Presidency to tackle emerging security threats, says NSA

Blessing Olaifa, Abuja

The Presidency on Monday said cyberspace crimes and drone technology are among key issues in the National Security Strategy the Federal Government is reviewing to ensure the security of life and property across the country.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.) stated this at a workshop on the National Security Strategy Document 2019 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

The NSA said it had become imperative for the Muhammadu Buhari administration to develop appropriate resilience and capacity for the country to tackle its security threats headlong.

He noted that besides the activities of Boko Haram terrorists in the Northeast, banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, farmers/herders clashes, militancy in the Niger Delta region, cultism and other trans-border crimes have dominated the nation’s landscape in recent years.

Monguno said the present administration carried out a holistic review of the security documents to address emerging security threats for the good of the citizenry.

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The NSA, who was represented by the Director of Policy and Strategy in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Malam Aminu Lawal, said the workshop aimed at gathering robust input from major stakeholders on the strategy for implementation of the reviewed document.

“It is imperative to state at this juncture that producing a National Security Strategy document is meaningless if its contents are not holistically implemented. Critical to the implementation is understanding the process for developing and formulation of the document in order to guard against describing it in particular details.

“Nigeria, like most nations, has had and contended with myriad of security challenges, which include terrorism, kidnapping, militancy, small arms and light weapons proliferation, armed banditry, and pastoralists/farmers conflicts, among others.

“It was against this background that the National Security Strategy (NSS) was conceived and the document was formulated to contend with these challenges,” Monguno said.

The NSA stressed that “the new notion of National Security under this administration places emphasis on the ‘people’ as the referent object and not the ‘state’, aimed at enhancing the social well-being of the citizenry”.

He added: “This strategy, therefore, underscored the need to address the socio-economic concerns, such as corruption, which breeds poverty and unemployment; insecurity and the diversification of the economy, which are the three key objectives of this administration.

“The 2014 document was subject to review after a five to 10-year period, or as the contemporary environment dictates. It is noteworthy that most of our contemporary threats identified in the 2014 document are still potent, although some of them have morphed in various dimensions.

“Added to our threats are the fast-developing cyberspace environment and advances in technology, notably drone technology. To this end, it is imperative to continuously assess the current and future threat environment and develop appropriate resilience and capacity to mitigate these challenges.”