The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya said the civil society are very critical stakeholders as it help to create the space for constructive engagement between the military and citizens fostering toward an understanding as they both take ownership of the strategies put in place to counter criminalities in Nigeria.
The COAS stated this on Thursday while delivering a key note address during the Army War College Nigeria Annual Interagency Seminar 2022 with the theme "Appraising the Roles of Civil Society Towards Engendering Effective Internal Security In Nigeria” held in Abuja.
The COAS who was represented by the then Chief of Civil Military Affairs(CCMA) Major General Marcus Kange stated that the traditional measures undertaking to counter criminalities in Nigeria have suffered to proven to be insufficient tackling the threat, thus, it calls for additional efforts from other actors and stakeholders in order to fully put an end to them
The COAS added that the partnership between these stakeholders also criminate mistrust, conceptual misunderstandings and differences in understanding of national security issues
" It is common knowledge that our troops are deployed in all the 36 states of the federation on internal security operations in joint operations with other security agencies to counter threat on national security".
The COAS opined that, cooperation and coordination between government actors is required. Additionally, dialogue and cooperation between government and non government actors is very vital in preventing terrorism and violence.
He advised the military personnel to see the public, communities and the private sector as partners and stakeholders in collective effort and counting the threats around us.
The COAS who shared his thought on professional military education which he consider a key driver for his vision urged participants to remain focused as these training is a critical learning course in their career.
The said the college curriculum is to groom the capacities of operational level leaders in basic military strategic as well as operational planning to the research oriented in increasingly challenging security environments of the 21st century.
As a citedel of learning and higher professional military education in the Nigerian army, the Army War College Nigeria as done so much more than involving robust training objectives that speaks to the contemporary security challenges. Indeed, these objectives are coglisant of the requirement of essential knowledge, skills and attitudes for 5th general officers who are prepare to take up operational level leadership in the ongoing joint operations being undertaking by the armed forces of Nigeria within and outside the country.
Earlier in his remarks, the Commandant Army War College Nigeria, Major General Bamidele Alabi said the seminar was part of the Course curriculum for participants of Course 6/2022 and was designed to equip and improve their knowledge on interagency cooperation and coordination as well as enhance their competency in joint environments.
Major General Bamidele Alabi revealed that the Army War College Course 6/2022 symbolizes these jointness in COAS COMPOSITION, out of 74 participants, 53 are from the Nigerian Army, 2 each from the Nigerian Navy and Nigerian Air Force, 1 each from Nigeria Police, Nigeria Custom Service, Nigeria Immigration service, Nigeria Civil Defence end Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Corp, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Also on the course are 6 participants from alied friendly nations comprising 2 officers from Republic of Rwanda, 1 each from the Gambia, Republic of Liberia, Congo, and Cameroon.
The commandant said, "today's seminar which is one of the highlights of the interagency coordination and cooperation module for Army War College Nigeria courses 6/2022 is aim at consolidating the knowledge participants had acquired during series of lecture deliver to them in the last 2 weeks. Accordingly participants were taken through the fundamental of civil military, strategic communication, legal perspectives in military operations among others.
Delivering his lecture, titled 'Coordinating Civil Society Towards Integrated Internal Security Operations in Nigeria' one of the Guest Lecturers Professor of International Relations and Development Studies at the University of Jos, Prof Victor Adetula (Phd), said there have been a lots of mutual misrepresentation and distrust between security community and civil society, so an initiative like this seminar to promote an understanding and advocate for collaboration between these two critical areas of our society is an investment that worth it.
Another guest lecturer, Dr Henry Gyang Mang said during his lecture that, he takes a look at the dimension by which the military as historically been the guardian of the state and has to provide essence of support towards internal support operations.
In the same vein, one of the resources person Professor Usman Tar (Phd), Dean of the faculty of art and social sciences Nigeria Defence Academy said the Armed Forces of Nigeria has identified and appreciated the need to touch base with civil society as a strategy in making sure that national Defence and security is effectively provided.
"The idea of civil military corporation is not new started under former President OLUSEGUN Obasanjo. In the field they need to reach out to the civil society and the society at large as partners in the effort against defeating the adversary.
A lecture on "Evolving Strategies for collaboration between the Civil Society, security agencies and the Nigerian Army towards effective internal security operations in Nigeria" was delivered by Professor Pam Dung Sha during the second session of the seminar.
The seminar has two sessions which were very engaging as participants discussed solutions to some critical problems.