National Defence College trains middle cadre officer on defence, security management

By Sumaila Ogbaje

The National Defence College (NDC) on Monday commenced a one-week  course on Defence and  Security Management for middle cadre officers in the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other relevant agencies.

The course, which was organised by the college’s Centre for Strategic Research and Studies (CSRS) has more than 50 participants drawn from the military as well as intelligence and security agencies.

Mrs Julie Sanda, Principal Research Fellow and Acting Provost of the centre, said the course was designed to bring together different security agencies to brainstorm on issues of national security.

Sanda said the course would dissect the National Defense Policy and National Security Strategy with a view to understanding their impact in dealing with the security problems confronting the nation.

She said the nature of the security challenges required interagency collaboration and a whole-of-government approach to dealing with them.

“That is why it is important that we bring all the stakeholders in the securities community as it were, to come and look at these issues together, think through them together and be able to come up with strategies to deal with these problems,’’ she said.

Dr Adams Abdullahi, Head, Department of Defence and Security, CSRS, said the course was last held in 2012, adding that the resuscitation was in view of the current security situation in the country.

Abdullahi said the NDC Commandant, Rear Adm. Murtala Bashir, deemed it fits to rejuvenate the course and also review the curriculum to meet up with the contemporary defense and security dynamics in the globe.

He said the centre decide to come up with the conceits to be able to train the members of the armed forces and other secure security agencies and their civilian counterparts in strategic MDAs.

The Resource Person and Professor of Professor of International Relations, Prof. Istifanus Zabadi, who delivered a paper titled, ‘’Security and Strategic Context’’ said there was need for their in handling national security.

Zabadi said that security remained the first order of priority of nation states throughout the history of mankind, adding that a state must be secured before it could become powerful.

He called for holistic implementation of the National security strategy 2019 to be able to address the contemporary security challenges confronting nation states and Nigeria in particular. (NAN)