No Single Service Can Address Nigeria’s Security Challenges – Minister

Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa, has said no single service or security agency can solve Nigeria’s security challenges alone.

He stated this in a remark at the inaugural lecture of the Defence Headquarters Joint Doctrine and Welfare Centre in Abuja.

Musa said effective joint doctrine serves as the intellectual foundation on which interoperability, coordination and operational success are built.

He said, “No single individual and no single service can do it alone. It is a whole-of-society and a whole-of-government approach.

“The Army secures the ground, the Navy guards our waterways and the Air Force provides the indispensable air power. Other security agencies also play their part, including citizens, who somehow are the fuel in which the terrorists, the bandits, the criminals flow in,” he said.

The minister noted that jointness turns individual strengths into a single, overwhelming force, adding that the Joint Doctrine and Warfare Centre signifies Nigeria’s determination “to institutionalise the way we think, plan and fight as a unified force.”

Musa said the establishment of the centre in July last year was aimed at fostering an environment of continuous learning, critical thinking and inter-service dialogue.

“It should be the place where we break down the problem, where ground forces understand the intricacies of naval power, where airmen appreciate the challenges of special operations, and where all branches learn to liberate each other’s strengths to achieve overwhelming superiority.

“This, therefore, should be a new chapter in our military history, where mutual effort, shared understanding and doctrinal clarity must be our guiding principles,” he said.

He disclosed that the inaugural lecture was intended to develop a unified approach to tackling Nigeria’s security challenges.

“It provides a platform for critical reflection, professional discourse and knowledge and data exchange among key stakeholders within and outside the defence sector. More importantly, it sets the tone for institutionalising the culture of doctrinal development, continuous learning and strategic adaptability within the armed forces of Nigeria,” he said.

Reacting to some of the issues raised during the lecture, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, said the military was making efforts to improve on indigenous technology through the Defence Industry Corporation of Nigeria (DICON).

He said the outcome of the lecture would be presented to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) for their buy-in.

The CDS said the military would work with neighbouring countries to ensure that the issue of border security was resolved.

“One very cardinal thing that got me thinking was the issue of border security. The immigration has been doing a lot to see that the issue is resolved. But we are going to do our best working with contiguous countries to ensure that the issue is resolved,” he said.