The Federal Government has stressed the need for stronger international partnerships to tackle terrorism, banditry, oil theft, cybercrime, and other emerging security threats in Nigeria.
The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (rtd), who made the call on the sideline of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, said such strategy would involve government, communities, international partners and the private sector.
Musa added that Nigeria’s security challenges have become too interconnected for any single institution or country to tackle alone.
“Nigeria’s security challenges are national in their impact, regional in their consequences, and increasingly international in their implications,” the minister stated.
He explained that while military and other security operations remained essential to protecting Nigeria citizens and territorial integrity, lasting peace and stability could not be achieved through military action alone.
According to him, Nigeria is, therefore, seeking practical partnership with the United Nations, African Union, ECOWAS, bilateral partners, civil society, researchers, and the private sector to strengthen its security capabilities and institutions.
Musa stressed that the government was pursuing measures, including recruitment of additional 22,000 personnel, restructuring of the Army divisions, stronger subnational security arrangements, and proposals for state police and forest guards.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the President on Homeland Security, Maj.-Gen. Adeyinka Famadewa (rtd), said Nigeria was moving from a capability-driven to a threat-driven security strategy.
Famadewa said such assessment would identify the country’s major threats, determine existing capability gaps, and prioritise resources for addressing them.
He added: “The national security strategy document, I know, is a draft review, but this is what we’re trying to do, like I said during the engagement, meant that we are moving from capability-driven to threat-driven.
“Defense is a very expensive venture. So you need to prioritise.”
He explained that the process would involve developing a five-year framework for acquiring critical capabilities while strengthening Nigeria’s domestic defence-production capacity.
Famadewa said: “Also, government would review previous assumptions about security and develop new approaches to ensure the safety of Nigerians.
“We are bringing out new methods of achieving the objective of ensuring that every Nigerian is safe and Nigeria prospers.”
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