President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, Wednesday said the war against terror can be accomplished through effective collaboration with other countries.
Alluding to the international dimension of the security challenge, he said the West African sub-region is critical to winning the war.
Gbajabiamila said, “There is an often overlooked international element to the myriad national security challenges in our country.
“Addressing this requires increased collaboration with our neighbours in West Africa and regional and international partners to track financial flows, share intelligence and ensure that perpetrators and instigators of violence, wherever they may operate from, are made to answer for their crimes in due course.
“This collaboration is critical to this administration’s national security strategy to ensure a safer and more prosperous environment for all.”
The chief of staff delivered the convocation lecture of Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, titled: “Empowering Nigerian Youths in the present-day economy.”
Gbajabiamila said addressing the prevailing challenges of national security is a priority in a bid to make Nigeria an attractive location for investments needed to empower the youth and ensure national prosperity.
He lamented that insecurity had manifested through a concerning rate of banditry while insurgency has made entire country uninhabitable to profitable commercial enterprise.
Gbajabiamila said, We know that capital is cowardly, and capital will not go anyplace that is unfriendly. We also know that so long as investment and innovation are concentrated in a selected number of states or regions, we cannot achieve our goals of sustained national economic growth, innovation, investment, and rapid reduction in unemployment.”
The presidential aide said since President Bola Tinubu came into office, he has made it a priority to increase the resources available to the Armed Forces, the police and para-military institutions.
He said the goal was to ensure that national security institutions are fully empowered to succeed in the fight against all manifestations of insecurity.
Gbajabiamila said: “We have also made it a priority to ensure the welfare of our officers as well as their families. This applies particularly to those of our service men and women who paid the ultimate prize in the course of their service to the fatherland.
“The days when our service members went to battle or into the field without adequate protection, arms and ammunition are gone. And the days when their families suffered deprivation whilst they risked their lives on our behalf are gone and will never return.”
He added, “We have also accelerated efforts to ensure the full implementation of community policing nationwide in line with the Nigerian Police Force Community Policing Initiative. A collaborative relationship between the Nigerian police and communities across the country is essential to the security of these communities.
” It allows for enhanced intelligence gathering, establishes the framework to check abuses of authority and involves citizens in efforts to ensure their safety.
“Community policing redefines the policing paradigm within the federal police structure so that policemen and women are not strangers or considered an occupying force in the communities where they operate but partners in peace and prosperity.”