Defence chief: National security is complex | Everyone must be involved

Lucky Irabor, chief of defence staff, says every patriotic Nigerian needs to be involved in the security of the country.

Irabor spoke on Thursday at a workshop for media professionals in Abuja.

The defence chief, who was represented by Tanko Pani, director of training at the defence headquarters, said the complex nature of the nation’s security architecture requires a multi-sectoral approach.

“National security in Nigeria is a complex issue that requires a multifaceted approach from all sectors of the society,” he said.

“The country has been grappling with various forms of insecurity in the past decade which include terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, communal clashes, oil theft, piracy, drug and human trafficking, illegal unregulated and unreported fishing and cyber crimes, among others.

“To curtail this security situation, an all-of-society approach is required. The approach involves the participation of the government, security agencies, civil organisations, religious leaders, traditional leaders, the press and the general public.”

Irabor said the military has launched several operations, including kinetic and non-kinetic as part of measures to address the challenge of insecurity.

“In order to tackle and subdue the security challenges in the country, several military operations and exercises have been launched by the AFN across the country since 2009,” he said.

“Recently, the FGN adopted a non-kinetic approach by developing a policy framework and national action plan for preventing and countering violent extremism (NAPPCVE).

“The plan recognises the integrated roles of the AFN with the larger society as critical, by adopting a whole of government and whole of society approach.

“Consequently, the combination of kinetic and non-kinetic efforts has led to a lot of successes in the ongoing operations conducted by the AFN across the country.

Irabor said the non-kinetic military operations involved the use of psychological, diplomatic negotiations and economic sanctions to achieve military objectives.

“These operations can be used in combination with each other or with traditional military action to achieve specific objectives,” he said.

“They are often used in situations where traditional military activities are either not feasible or not appropriate.”