The Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, has advised the Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) 19 of the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS) Abuja to examine the concept of tragedy of the commons as the real bane of resource optimization in Nigeria.
Addressing the officers on a study tour to Enugu State, Governor Mbah praised the nation as highly endowed with resources but, unfortunately, not utilized appropriately or optimally for the good of the Nigerian state; he attributed this to the tragedy of the commons.
“I think we are actually blessed with more resources than we actually need, but the challenge is this tragedy of the commons, which is determining who the owners of the resources are, because if we are not able to identify who the real owner is, then we are unable to invest to optimize them. You are unable to spend without taking full ownership. So, we need to have a structure to optimize those resources.”
“I think the idea of your studies is for you to come back and teach us and let us learn from your research. It will help you to interrogate some of these things, whether we are really suffering from resource competition or the tragedy of the commons,” Governor Mbah reiterated.
Dr. Peter Mbah made this call when he received the team, EIMC 19, in audience at Government House, Enugu.
The team, made up of security personnel and experts drawn from various security and paramilitary agencies, led by Olalekan Fashanu, as required by their course, was on a study tour of the state. The course focus: Ethnic Militia and Resource Competition in Africa: Implications for National Security.
Commending the achievements of the Enugu State Government in security, especially the ultramodern Enugu State Command and Control Center, AI-enabled cameras, and other interventions, the team described these as a potent infrastructure for fighting insecurity.
Dr. Olusola Opa-Ola, NISS staff, confessing satisfaction at numerous security interventions in Enugu State, said, “The command and control installed in the state has assisted in so many ways in curbing insecurity and in identifying grey areas; this is a major factor that enables Enugu state to achieve these great lengths that they have achieved.”
“We hope other states can come around, copy this type of command and control that they have established here. It has assisted them in nipping crime in the bud. Other states around here or even in the federation can copy this kind of security investment.”
Calling for similar interventions in other states and the Federation, Opa-Ola further advocates for collaboration among all tiers of government and Agencies in charge of security, “One Agency cannot do it alone, and one state cannot do it alone except by collaboration,” Opa-Ola said.
The tragedy of the commons is an economic theory conceptualized in 1833 by the British writer William Forster Lloyd, but the term was first used by Garret Hardin in Science Magazine.
The tragedy of the commons, according to Alexandra Spiliakos in Leadership and Management, refers to a situation in which individuals with access to a public resource, also called a common, act in their own interests and, in doing so, ultimately deplete the resource.
“This theory explains individuals’ tendency to make decisions based on their personal needs, regardless of the negative impact it may have on others. Potential overuse of a common-pool resource—a hybrid between a public and private good—can also influence individuals to act with their short-term interest in mind, resulting in the use of an unsustainable product and disregard of the harm it could cause to the environment or the general public,” Alexandra Spiliakos.
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