Security Non-Negotiable, Key To Economic Growth — Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has said national security remains the fundamental bedrock required to achieve Nigeria’s economic ambitions and lasting prosperity.

He noted that his administration views safety and the protection of lives as the fundamental baseline for business expansion, which is why the broader economic plan focuses on stabilising macroeconomic fundamentals, boosting local industry, and attracting foreign investment.

Speaking in Abuja yesterday during the graduation ceremony for participants of National Defence College Course 34, the president, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, maintained that strengthening the nation’s armed forces and neutralising criminal elements, bandits and terrorists remained central to the government’s focus.

“Our economic ambitions accompany the duty to secure our people. The armed forces and security agencies continue to confront terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, piracy and organised criminality with courage and professionalism.

“Government will provide equipment, training, resources and institutional support for their constitutional duties. Peace creates room for enterprise, and enterprise enlarges the citizen’s stake in peace. When communities recover security, opportunity must follow, because stability grows where people can work, trade, learn and hope,” he stated in a statement by the spokesman of the vice president, Stanley Nkwocha.

Aligning with the crux of former president Goodluck Jonathan’s recent graduation lecture, President Tinubu pointed out that Africa’s security would increasingly depend on productive economies, regional value chains, innovation, and industries capable of employing its young population.

As the African Continental Free Trade Area deepens integration, he insisted that ‘industrialisation must drive inclusive growth, reduce structural vulnerability and enlarge continental bargaining power,” just as he restated Nigeria’s commitment “to a peaceful, prosperous, integrated Africa.”

Earlier, the commandant of the National Defence College, Rear Admiral Abdullahi Ahmed, said the presence of the President, ably represented by the Vice President, at the graduation ceremony was in acknowledgement of his administration’s commitment to strategic leadership development and national security.

He noted that the participants had, in the past 47 weeks, undergone intensive and rigorous training programme comprising research, field tours and seminar presentations, focusing on contemporary security and developmental challenges as well as high level defence management.

The commandant said the participants are expected to translate their experience and knowledge gained during the programme into tangible solutions confronting various sectors of the Nigerian economy.

The highpoint of the graduation ceremony was the presentation of certificates to the 103 participants, comprising 33 from the Nigerian Army; 20 from the Nigeria Navy; 9 from the Nigeria Air Force; 4 from the Police; 17 from MDAs, and 20 international participants, as well as awards to deserving participants.