Do Nigerians and Kenya have confidence in their government’s fight against terrorism?
A survey that was carried out in 2014 to early 2015 showed that Nigerians and Kenyans are unhappy with how their governments’ were dealing with terrorists and also distrust their county’s security forces.
The survey by carried out by Afrobarometer in 33 countries said that four out of ten citizens in Nigeria and Kenya support their government’s efforts to counter insurgency attacks.
“Public approval in Nigeria and Kenya for their governments’ handling of jihadist violence is low, and citizens have a poor opinion of the security forces that are supposed to protect them, according to a survey-based report released this week by Afrobarometer, a pan-African research network.” Said Obi Anyadike, IRIN reporter
However there are African governments with high approval rates from their citizens these include Niger with 96 percent of their citizens supportive of their efforts of dealing with terrorism, Cameroon has 81 percent and Uganda 83 percent of approval rates.
Nigerians and Kenyans expressed lack of confidence in their police force. Only 21 percent of Nigerians and 36 percent of Kenyans have confidence in the police.
In a shift of events, at least 68 percent of people in Kenya have confidence in the military but the trend is still the same in Nigeria with only 40 percent of the people trusting the military. Senegal and Tanzania also recorded high numbers of people with confidence in their army.
“In Nigeria, the survey found the priorities were a strengthening of the military response (44 percent); more job creation (34 percent); outreach to religious leaders (17 percent); followed by an array of approaches, including better governance and community engagement.” said report co-author Rorisang Lekalake
Do the citizens of these two countries hold the same opinion until now or have things shifted in favour of the government and security forces?
