerian Sufficient enough to fight Insecurity?
The defence per capita from the 2023 proposed budget stands at N6,067.96 per citizen. Although the ranking of Nigeria among countries with the highest security level moved from third place worldwide to sixth place worldwide due to the increase in spending, their spending on defence has not met the average benchmark of 2.2 percent of total GDP like most countries worldwide.
This shows that Nigeria is not spending as much as it should to curtail insecurity as other countries. The rise of insecurity has led to the destruction of lives and properties, unemployment, a fall in investment and a rise in food inflation.
Dr Kabir Adamu, a security expert and the Managing Director of Beacon Consulting Ltd, spoke to Datphyte about the impact of budgetary allocation to defence, and he pointed out that budgetary allocation would definitely impact the capabilities of security most especially the armed forces.
He emphasized the effect of the rising inflation on the operations of the armed forces, stating an example of the cost of aviation fuel used by the airforce currently as compared to that of last year. Dr Kabir pressed on the present economic condition of the country and the need to allocate funds to reflect the current economic reality and the current allocation to defence does not reflect the current economic reality.
The president in his speech while presenting the 2023 budget proposal made his stance on curtailing banditry, insecurity and kidnapping before the end of his administration. This comes after numerous assurances and marching orders by the President and security chiefs.