Nigeria’s Army Chief Lagbaja Stresses Poverty, Unemployment As Key Drivers Of Insecurity

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja, on Friday, said the country must plan to solve the twin problems of poverty and unemployment to avert long-term insecurity and instability.

He said this while presenting the first strategic personality lecture at the Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies (IPSS), University of Ibadan, titled, ‘Combating an Adversary Without Boundaries: The Need to Implement a Whole of Society Approach to Nigeria’s National Security’.

The Army boss who was represented by the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2-Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Obinna Onubogu, noted that related to the factors of unemployment and poverty is demography and youth bulge with citizens of 35 years below accounting for about 54.1 per cent of the population, estimated at 229,379,082 as of 20 July 2024 with less than 20 per cent of them  gainfully employed.

According to him, the twin problems of unemployment and poverty have given impetus to security challenges as the unemployed and poor are susceptible to recruitment by criminals and violent non-state actors.

He maintained that a whole-of-society approach must be implemented by leveraging the strength of every stakeholder to ensure a cohesive and coordinated response to threats, stating that to achieve this, there must be enhanced communication, cooperation, and trust among the different sectors while also ensuring that their efforts are aligned with national interests and other security objectives.

He said the porous and unmanned borders of Nigeria have opened Nigeria to the infiltration of adversaries from the West Africa region, noting that with four West African countries ranked among the 10 most terrorised nations of the world is indicative of the transnational affiliations existing among terror groups in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Lieutenant General Lagbaja insisted that no single agency can solve the myriads of insecurity facing the country, adding that the Nigerian Army is deepening synergy with other agencies to achieve the mandates of security of lives and property and keeping the country safe.

“The operating environment has evolved to a point where no single service or agency can effectively and independently tackle the threats to national security. It is therefore crucial that synergy is developed with other security agencies in the implementation of the whole of society approach to the threats. Communication, cooperation, and collaboration amongst MDAs have been major topics of discussion. Although there has been some improvement, much more still needs to be done. Counter-insurgency operations require synergy amongst agencies, who need to collaborate with each other towards achieving a common goal.

“Collaboration, communication, and cooperation are required for planning, sharing of intelligence, and the practical execution of all operations. Where synergy is lacking among security agencies, there can never be a coordinated approach to the prevailing security challenge. In the North-east for example, the Nigerian Air Force provides air support, aerial surveillance, casualty evacuation and logistics airlift for troops while the Nigerian Navy has deployed its Special Boat Services and operationalised its Forward Operation Base in Baga as part of the overall operations on the Lake Chad waters. Furthermore, personnel of the Nigeria Police, Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Immigration and Customs are deployed in liberated towns and villages in Borno and Yobe states to ensure their security and relieve Nigerian Army personnel of policing tasks in such areas, resulting in better synergy and collaboration,” he said.

 In terms of human rights, the Chief of Army Staff disclosed that the Army is providing an enabling environment for more than 60 humanitarian organisations working in the North-east while upholding the human rights of people.

 “Meetings are held periodically to put events in proper perspective for their understanding. The Nigerian Army is also providing an enabling environment for more than 60 international humanitarian non- governmental organisations operating in the North-east. For instance, escorts are frequently provided to these organisations to different areas in furtherance of their humanitarian activities. Confidence is, therefore, built with all the stakeholders, thereby reducing the number of allegations against the Nigerian Army on human rights issues.

 “In the contemporary era, issues of technology particularly artificial intelligence, social media and cyber security have reshaped national security imperatives as the contemporary security threat are no longer tangible but intangible threats dominated by networks of NSAs who have eroded the ability of nation states to effectively emplace measures to enhance national security. Contemporary threats have a high capacity to disrupt, damage, and destroy people, assets, and infrastructure.”

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, in his welcome address, noted that the IPSS has been at the vanguard of training security manpower and working with security sector actors towards improving the security of the country, expressing confidence that the Army will evolve effective strategy to decimate adversaries of Nigeria.

Kemi Olaitan

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