The leadership of the House of Representatives on Monday urged all the newly appointed Service Chiefs to put necessary measures in place towards neutralising all security threats bedeviling the country with a view to ensure that Nigerians live peacefully.
The lawmakers gave the charge during the screening of the two Service Chiefs, namely: Major General Christopher Musa as Chief of Defence Staff and Major General Tiamiyu Lagbaja as Chief of Army Staff, at the National Assembly complex Abuja, held at the instance of the Ad-hoc Committee chaired by Hon. Babajimi Benson (APC-Lagos).
In his address, Majority Leader, Hon. Julius Ihovbere (APC-Edo) who applauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the appointment of the new Service Chiefs nominees, expressed optimism that: “We are happy to see well-educated, fit, trained and very anxious men in uniform that are ready to take the relevant strategic national security issues forward.
“Let me say that looking through their profiles personally, I can say I have no doubt that these men have committed themselves to the stability, security and progress of Nigeria, West Africa and the world.”
While noting that the screening exercise provides both parties the opportunity to exchange ideas, Hon. Ihovbere urged them to “give full support to our democratic enterprise, support Mr. President’s programmes and give Nigerians the hope of change for once as men in uniform that are ready to make Nigeria proud as always.”
In his address, Chairman of the ad-hoc committee on the screening of the Service Chiefs, Hon. Babajimi Benson observed that the exercise is a necessary constitutional provision in the process of institutionalising and legitimising the appointment of persons for the positions of Service Chiefs of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
“We in the House of Representatives, therefore, take this seriously and always do it meticulously in accordance with our extant rules. Ladies and gentlemen, for more than sixteen years, Nigeria has witnessed diverse and unprecedented levels of insecurity in which the Armed Forces of Nigeria have been fully involved prompting the launch of several theatres of operations and exercises as well as providing support for tackling several domestic security challenges.
“The House of Representatives is delighted with the successes recorded so far, especially in the last year. We acknowledge these robust achievements which is a proof of the level of professionalism often displayed by our military in the discharge of their duties. We urge you to effectively collaborate with sister security agencies to ensure that all security threats are completely neutralised, and Nigerians can live peacefully.”
While acknowledging that the world of security is dynamic and ever-changing, he observed that new security threats are emerging across the globe.
“Today, wars are not only fought on the land, sea and air but also in cyberspace. Consequently, the art of warfare must therefore be a step ahead. This is why Nigeria must tap into and harness the potential of having a Defence Space Force, like in the United States of America.
“While acknowledging the immense contributions of the Defence Space Administration (DSA), there is a need for a full-fledged Defence Space Force to adequately handle potential threats from cyberspace and provide intelligence support to other services.
“Dear nominees, the role of securing the lives and property of Nigerians is the collective task for all arms of government. As a parliament, we are required to legislate for the good and peaceful governance of the country.
“This is a responsibility that the 10th House of Representatives is keenly committed to as we continue to provide the necessary legislative framework to the current government in its quest to ensure that Nigerians live in peace. We must therefore work collectively to deliver more on the goals of this administration to drastically reduce cases of insecurity across the country.
“While the House will continue to support this vision through our legislative activities, we shall also embark on rigorous oversight exercises, beginning from this screening, to ensure that the Armed Forces of Nigeria adhere strictly to the provisions of all Appropriation Acts as will be eventually passed by the National Assembly and accented to by Mr. President.
“To the nominees, I urge you to kindly cooperate with the National Assembly while performing your constitutional duties of ensuring a peaceful, secure and prosperous country for all Nigerians,” Benson said.
In his brief remarks, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Major General Christopher Musa pledged to fulfill the constitutional roles in order to address evolving security dynamics across the country.
To achieve the feat, he unveiled plans to adopt a clear leadership concept that serves as the roadmap supporting the implementation of relevant guiding principles by the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
According to him, “the significance of this roadmap is to foster a highly disciplined, cohesive and inspired AFN ready to achieve its constitutional roles, facilitate national security and enhance sustainable socio-economic development in the country. In this regard, the broad -outline of my leadership concept shall be ‘To Nurture a Professional Armed Forces of Nigeria that is People Centric, Capable of Meeting its Constitutional Responsibilities in a Joint and Collaborative Environment’.
