President Muhammadu Buhari says his government’s response to security challenges facing the country have been “strong, determined and robust”.
He stated this at the graduation of Course 29 participants of the National Defence College, on Friday in Abuja.
The president was represented at the event by the Minister of Defence, Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd).
He said that government had embarked on a comprehensive multisectoral and cross-thematic approach, by strengthening existing structures and initiating new security outfits.
Buhari added that the focus of the government was to promote multi-national, combined, joint and special inter-agency collaborations in their operations.
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He said the government also focused on non-kinetic actions centred on humanitarian efforts to reduce the distress of the people and improve human conditions.
According to him, some of the measures include disarmament, demobilisation and rehabilitation as well as deradicalisation programmes, political reconciliation measures and instruments of development intervention.
“Although the nation is still grappling with the challenges of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, farmers and herder clashes and militancy.
“The responses by my government and security agencies in tackling these threats have been strong, determined and robust in order to enhance security of lives and property of Nigerians.
“We consolidated the peace in the Niger Delta and recovered vast territories overtaken by terrorists in the North East.
“We are making continuous efforts at consolidating the progress made in improving the enabling security environment for peace and development,” he said.
The president however, saluted the gallant men and women of the Armed Forces of Nigeria who daily risk their lives to make the nation safe.
He assured the troops that their sacrifices would not be in vain.
He commended the personnel of the Nigeria police, intelligence and security agencies as well as local vigilante and community groups for their patriotic and humanitarian sacrifices.
The president said that recent events have shown that, the country yet to be where it should be in the North East and in some other parts of our dear nation.
He said that all hands will continue to be on deck to make Nigeria a safer place to live.
“In spite of all of these challenges, our faith in the nation is unshaken.
“Our resolve and will to take the nation to greater heights remains strong.
“My government’s collective effort is to leverage technological innovations to deliver the dividends of democracy for national development.
“For the graduands of Course 29, you are graduating at a time when the values acquired in the College are most needed.
On his part, the Minister of Defence, Magashi, urged the participants of the course 29 to deploy the knowledge they had acquired in the last 11 months to solving the nation’s security challenge.
He added that the strategic leadership and policy management knowledge they had acquired, had positioned them better to proffer solutions to the various challenges confronting the nation.
The Commandant of NDC, Rear Adm. Oladele Daji, said that the broad study theme for Course 29 was the “4th Industrial Revolution and National Development in Nigeria”.
Daji said the course curriculum was reviewed to make it more relevant to the demands of contemporary and emerging security and geo-strategic imperatives in line with best practices.
He added that the course content was implemented 100 per cent through various innovations and ingenuity.
A participant from the Nigerian army, Col. Hassan Hassan, said that the outcome of the researches they conducted during the course would have positive impact on the operations in the North East and North West.
Hassan said that the course had broaden their knowledge on operational activities, adding that new ideas had come into play.
“From my research paper on the operational effectiveness of Nigerian army and equipment maintenance, you will realise that over time, equipment maintenance has been the bane of our back and forth in the North East.
“With what we have gathered in the field, we will definitely add value the existing standards in the field,” he said.
The course, which commenced in September 2020, has 22 participants from the Nigerian Army, 25, from Nigerian Navy and 11 from Nigerian Air Force.
There were 24 participants from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) comprising six from Nigeria Police, three each from Department of State Service (DSS), National intelligence Agency (NIA) and Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) among others.
There were 14 international participants from 10 African countries Niger, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Republic of Congo and Chad as well as allied counties of Bangladesh, Nepal and Germany.