Counter-insurgency: COAS says the military has achieved commendable successes through inter-agency collaboration
The Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, says the military has achieved commendable successes in its counter-insurgency operations due to t he renewed and enhanced inter-agency collaboration between services and security agencies.
Yahaya made this at the opening of an Inter-agency Seminar, organised by the Army War College Nigeria (AWCN) for its Course 5 participants, on Monday in Abuja.
The theme of the seminar is “Effective Coordination of Security Agencies Towards Improved Internal Security of Nigeria”.
Represented by the Chief of Civil Military Affairs (Army), Maj.-Gen. Anthony Omizoje, the COAS, said that all the existing security threats were surmountable through effective collaboration between security agencies.
He said that such a collaborative structure would ensure and facilitate seamless modulation of all government agencies in the ongoing efforts to secure the country.
The COAS said that the current threats presented a unique character requiring interagency efforts involving the military and other agencies to effectively tackle using both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches.
“Any collaborative initiative with outcomes that build capacity across agencies towards fostering interagency harmony and strengthening partnership among security agencies is welcomed with a lot of excitement and it is a step in the right direction.
“As you are aware commendable progress has been recorded against insurgency in the northeast particularly as the three services have started operating more jointly against the insurgents.
“Nonetheless, the Nigerian state is still faced with a myriad of other security challenges that comprised armband free kidnapping pastoralists farmers conflicts cultism and political violence among others.
“These complex security challenges which have impacted heavily on our national human capital resources are increasingly becoming endemic to our collective security.
“As discomforting as these threats will appear they are not insurmountable hence the clarion call for the improvement of constructing proactive sustainable and holistic interagency operational framework,” he said.
Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola, urged the military to show leadership and resist the temptation of going into rivalry with other security agencies.
Aregbesola, who was a lead discussant at the seminar, said the military remained at the top hierarchy of the nation’s security architecture while the people formed the base.
He said that collaboration was the catalyst to effectively tackle the prevailing security challenges bedeviling the country towards achieving a safe and secure country.
The Commandant, AWCN, Maj.-Gen. Solomon Udounwa, said the seminar was part of the curriculum of the Course V, developed to equip participants with rudiments of inter-agency cooperation and collaboration.
Udounwa said that the course module was designed to improve the participants’ knowledge on interagency cooperation and coordination as well as enhance their competency function in joints environments.
He urged the participants to pay close attention to the lectures and discussions that would take place during the seminar.
Also speaking, a Guest Lecturer and professor of International Relations and Development Studies at the University of Jos, Prof. Victor Adetula, said that addressing national security challenges required robust engagement of all citizens.
Adetula said that there was need to have understanding that whatever affects national security would also affect development and vice versa.
According to him, the recent unwholesome developments in the country, including the attempts by some to politicise aspects of the internal security challenge have continued to generate much tension across the country.