“Accordingly, my leadership concept will be hinged on 3 pillars which include being people-centricity, prioritizing troops’ welfare while deepening jointness and interagency collaboration.
“I recognise the significance of leading the thousands of devoted and distinguished service men and women to provide a secure and peaceful environment for the Nigerian people to freely engage in their legitimate enterprise in line with the constitutional mandate of the AFN. In this regard, the AFN under my leadership will be people-centric by prioritising and safeguarding our people and their legitimate way of life as prescribed by the Nigerian Constitution.”
Accordingly, the AFN will apply the lens of people-centricity to key components of activities to truly put the Nigerian people at the centre of its actions geared towards promoting and safeguarding a secure environment for all. To achieve this, the AFN will defend our territorial integrity and democracy as well as safeguard internal security and unity to achieve the stability required to guarantee sustainable national development.
He also pledged to prioritize Troops’ welfare and sound administration will provide the required atmosphere for the AFN to deliver on its constitutional responsibilities. Thus, the AFN will continue to seek ways and means to improve the welfare of its personnel under my watch.
“In this regard, service men and women of the AFN should be reassured of my commitment to their welfare, provision of relevant operational equipment as well as infrastructural development within available resources to enable them to succeed in assigned constitutional roles. The goal will be to promote targeted and specific capacity building, sound administration and efficient resource management amongst others to enhance both individual and collective welfare of AFN personnel.
“I shall also promote international military cooperation/collaboration to further expose and provide capacity building to AFN personnel in joint and combined operations outside the shores of Nigeria. This measure is required to consolidate AFN welfare priorities in order to effectively deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars by providing ready, prompt and sustained land, sea and air dominance by the AFN across traditional as well as asymmetric conflict settings as part of a joint force.
“Joint operation which is designed to exploit unity of efforts to seize, retain and maintain the initiative in order to achieve a clearly defined military objective is crucial to the realization of the AFN constitutional duties.
“I shall, therefore, deepen jointness and prioritize decision-making through a shared process of active contribution and consultation across a wide spectrum of our security architecture. This is geared towards ensuring that the AFN is capable of promptly identifying and addressing emerging operational challenges with appropriate methods and capabilities in a timely and efficient manner.
“In this regard, I shall promote trust, initiative, judgment and creativity among the various services and maintain a channel for proactive engagement in all our interactions. With regard, to other security forces, I shall build bridges by revitalizing communication channels while deepening synergy in the planning and execution of operations within a well-coordinated, joint and multi-agency environment.
“The contemporary security challenges which the AFN and other Security services are currently confronting calls for a more concise approach towards mitigating the issues. In view of this, I am committed to ensuring a conducive and secure environment for the protection of lives and properties for socio-economic activities to thrive. To ensure this, the AFN under my leadership is poised to fulfilling its constitutional roles in order to defend Nigeria’s sovereignty against internal and external aggressors.”
Also speaking, the 23rd Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Major General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja pledged to “transform the Nigerian Army into a well-trained, And I am motivated Force toward achieving a constitute its possibilities within a joint environment.”
While acknowledging that Nigeria’s security environment has over the past two decades been impacted adversely on our socio-economic and political lives, he lamented that “the episodic crises of the past have now become enduring thereby making governance and the rule of law more challenging for successive administrations. Today’s painful reality is that insecurity has distorted our developmental plans and aspirations of a strong, prosperous, globally competitive and influential nation.”
To this end, he underscored the need for proactive, adaptive and inclusive leadership more needed in our security environment of today.
He affirming noted that the Nigerian Army remains a crucial component of our military instrument of National Power, he averred that “It is not only the largest but also the most complex, most geographically, spread most sought-after during crisis and awful.”
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