President Muhammadu Buhari has given an order for the inauguration of a defence and security committee that will tackle security threats and recommend solutions, ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while inaugurating the committee on behalf of the President.
He noted that the country was faced with several security challenges which had claimed “a significant number of lives and property.”
The Defence and Security ThinkTank Team is headed by Maj Gen Abdulmalik Jubril (retd.).
The minister said the objectives of the committee included undertaking strategic threats and vulnerability analysis of the country and evaluating the strategic defence and security requirements in Nigeria.
He said, “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the establishment of an ad-hoc Defence and Security Think Tank Team to continuously examine the security situations in Nigeria and offer advice as necessary. The establishment of this team is apt considering the diverse security threats in the country.
“Nigeria is faced with different security challenges which have claimed a significant number of lives and property.
“These challenges include terrorism, pipeline vandalism, banditry, cattle rustling, kidnapping, ethno-religious conflicts and trans-border criminal activities. These pose threats to the social, economic and political stability of our country.
“With the forthcoming elections, addressing these issues requires a team like yours to advise on these critical threats. You are expected to constantly inform the Ministry of Defence of your findings and recommendations.”
Dan-Ali said the team would also advise the armed forces on undertaking joint operations with other security agencies.
“The terms of reference of the team are to evaluate the strategic defence and security requirements of the nation, assess the degree of successes and failures of measures to address these threats, exploit avenues to establish partnerships with foreign countries and organisations that would benefit the country and to suggest plans for handling specific security problems.
“Others are to advise how the armed forces could interface with other security agencies to achieve cohesion in operations,” the minister added.
Speaking for the committee, Jubril said one of the most potent threats to the national security was the Boko Haram insurgency.
“At local and domestic levels, there are several threats in the form of ethnic, religious and inter-sectarian crisis and the farmers/herdsmen’s clashes. Other sources of national security concerns are the rising political and ethnic nationalism often championed by the elite across the country such as the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, the Niger Delta militancy and many other forms of violence,” Jubril added.
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