Ensuring Security Through Human Elements: Silencing The Guns, Consolidating The Gates And Building Trust In Nigeria

In recent years, Nigeria has faced a number of security challenges from terrorism to bandits and hostage taking for ransom. Any of such criminals working in a critical facility may decide to exploit his authorized access, authority and knowledge to betray trust and bypass security measures if no vetting process in place. The insider could be the manager, workers, contractors, visitors, or Inspectors, It is therefore important to develop a methodology for understanding, assessing, and managing human elements (Insider threat) involved in managing Nigeria’s critical facilities. This has brought concern about the security of nuclear and/or radiological materials and critical facilities in the country. In addition, there have been several reports of security incidences and sabotage at critical facilities around the world involving personnel and contractors who provide specialized services. It shows that security at such facilities require the presence, judgment, and decision-making capabilities of individuals (with the recognition that certain human behaviors and characteristics may have impact on facility effectiveness). Nigeria has acknowledged this global concern and the importance of developing a Human Reliability Program (HRP) for selecting individuals who manage critical facilities and more importantly who have the attitudes, attributes, qualifications and best values. To this end, Nigeria in partnership with US Department of State’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) under its Nuclear Threat Initiatives (NTI) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has developed and implemented HRP at its critical facilities to strengthen national security and contribute to global security. The primary objective of the Nigeria’s HRP is to ensure the deployment of reliable and trustworthy individuals who cannot only recognize and report insider threats, but will mitigate risks associated with unreliable individuals in sensitive positions. Regulations, policies, and procedures, which protect individual rights as well as the national security, were also developed. In this paper we highlighted insider in the larger context of national and international threats, discussed security from the perspective of human elements (insider threats) and examined how Nigeria mandated implementation of HRP in all of its critical facilities thereby silencing the guns, consolidating the gates and building trust in those critical facilities.