The definition of security as the state of individuals, groups and the entire society being free from danger or threat has not changed for time immemorial.
However, unlike the ancient times when rulers like the Egyptian Pharoahs and Roman emperors, for instance, only had guards for personal, family and property security, today’s dynamics call for security arrangements for the safety of every member of the society, with some individuals having theirs reinforced by themselves or the state.
Unlike a time in history when, humans, horses (in some cases) and weapons were key in security, today other things like logistics, maps and policies have come to enhance security.
Current threats, including terrorism and cybercrime, demand advanced technology, skilled people and well-tailored policies and processes to ensure safety of humans and organisations.
The truth is that security fears or threats would persist and so countries would have to continuously review their security arrangements and readiness to deal with evolving threats.
It is upon this basis that the Ghanaian Times commends reiteration of the government’s commitment to resource the security services in the country to better position them to discharge their duty of protecting the citizens against terrorism and other external forces.
Renewing the commitment on Sunday, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo assured the country’s security chiefs that the government would provide the services with the necessary logistics, human resource and appropriate policy to enhance their capability to deal with all security threats, including spillage.
Spillage or data spill is the transmission of classified or sensitive information to unaccredited or unauthorised systems, persons, applications, or media.
Preventing spillage is, therefore, very important as the divulging of security information can compromise safety arrangement to the detriment of the country’s peace and stability.
For this reason, security services hardly inform the public about what they have in place to defend the country.
However, judging from the government’s repetition of the decision to resource the security services to prepare them against terrorism, for example, it can be deduced that there is some inadequacy somewhere.
The Ghanaian Times therefore wishes to appeal to the government to prioritise and hasten plans to equip the services to be combat-ready in the face of terrorist activities in the country’s immediate neighbour Burkina Faso and other Sahel nations.
Chieftaincy and other conflicts in the northern part of our country also need particular and urgent attention because they can be grounds for terrorists from elsewhere to facilitate their entry into the country with ease to perpetrate their activities here.
Security is said to be a shared responsibility but the country would lose that advantage once elements in parts of the country are internally terrorising their own people.
As President Akufo-Addo has reiterated, the security services can only work successfully with the support and cooperation of all Ghanaians, more particularly those living along the country’s borders, to squash activities of terrorists and extremists.
At present, it is very important for security personnel at the borders, particularly immigration and customs personnel, to review their duties by prioritising the security aspect and avoiding the personal and selfish gainsm, otherwise terrorists can take advantage of them and infiltrate the country to the hurt of the entire Ghanaian society.