By Sunny Attah
The decision by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to assign the responsibility of protecting Very Important Personalities (VIPs) to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) is one of the carefully thought out initiatives of the President in the year 2025.
Coming from a civil society background as a former staunch member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) as well as other pro democracy outfits, the President appreciates the significance of keying the civil populace into governance hence the decision.
The President also understands that every agency has its turf and that they function better when allowed to focus on their core mandates..
The NSCDC by design is an agency established to protect lives, property, and critical national assets with focus on internal security.
Over the years, the agency has been top notch in complementing the efforts of other security agencies with high level intelligence gathering, rescue operations, emergencies management and guard duties hence has proven that it is an agency worth its name.
Added to that, it has also leveraged on its acceptability by the civil populace with constant engagements and interactions with civil society organisations especially since the tenure of the current Commandant General, Professor Ahmed Abubakar Audi.
At frequent intervals, the CG has impressed it on the populace that the agency is not a bully that should be feared but one that can be interacted and cooperated with to deliver quality service to the people.
This much has been acknowledged by various CSOs who commend the CG for making the operations of the agency transparent and improving agency/ civil populace interaction.
Since then, the Corps has stood out in its assignment to provide security to VIPs due to its double barrel capacity of being a para military outfit that bears arms and a platform for social engagement.
While people may at times be hesitant to confide in the agents of other security agencies due to lack of trust, they relate with the NSCDC personnel with frankness and sincerity that is both convivial and blunt.
This is because the NSCDC has had no history of conflict or hostility with the civil populace and has maintained that relationship and image over the years.
The coming of the current or NSCDC Audi has boosted that level of understanding between the corps members and the civil populace with the enhance training and orientation of the personnel.
As the visionary that he is, CG Audi must have foreseen the responsibility of guarding VIPs coming to the corps one day so had repositioned the outfit to be well prepared for that function.
He equipped and enhanced the capacity of the units in charge of that long before the President’s order.
When the nation was gripped with the challenge of insecurity owing to insufficient personnel to handle the security situation, he must have known that the NSCDC would one day be made to carry out one its key functions exclusively.
President Tinubu himself must have noticed this resolve, that was why he did not talk about getting the NSCDC prepared before they could take that responsibility, as he was aware, that the agency has been positioned to carry out that function while all that was needed was a political push.
The NSCDC which has been securing national assets would not find it hard to secure assets of citizens which it has been been doing quietly over the years.
As 2026 approaches, Nigerians would begin to feel the positive impact of having more police men in the field combating crime and ensuring security while the NSCDC complement their efforts by guarding VIPs and securing national assets among other key efforts to make Nigeria a better place.
Attah is a Civil Society Activist and the country director, STAND UP Nigeria
