Navy canvasses interagency cooperation with other agencies

The Nigerian Navy’s Eastern Naval Command has collaborated with approximately twelve military and paramilitary organizations to improve national security through interagency cooperation.

This was disclosed by the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Eastern Naval Command, Rear Admiral Saheed Akinwande, during the command’s 2024 inter-agency seminar in Calabar on Tuesday.

The seminar has as its theme: ‘Strengthening Inter-Agency Cooperation Amongst Security Agencies At The Tactical Level: a Panacea For Operational Effectiveness’.

Speaking on the basis of the seminar, Akinwande said the complex nature of Nigeria’s security challenges requires mutual trust to meet the challenges.

“I would like to stress that the complex nature of security challenges demands the security agencies emplace very robust, collaborative arrangements that will foster a common understanding of security challenges, mutual trust as well as intelligence sharing to meet these security challenges.

“We want to talk directly to the lower cadre, our men out there in the field. We expect that at the end of the seminar, the outcome will foster that much needed inter-agency collaboration, cooperation, mutual trust and common understanding among them as far as meeting the contemporary and complex national security challenges that confront us,” he said.

Speaking on the theme, Dr Ubong Essien, a resource person emphasised that security agents are a reflection of their agencies.

He stressed that a big problem lies with the agents and every security agency must moderate, sanction and also look inward at what the agent does at the tactical level.

Additionally, Essien emphasized the significance of establishing trust and communication within security agencies, highlighting that a lack of trust hinders cooperation. He pointed out that in today’s environment and information age, building trust is particularly challenging. Essien also noted that the organizational culture of an agency plays a crucial role in shaping the behaviour of its members.

On his part, Dr Atehle George, whose lecture was titled: “Conflict Resolution And Mediation Techniques: A Solution for Effective Interagency Collaboration” said security agencies should avoid cross-cutting mandates, focus on their mandates and not position.

He added that no agency is superior to the other and that collaboration and partnership is for the overall development of the society.

During his concluding statement, Rear Admiral Ebiobowei Zipele, the Chief Staff Officer at the Eastern Naval Command Headquarters, emphasized that each agency has its own distinct characteristics and there should be no sense of superiority among them.

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