President Muhammadu Buhari has assured the military that he will continue to ensure appropriate funding for Nigeria’s armed forces, in order to enhance capacity building and deepen professionalism.
Buhari gave the assurance on Monday, at the opening ceremony of the maiden edition of the Nigerian Air Force International Air Power Seminar in Abuja.
The President disclosed that his administration will continue to support the drive to modernize the armed forces through enhanced budgetary allocation in their quest to meet the constitutional demands of protecting Nigeria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and charged the armed forces, particularly the Nigerian Air Force not to rest on its oars in fulfilling its constitutional role.
Noting that the Seminar is quite timely and necessary for armed forces like the Nigerian Air Force(NAF), to draw from the experiences of other armed forces that have either previously or are currently engaged in counter insurgency operations, the President commended the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, for the initiative.
He stressed that successful counterinsurgency operations would therefore require unity of efforts across multiple Ministries, Departments and Agencies covering political, economic, law enforcement, intelligence and the military, in what is popularly called whole of the nation approach.
His words, “In this regard, we have mobilized relevant agencies and international organizations to support the counterinsurgency effort in order to ensure success.
“Our vision is to build a stable and prosperous Nigeria that would be the pride of future generations. It is however pertinent to note that this cannot be accomplished without peace, stability and security.
“Peace and stability can only be achieved if we are committed to emplacing reforms that will entrench true democracy in our polity” the President said.
Buhari added that the Government considers it of high priority to develop the capacity of the armed forces and indeed that of all security agencies saying, “We are committed to enhancing the welfare of all service personnel to enable them give their utmost in their service to the nation.
“We are also committed to ensuring that our armed forces are appropriately trained and equipped to deal with the contemporary challenges of a globalised world, of which insurgency and terrorism have become of greatest concern” he remarked.
On the war on terror, he emphasized that the Government remains committed to ensuring that the crisis comes to an end, while making the North East and all parts of Nigeria safe for all to live and prosper.
“let me express my profound appreciation to all the countries represented at this gathering especially our partners and friends that have contributed in one way or the other towards the success of our counterinsurgency operations”, he said.
In his address, the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali in his opening remarks, expressed belief that the seminar will further provide new options for the Air Force, in its counterinsurgency operations based on experiences from other countries.
He added that the seminar perfectly fits into the Ministry of Defence’s vision of ensuring synergy and cooperation not just within the Services but across ministerial boundaries in support of the nation’s political objectives.
According to him, “With the support of the Federal Government we are doing our best to ensure optimum utilization of resources in the procurement of equipment and other resources that are required by the Services in prosecuting the counterinsurgency operations.
“We realize that none of the services can by themselves defeat an insurgency but with synergy and the right cooperation, they can help establish a secure environment within which the other counterinsurgency instruments can work successfully”.
