Centre Advocates Military, Media Partnership Against Terrorism

The director general, Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC), Maj.-Gen. Garba Wahab (rtd), has advocated a strong partnership between the military and the media to promote national security by building confidence.

Wahab made the call yesterday at a roundtable themed, “National Interest versus National Security: A Quest for Responsible Journalism” with members of the Defence Correspondents Association of Nigeria (DECAN) in Abuja.

He said the event was organised to bridge the gaps that had been observed in the military-media relations, adding that there was the need to begin to build trust.

He said, “Both parties, both sides need to find a way of moving ahead, and that is why the center is getting DHQ and the services informed as to what the gaps that have been identified by the media practitioners, particularly the defence correspondents.

“There is need for them to block the gaps from their side, and from the media side to also be mindful of the reportage, putting national security into consideration,”.

Wahab said that the military must engage with the three layers involved, adding that the defence correspondents, the guild of editors and media owners were the critical layers to deal with.

He said that all the layers must work in agreement with the military to be able to project national interest and also ensure national security.

“We need to keep on talking to you but the guild of editors need to be brought in at one point, and the owners of all these organisations need to come in.

“So different levels and different set of people.

“So we will have to identify those that we believe should be the one dealing with each of these strata and then finding a common ground for the three to regularly talk and discuss among themselves.

“Otherwise, if, for instance, the owners discuss, for instance, with the minister or CDS, if the message is not passed down to the guild of editors, the efforts have been wasted,” he added.