The Director General of the Federal Radio Corporation, Dr. Mohammed Bulama has stated that Nigerians can no longer tolerate further killings in the country.
Bulama therefore asked the military and other security agencies to find ways to end the killings within the country and restore peace.
The DG spoke at the Defence Headquarters Psychological Operations Workshop with the theme: “Defence Headquarters Influence Operations: Optimizing Psychological Operations for Efficiency in a Joint Environment.”
Bulama said solutions and resolutions from the workshop would contribute in entrenching peace and stability in the country.
He said Nigeria over the past decade, has faced, and still facing one of the greatest security challenges in its national history.
“In as much as I am aware that such security threats are usually difficult to tackle, I have never doubted the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and all government security and intelligence agencies in eradicating these security challenges.
“This is evident in the successes that have been recorded so far in the various theatres of operations across the country,” he said.
He noted that there was never a time that the military have been so committed in the fight to restore peace and security than now since after the civil war.
“We know that the Armed Forces are overworked and overstretched, but in spite of that, we also know that the Armed Forces are doing a very great job.
“I must therefore observe that the Armed Forces of Nigeria has done and is still doing a lot to stem the rising imminence of insecurity across the country, despite its limited resources,” Bulama said.
Commending the efforts and sacrifices of the military, the DG charged them to redouble their efforts towards achieving timely solutions to security needs rather than just focusing on long-term solutions.
“Nigerians are no longer patient to endure further killings in the country. We must therefore find timely but workable solutions that convince Nigerians that the federal government is indeed doing everything possible to meet up with its primary responsibility of protecting the lives and property of law-abiding citizens in all states across the country,” he charged.
He said the federal government has so far demonstrated strong political will to end the menace of insecurity in the country.
“This is evident in the continuous efforts at procuring and subsequent induction of additional weapon platforms into the various theatres of the operations, the President’s meeting with the heads of the various defence, intelligence and security chiefs, and continuous allocation of resources on matters that are aimed at tackling insecurity across the country.
“Furthermore, I want to reiterate that we all have to work together and continually find lasting solutions to the current security challenges in the country,” Bulama said.
He further charged the military to counter radicalisation, win hearts and minds in conflict zones and counter misinformation by utilizing AI, social media, and analytics to monitor sentiment, track propaganda, and measure impact.
In his welcome remarks, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa descibed the workshop as timely, given the evolving nature of modern warfare and the increasing importance of influencing perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours.
He said recent complex security challenges and threats in the country have brought to the fore some occurrences that threaten the peace and security of the nation.
He noted that these have continued to test the resolve of the Nigerian people and the capacity of security agencies to discharge their constitutional roles.
General Musa said the perpetrators of these heinous acts have over the years, threatened the nation’s co-existence, adding that their tactics of indiscriminate violence against innocent citizens have continually created fear and despair amongst the populace.
He added the security threats in Nigeria’s internal security landscape will not be tackled alone through kinetic operations due largely to the continuous mutation in the nature and character of the threats as well as the asymmetric dimension that the threats have assumed within the nation’s contemporary operating environment.
“This situation therefore presumes that the threat has since gone beyond purely traditional military actions but requires a combination of robust and well-coordinated non-kinetic efforts by all the stakeholders to support our kinetic actions. From the kinetic perspective, troops have continued to deny insurgents/terrorists freedom of action despite isolated attacks on troops’ locations.
“With the recent changes in some of the commands in the theatres, we expect new strategies to further destroy the capacities of the terrorists to attack troops’ locations and isolated communities.
“We are more than ever determined to go after all the non-state actors to restore peace and stability in the country. In the same vein, we need non-kinetic activities, particularly psychological operations, to shape the environment in favour of the ultimate aim of all ongoing operations,” Musa said.
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