The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Lucky Irabor, has urged Defence Attachés/Advisers to use their positions to correct wrong narratives about Nigerian military in their various countries of assignment.
Irabor made the call at the closing of the Defence Advisers/Attaches Conference 2021, organised by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) on Friday, in Abuja.
He said the attachés should join the workforce in the foreign missions to promote the giant stride of the nation’s armed forces and security agencies in addressing the prevailing security challenges.
He said the first-hand information they had gathered should give them greater confidence in what the armed forces were doing to reverse the trend of insecurity in the country.
“As you go back, I want to also urge you to join the entire workforce of your various missions.
“To ensure that the narratives regarding issues of insecurity and other aspects of our national life is projected positively within the countries of assignment.
“I will like to encourage you to do this,” he said.
Irabor said the idea of the refresher training was to hone the skills of the Defence Advisers towards enhancing their performance in their assigned duties.
He said the conference with the theme, “Advancing Counterterrorism Efforts through Enhanced Inter-Agency Cooperation: A Whole of Government Approach”, had engendered healthy deliberations and produced useful resolutions.
“The Conference equally enabled the review of the operational activities of the Defence Sections as well as their administrative issues in the present year with a view to projecting for Year 2022.
“Given the theme of the conference, as well as the way the entire conference was conducted, I am convinced that you are now better poised to contribute more effectively to the efficient performance of your Defence Sections.
“This is gleaning from the fact that the participants benefited from the wealth of experience of a vast array of practitioners in the intelligence field, policy makers, senior officers both serving and retired, including past Chiefs of Defence Intelligence and Directors.
“I have no doubt in my mind that this will serve you well in the days, months and years, ahead,” he said.
The CDS assured the attachés that the Defence Headquarters in conjunction with Ministry of Defence, Services Headquarters, and DIA would work towards ameliorating the challenges confronting them.
This, he said would enable them perform their assigned responsibilities/tasks with minimum hindrances.
He also urged them to ensure prudent and judicious utilisation of resources allocated to them towards the attainment of the set goals/objectives.
He reiterated that due attention and support would be given to the resolutions of the conference at the appropriate quarters.
The Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI), Maj.-Gen. Samuel Adebayo, said the critical resolutions reached and captured in the conference communiqué would be forwarded to the appropriate quarters for swift implementation towards enhancing national security.
Adebayo said the outcome of the conference attested to the relevance of the Defence Advisers/Attachés system in advancing Nigeria’s national security and defence objectives.
He said the DIA would continue to leverage on the Defence Attaché system in support of ongoing engagements of the nation’s armed forces especially in the contemporary security context.
According to him, the conference highlighted the need for synergy and collaboration among the intelligence and security agencies as well as Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
“This is to ensure that no effort is spared in dealing with the threats to our corporate existence as a nation.
“It is therefore, my belief that this year’s conference will go down as a milestone achievement in our efforts to refocus ourselves on the challenges of re-engineering the Defence Attaché system in furtherance of our national security interests through effective collaboration.
“Against this backdrop, I believe you all have learnt new and better ways to carry out your assigned tasks in enhancing our national security.
“Without sounding trite, it will be necessary for me to emphasise that you should endeavour to use your vantage positions to make valuable contributions to the Federal Government’s efforts to secure our dear nation.
“This will go a long way to justify the huge investment of the Federal Government in the operations of the Defence Sections,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the five-day conference, which began on Monday, had in attendance the nation’s Defence Attachés/Adviser serving in different countries of the world.
The conference would be climaxed by the DIA retreat which would take place on Saturday to further consolidate on the gains of the conference. (NAN)
