The Nigerian Defence Academy has again taken a front row in the discourse on national security and modalities for tackling current insecurity challenges when it convened an International Conference on State and Security at the NDA Ribadu Campus.
The conference which was organized by NDA’s Centre for Critical Thinking, Teaching and Learning (CCTTL) drew together experts, government functionaries and dignitaries, including the Wife of the President, Her Excellency Dr Aisha Buhari and the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tellen, among others.
Addressing the gathering Mrs Buhari disclosed that without security, there will be no peace and that without peace there will definitely be no development. The first lady whose speech focused on security, peace and development noted that these three will be in jeopardy if urgent steps are not taken to address the menace of insecurity in Nigeria. She agured that it is high time the nation explored new approaches in dealing with insecurity. She however commended the efforts of NDA organizing the international conference to proffer solutions to the security challenges plaguing the country.
Delivering the Keynote Address at the conference, Major General AM Jibril (rtd), said that in the last two decades the world has faced more security threats like terrorism, insurgency, banditry, and kidnapping among others. He noted that addressing the root causes of these threats is the only sustainable path towards completely eradicating these security challenges. He listed poverty, illiteracy and weak national security system as some of the root causes of insecurity in Nigeria and called for active government involvement in tackling these conditions.
Commandant NDA, Major General Jamil Sarham, who was represented at the conference by the Deputy Commandant, AVM IT Ali, expressed hope that the conference will inspire ideas that resolve current security challenges. He disclosed that the current insecurity can only be defeated by knowledge sharing, synergy and the exploration of new approaches to national defense. He promised that NDA will continue to up the ante in the discourse of national security even as it works to positions itself as the premier military university in Africa.
Two former Commandants of the Nigerian Defence Academy, Major General Muhammed Inuwa Idris (rtd) and Major General Adeniyi Oyebade (rtd) both called for transparency and sincerity on the part of all stakeholders in the fight against insurgency and other security challenges facing the nation.
