President Bola Tinubu's recent pledge to install CCTV cameras in Jos has drawn criticism from Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland and National Leader of the Oodua People's Congress (OPC), Iba Gani Adams, who insists surveillance infrastructure must be nationwide, not limited to one city. Speaking at the annual Oke 'Badan Festival held at Mapo Hall in Ibadan, Adams questioned the logic of focusing on Jos alone, stating, "We are surprised that President Bola Tinubu during his recent visit to Jos, was just saying that CCTV gadgets will be fixed in Jos. But I dare say CCTV ought to be installed across the entire country." He emphasized that developed nations rely on widespread CCTV coverage as a core security measure, including on public streets. Adams tied the effectiveness of such technology to stable electricity, warning that without consistent power, surveillance systems cannot function. He criticized Nigeria's current electricity generation, calling it insufficient for national progress, and described the nation's 5,000 megawatts output as laughable at this stage of development. For comparison, he cited South Africa's installed capacity of about 58,000 megawatts, noting that even with operational challenges at ESKOM, which supplies roughly 90% of the country's power, its output remains far ahead of Nigeria's. Adams also referenced Egypt as Africa's largest electricity producer, with over 60,000 megawatts, underscoring the gap between Nigeria and its continental peers. He stressed that national security and development depend on both surveillance and reliable power, urging a holistic approach. The OPC leader warned that piecemeal solutions like targeting only Jos would fail to address the broader crisis of insecurity and infrastructure decay.
Gani Adams' critique exposes the contradiction in Tinubu's promise to install CCTV in Jos while ignoring the lack of nationwide infrastructure to support it. Nigeria's 5,000 megawatts power output makes widespread surveillance impractical, yet this reality was not addressed in the President's announcement. If CCTV is meant to deter attacks, its absence in most of the country renders the gesture symbolic rather than strategic. Without fixing power and scaling surveillance uniformly, security efforts will remain fragmented and ineffective.
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