The new government needs to address the issue of security

An attempt to define security is difficult because the concept is value laden and riddled with ambiguity due to constrains caused by semantics and logomarchy. However some policymakers seem to enjoy the ambiguity surrounding this concept and have played it to their own advantage. For example citizens of some nations loose civil liberties under the pretext of national security, for example the Americans after the 911 bombing. The west has over the years supported Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and political parties that seek to ouster black governments in Africa with their actual intentions sheathed under the veneer of ‘maintaining international security’ Although this discussion is especially concerned with the security of nation-states, most of the analysis is applicable, mutatis mutandis, to any level: individual, family, society, state, international system, or humanity.

The concept of security must be addressed in light of two questions: security from whom? And security for which values? The new government must secure its citizenry from ‘bully nations’ like the USA, bully in the sense that they have developed a tendency to meddle into our domestic affairs without the justification to do so. The Montevideo convention conferred sovereignty on every nation. Every entity that has satisfied the requirements to be considered a nation-state is sovereign despite having a small population like the Vatican City. So no other nation has the right to interfere with another nation’s policies. This I decide to call ‘sovereignty security’

The country must also be secured from entities those symphony resources from our country. These maybe in the form of Multi National Corporations or other countries. This I decide to call ‘economic security’

The next thing will be to define which values need to be secured. From the recent spate of ‘sextapes’ surfacing on public platforms and going viral on social networks, the country needs security of our traditional and cultural values. In our African culture such customs are foreign, unwanted and taboo. Stiffer penalties must be imposed on those who are involved in such shameless activities. This is not the life we want our children: future leaders of tomorrow grow up adoring.

Security is a multi pronged concept that needs to be tackled from different vantage points lest the country become vulnerable to attack by other nations or from the negative impacts of globalization. The onus is therefore upon policy makers to secure the nation from all corners of human life.