Agency Report
By Muhammad Tijjani
The Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) has inaugurated a new centre for early warning studies, expected to generate robust database on threats to national security.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the Centre was set up in collaboration with the University of Ibadan.
The centre was inaugurated on Wednesday at the NDA old site in Kaduna, as part of activities for the Academy’s annual International Conference.
The theme of the conference is, “Defence, Security and Sustainable Development in Africa: Challenges and Responses.”
The Commandant of NDA, Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim Yusuf, said the Centre would help to alert relevant stakeholders on potential dangers and assist them to take appropriate actions.
He said that it would be collecting data on the causes and incidences of violence, criminality, terrorism and insurgency across Nigeria.
According to Yusuf, it will add value to the nation’s intelligence and security architecture by providing data that will drive national policy and strategy.
He explained that the Centre would have two main research hubs, one in the University of Ibadan and the other at NDA, serving the southern and Northern parts of Nigeria.
“Very soon, the NDA centre will reach out to sister universities, experts and other stakeholders in the North to contribute to the work of the centre,” the commandant said.
Earlier, Chairman of the conference, Prof. Munzali Jibril, explained that the 2022 conference was to sustain the Academy’s established tradition of constructive engagement on defence and security in Africa.
He said the conference would address the dynamics and nexus in defence, security and sustainable development in Africa, with focus on challenges and responses at unilateral, bilateral and multilateral levels.
Jibril added that the conference had received over 130 submissions and processed 118 suitable abstracts from 129 scholars and practitioners.
“These papers will be presented under 15 panels to be chaired by distinguished Professors from reputable universities across the country,” he said.
Delivering a keynote lecture, Prof. Abiodun Alao, Director, Centre for African Leadership, King’s College London, said most countries with solid minerals such as diamond had experienced complications in the areas of defence and security.
He said this was so, because it was linked with money laundering and smuggling.
According to him, even in crude oil exploration, issues often cropped up over profitability, environmental consequences, international politics, relevance to global economy and balancing ethno-political and socio-economic considerations.
“Fishing conflicts have been more complex in places where oil politics intermingle with fishing,” Alao added, citing a number of such conflicts in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.
“Indeed, one of the main protests of the people in many riverine areas of Nigeria’s oil producing communities is the destruction of fishing opportunities.
“A conflict that is often forgotten in this category is the one in the Bakassi Peninsula, where the conflicts associated with fishing have been subsumed under the general controversy surrounding the ownership of the oil-rich area,” he said.
He lamented that with the economic hardship being experienced in many local communities across the continent, it was likely that water resources would become a major cause of conflict in the years ahead.
“The established dominance of internal fishing companies is likely to attract opposition from local fishermen while unintentional trespassing will continue to affect relations between countries where local fishermen do not appreciate their limits in international boundaries.
“But as countries across the continent continue to brace themselves for the diverse implications of these, also important are the affairs of states in the politics surrounding dam constructions”.
Alao, however, said Nigeria had enough resources to meet the demands of its population and ensure sustainable development.
“The reasons why the continent has not been able to maximise the opportunities from these endowments are because structures are not in place to ensure fair and equitable distribution.
“And a string of external influences have emerged to exploit these weaknesses to their advantage,” he said.
According to him, Africa’s main natural resource and asset are its people and their resilience amidst formidable odds.
He said investment in the people would offer the greatest benefit for the continent and prevent the cycle of conflicts that brought Africa to the focus of international concern.
NAN reports that during the event, the Society of Peace Studies and Practice conferred honorary fellowship on the First Lady, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, and Yusuf, the NDA Commandant.
A total of 450 postgraduate and some final year cadets of the NDA were conferred withassociate membership of the Society.(NAN)
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