Director General of Voice of Nigeria, Malam Jibrin Ndace has called on the Nigerian Military and government to always ensure every foreign intervention by the country’s armed forces is accompanied by a carefully crafted media plan.
Ndace made this assertion while speaking at a RoundTable on Assymmetrical National Security Challenges,The Army and National Development, in Abuja.
The two-day programme which began Monday is a collaboration between the Nigerian Army Resource Centre and Development Specs Academy.
Ndace while giving his closing remarks on the first day of the RoundTable noted that there is non appreciation of the roles Nigeria played in rescuing West African countries like Liberia and Sierra Leone among others, because those interventions were not properly documented.He said during a recent visit even youths of those countries didn’t seem to appreciate the sacrifice Nigeria made, possibly out of ignorance.
His point was corroborated by a General who fought battles during one of such intervention.The General recalled efforts by Europeans to claim credit for what Nigerians had done.
Traditional rulers can serve as watchdogs
A traditional ruler Otunba Haastrup called on government to give constitutional role to traditional rulers “at least at the local level.”
He argued “such a role will make the institution the watch dogs of the third tier of government, thus making it more virile and accountable.”
He made other suggestions to improve security: “All leaders in every district should watch out for strangers that enter into their community- Those days strangers are being welcomed with great fanfare to all heads in the community. This should come back.
“Government can sanction traditional leaders who are corrupt and indulging in banditry by suspension or dethronement.
“Traditional leaders should give land to youth to farm- An idle hand is Devil’s workshop
” Involve the youth in the affairs of the community.
“Ritualists, kidnappers and all sorts getting blood money and giving it to the traditional leaders for chieftaincy titles and praise, this should also stop
“We Nigerians are known to be our brothers’ keepers, unfortunately, it is now brothers’ killers- no more trust. Our traditional rulers who are the Custodians of culture, moral and sanctity of life should pay attention to this and bring back the good old days.”
People should change attitude towards military
Prof Oke Ikechukwu,mni while addressing the participants called for a change of attitude from the point whereby people think security challenge is the problem for the military alone to tackle
He said, “We now have the task of fashioning out simple and implementable solutions requires us to go back to the basic elements of personal, community and environmental security that we have since abandoned.
“We now live with the wrong idea that it is purely the job of the military, and the security agencies, to secure us; while we just sit down and do nothing but watch them doing their job of securing us. This is absurd. Communities that do not bother to report the presence of strangers, suspicious characters, or even suspicious activities, to Institutions of State that exist to protect them only further endanger themselves and complicate our national security challenges.
“This singular fact of undermining the nation’s efforts at improving security is a form of Attitudinal, or Orientational, Asymmetry. It is a distortion, and disruption, of the right attitude every citizen should adopt in his response to the nation’s security personnel and problems. It is also one of the greatest asymmetrical security challenges facing Nigeria today.”