NIGERIA ADVANCES STRONGER WHOLE-OF-SOCIETY SECURITY STRATEGY @ UNGA
Nigeria is advocating a stronger whole-of-society and partnership-based approach to addressing emerging security challenges confronting the country and the wider Sahel region.
The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, made the call during a high-level side event held on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
According to a statement by the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Leah Katung Babatunde, General Musa said the changing nature of security threats requires more than military responses. He stressed the need for collective action, resilient communities, effective institutions and inclusive development to address the root causes and consequences of insecurity.
The Minister highlighted several measures being undertaken by the Federal Government to strengthen Nigeria’s defence and security capabilities. These include the recruitment of 22,000 additional military personnel and the expansion of the Nigerian Army’s divisional structure to improve operational capacity and security coverage.
He also pointed to efforts to improve intelligence coordination, strengthen security arrangements in forested areas through forest guards, and expand domestic defence manufacturing through the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON).
According to the Minister, Nigeria is equally investing in advanced technologies to improve surveillance and strengthen the country’s ability to detect and respond to security threats, including counter-Improvised Explosive Device (IED) operations.
General Musa emphasized that addressing insecurity requires cooperation between government institutions, security agencies, communities, development partners and other stakeholders. The approach, he noted, is particularly important as Nigeria and other countries in the Sahel confront increasingly complex and interconnected security challenges.
The government’s position reflects an emphasis on combining military capability with intelligence, community resilience, institutional effectiveness, technology and socio-economic development in responding to insecurity.