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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Where is our emergency number?



The Goodluck Jonathan government has stayed long enough to roll out a uniform, nationally known emergency number that people can call to provide hints to security operatives about potential security risks or report a crime.

I’ve said this on my Facebook wall many times before. Where the police and other security operatives achieve wonders, it is not juju they are using. They are tapping into the power of information. It is a collaboration of the public with the forces. The public in these countries are able to effortlessly provide information to the police by dialling a short-code that is known even by kids.

 If you hear a strange shooting or you sight a band of suspicious-looking people in your neighbourhood, you can easily call the number and a police man on patrol nearby is despatched to check things out. It may turn out to be nothing, or it may be serious. Where is our own short code for emergency? Where is the communication equipment for the police? How are the forces sharing information? Is there a central system for warehousing information on terrorism that is accessible online to the operatives of all the forces deployed to fight terrorism? These are issues that the govt should focus on. It is not enough to threaten to fish out terrorists. What are we doing to make that possible aside from barricading the streets?

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