...says it is a child of necessity
In 10 years of its existence as a paramilitary service in the country's civil service, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has said that it was a child of necessity, created to fill vacuums and correct the ills existing government agencies could not correct, UBONG UKPONG reports.
The NSCDC, which existed as a mere voluntary organisation for several decades, was converted into a government agency under the civil service by an Act of parliament which gave it a full paramilitary service status. Just about June, the Corps clocked 10 years of its official take off under its establishing Act of 2003, and it seems to have attained enviable heights both in administration and operations which hitherto, long existing agencies could not attain.
Our interactions with the spokesman Mr. Emmanuel Okeh and indeed, some members of the public, indicated that the Corps has lived up to its billings in virtually all aspects of its prescribed duties.
Okeh told the story of the humble beginning of the Corps being a volunteer group since its emergence in 1967 as a child of necessity. Its evolution, he said was as a result of that first devastating bomb blast in the then federal capital, Lagos, which caused serious pandemonium as a result of the showdown between General Yakubu Gowon's administration as Head of State and late Biafra warlord, Dim Emeka Odumegu Ojukwu, when the Aburi agreement on how the country should be ruled failed.
He pointed out that after the blast, which was a warning signal for cessation, there was a need to establish a neutral body to educate, enlighten and help citizens during civil unrest, since it seemed that the existing agencies could not be trusted with such functions, as they were suspected of compromise and divided loyalty.
After all bureaucratic processes, he said that the Lagos Civil Defence Committee was approved by government to function as a voluntary organisation and it later by a decree, metamorphosed into what is presently called the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps with powers as a voluntary organisation under the supervision of the Internal Affairs ministry, and so it remained during and after the civil war.
"Civil Defence is a child of necessity. Its emergence then was to correct certain ills and make things straight. If other bodies could do the work then there would not have been the need to create the Civil Defence", Okeh stated.
Be it as it were, he said as a voluntary organization, it showed mastery in security operations to complement the security agencies during the 2003 general elections, and that enjoyed the commendation of well meaning Nigerians like Senator Roland Owen, who sponsored the bill that is now an Act establishing the NSCDC in 2003.
On its official take off in 2004, the Corps was said to have started with 12, 512 regular intakes, leaving the remaining volunteers to keep functioning in that capacity till there were spaces to absorb them.
Presently, the Corps is waxing stronger in pursuing and achieving its mandates and Okeh said that it was having about 45,000 regular staff strength and about 160,000 volunteers, across the country. He clarified that only the early volunteers still enjoyed that status, as the Corps was no longer recruiting volunteers but regulars.
The Corps' command structure begins with the national headquarters with various directorates and departments in Abuja, where the Commandant General superintends over the affairs of the Corps.
There are eight Zonal headquarters with Assistant Commandants General (ACGs), 37 Commands with Commandants as heads, Divisions across all Local Government Areas (LGAs), with at least a superintendent headed, and cells across the various divisions with at least an assistant superintendent calling the shots.
While the regular staff were under obligation to work at all levels of the command structures, the volunteers in the Corps were said to be limited only to the divisions and cells, where they complemented the efforts of the regulars.
They were also said to be enjoying certain benefits and allowances as volunteers. For the regulars, they are content within the Corps which they described as "a happy family," under the leadership of Dr Ade Abolurin as the pioneer Commandant General (CG) whom members of the Corps across ranks prefer to address as "Daddy", for his exceptional leadership qualities, father-figure, welfare standpoints and love that he showers on them.
The Corps also regulates the private security guard companies and their operations, protect critical public infrastructures, oil installations and the country's waterways to fight illegal bunkers and oil thieves.
They also as a matter of duty, engage in crowd control, rescue operations during emergencies and surveillance operations amongst other serious state duties prescribed under their establishing Act 2003 and 2007 (Amendment ) Act. Equally, personnel of the Corps have continued to enjoy welfare packages like continuous car loan schemes, owner occupier housing projects, comprehensive insurance policies, care for families of deceased personnel, good working environment and conditions, constant promotions, prompt payment of salaries and other entitlements and unbiased treatment of personnel across ranks, irrespective of tribe, religion, sect or class.
The Corps' PRO said that what has continued to guide the Corps and its personnel were prudence, integrity, transparency, honesty, loyalty, dedication to duty, love for humanity and the country, which have led to their high performance within the shortest period, thereby attracting this degree of envy.
Personnel of the Corps are often criticized to be everywhere doing nothing, but Okeh said this was laughable, stressing that the presence of the Corps throughout the country was also responsible for the peace and tranquillity as well as prosperity enjoyed by people in the country.
Okeh said that the Corps had during its various operations made over 15,000 arrests and prosecution, secured conviction for over 3000 of them as well as impounded over 5000 trucks with stolen petroleum products.
Most of these operations were successfully executed when the Corps was not armed, but since it was armed in 2012, the impacts on its operations have been enormous. "Generally, some of the operations where vandals challenged the corps' operatives no longer happen. Gun has added another impetus to the Corps' existence and people now believe that the Corps has come to stay as a force", the Spokesman stated.
He said that members of the Corps were not confined to a particular residence environment, as they lived among people throughout the communities wherever others lived, making their presence to be everywhere too.
He said this was also very good for the Corps as they were able to feel what the people felt, be on ground at the communities and got vital information that had continued to help them in achieving their mandates.
Of late, he said people were more interested and looked forward to joining the Corps being a new force on ground now with great integrity, fear of God, believing that they could make a career out of it.
This interest is seen in the influx of people to the Corps scrambling for few vacancies declared as well as the high rate of job scam by fraudsters, which had become an issue in the Corps. The Spokesman said that since its establishment, the Corps has justified its existence, shown to people that it was capable of discharging her mandate without compromise.
"It has proved to the world that it is not a duplication or usurping the functions of others or created out of pity but as a child of necessity to tackle some of the challenges confronting other organizations.
With the existence of the Corps, vandalism which has been a problem is gradually phased off. Private Guards Company has been one neglected sector but was supposed to be a revenue generation base to government but was not until the Corps came on board and now it is generating huge revenue, and the sector is now made up of professionals.
The Corps has justified its capability in handling this industry, he said.
In terms of rescue and disaster management, the Corps he said has been the first respondent, even during road crashes, but in all of these, it was burdened with the challenges of lack of logistics, accommodation, poor public perception, urging the public to see the Corps as a body created to protect them and support it with necessary information to enhance security.
National Mirror
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