The Commandant of the National Defence College (NDC), Rear Admiral Murtala Bashir, has said Nigeria currently contributes 679 peacekeepers, deployed for various missions to enhance global Peace Support Operations (PSOs).
Bashir spoke at the opening of a seminar with the theme: Future of Peace Support Operations for participants of Course 31 of the college yesterday in Abuja.
“Nigeria currently has 310 peacekeepers, including military, police and civilians in United Nations (UN) missions, 200 in ECOWAS missions, 54 in UN/AU Hybrid Missions and 115 in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF),” he said.
The commandant said the nation’s internal security challenges had reduced the number of troops that Nigeria contributes to the global peace-keeping operations.
He added that Nigeria now ranks 44, instead of fourth globally and 19 instead of first in Africa.
“As at 2010, Nigeria was the fourth global contributor to peace-keeping and first in Africa with 5,815 troops deployed to various missions.
“However, due to the internal security challenges, which the country is grappling with, the country, as at 2022, ranked 44 globally and 19 in Africa.
“The UN General Assembly notes that PSO development has declined in about 10 countries globally which calls for alarm,” Bashir said.
According to him, the future of PSOs is uncertain because the threats to world peace and security, which require such interventions, do not only continue to occur but also present new and frightening dimensions, particularly since 9/11.
“The future is also uncertain for the same reasons, as these new threats challenge state sovereignty, for example, the case of Somalia.
“More so, the combined international assets deployable in the planning and execution of peace operations are under increasing pressure to cope.
“In addition, owing to the digital era we are in, technology in the hands of the non-state armed groups has made peace difficult to keep,” he said.
Bashir said the development had queried the place for preventive deployment in diplomacy, protecting the protectors and also protection of civilians in peace operations.
“It is, therefore, important that the peacekeeping landscape leverage on the Fourth Industrial Revolution to improve on the protection of civilians as well as the protection of the protectors,” he said.
The commandant noted that the current realities and the projections for the future of PSOs had great implications globally, regionally and nationally.
According to him, the seminar is borne out of the burning contemporary issues that have limited the operations of peacekeeping, the uncertainty of the safety of peacekeepers and the attainment of its objectives.
The Deputy Director and Coordinator of PSOs in the Ministry of Defence, Col. Abdulmalik Adamu, lauded Nigeria’s participation in the peace operations, despite its internal security challenges.
He expressed concern that despite its contribution to global peace, Nigeria does not have policy on PSOs.
The deputy director urged the NDC to ensure workable policy on PSOs.
A former Ghanaian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador William Awinador-Kanyirige, said Nigeria, like any other pivotal country in Africa, has a critical role to play in PSOs.
Awinador-Kanyirige, who stressed the need for Nigeria to occupy its position in peace-keeping operations, advised the African Union (AU) to review its standby force.
“We are part of history. The world is changing and Africa must occupy its strategic position. It is supposed to be strategic and take its positing, like China and India,” he said.
The Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Abdul-Fatau Musah who was represented by the Acting Head of Peace Support Operations Division in ECOWAS, Coulibacy Bekaye, highlighted the issue of preventive security.
Musah, who lauded Nigeria’s intervention in different West African countries where it had maintained peace, stressed the need to fortify the region’s standby force to actualise its goal.
Also, Lt.-Gen. Chikadibia Obiakor (retired) said experts need to deal with PSOs, stressing that there is also the need to interface with the UN and project Nigeria’s participation in peace-keeping.
Obiakor said Nigeria needs to have a robust peace keeping, as the nation has not exploited al its capabilities, especially in civilians participation.