National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has lauded the Armed Forces of Nigeria for sustaining the successes being recorded in the ongoing fight against terrorists, bandits and other criminals.
Ribadu gave the commendation yesterday in Abuja at the Chief of Defence Intelligence Annual Conference 2023 with the theme: “Leveraging Defence Diplomacy and Effective Regional Collaboration for Enhanced National Security”.
He said the armed forces under the current leadership had shown serious commitment to addressing the prevailing security challenges bedeviling the country, adding that there were positive changes and improvement both in and outside Nigeria.
“Let us come together as one and continue to support our armed forces and other security agencies with this work of securing our country for peace and stability.
“They have done an amazingly good job without talking and I believe that with the support and the resolve of the leadership that we have today in our country, things will only be better.
“We are just four or five months old, but certainly things have changed and we believe that what they are doing, they are doing it right. We want to encourage them, stand by them and support them 100 per cent and hopefully this country will be okay in a short period of time,” he said.
The NSA said the renewed synergy among services had led to the recent successes being recorded in dealing with the threats that had become increasingly asymmetric.
Ribadu said the essence of defence diplomacy was to pursue strategic engagement with allies and partners at bilateral and multilateral levels while ensuring the attainment of national security objectives.
He said that the improved security in the Niger Delta region had led to an increase in oil production from 900,000 barrels per day about a year ago, to about 1.7 million barrels per day currently.
The NSA added that attacks on oil installations have also reduced drastically in recent time due to the commitment of the military, while insurgency related deaths have also reduced in the North East and North West.
In his remarks, the minister of defence, Alhaji Muhammed Badaru, urged the Nigerian Defence Attachés and Advisers deployed in different countries to leverage on collaboration to proffer solutions to some of the nation’s security challenges.
Badaru said that for any country’s defence strategy to succeed, it must recognise the critical role of diplomacy in reducing military mix as well as possible and shared understanding for enhanced national security.
