Abuja –
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Friday told the military elite to be on the
cutting edge of technology to defeat cyber hackers and terrorists and create a
better future for the citizenry.
Cross
section of Participants during a courtesy visit by Course 25 Participants of
the National Defence College at the State House, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi
Adeshida
He gave the
charge in his address at the Silver Jubilee and graduation of 133 military and
para-military participants of the Course 25 of the National Defence College,
Abuja.
The Acting President,
whose message was titled: “The Battle has Changed,’’ noted that the nation was
today facing new challenges and character in warfare, terror and all manners of
insurgency.
According to
him, terror groups and cyber criminals had used modern technologies to spread
useless ideologies and defraud the people and the country cannot afford not to
use the same strategies to respond to insurgency.
“I challenge
the elite of our armed forces that if militants, terrorist groups and internet
hackers are constantly re-inventing themselves taking advantage of emerging
technologies, you have no reason whatsoever not to be at the cutting edge of
technological warfare.
“You must
consistently redefine your role in national security architecture,’’ he said.
The Acting
president reemphasized that the role of the military was as critical as ever
not just in the traditional areas of terrorist threats and protecting lives and
property.
He said that
the military of the 21st century must realise that it had a role to play in
supplying re-enforcement in the ideas that today define the world.
He noted
that the military should realise that in the fight against religious extremism
“it is much easier to win the war than to win the peace; it is easier to
neutralize the extremists that to neutralize extremist ideologies.
“That is the
critical challenge for us in the North East and the critical challenge for many
countries that had to do with extremist ideologies and the insurgencies they
had.
He asked
that having won the physical battle against terror how would the military
position itself to win the hearts and minds of the people and win them over.
Osinbajo
stated that one of the priorities of government was the comprehensive
rebuilding of the North East.
He added
that it was also part of the strategy to win the minds of the people by
directly investing and restoring schools and hospitals and government
institutions and so on.
According to
him the stratagem was to send the message that government wanted to create a
better life and a future for them.
“The lesson
then is that in the future we must not wait until things are fallen apart
before we show as a government and elite that we care for our people.’’
He said that
going forward the military must prepare for the future before it unfolded and
be able to anticipate and tackle embedded threats.
Osinbajo
also noted the threats to electoral processes caused by fraudulent internet
users and said that as Nigeria approached the 2019 elections those were the
kinds of threats the nation would contend with.
He said that
even in daily lives the people had to contend with fake news adding that a
website operated from Ukraine had swayed the minds of the Nigerian youth even
as it was neither based in Nigeria nor owned by a Nigerian.
Osinbajo
said he was delighted to be at the graduation of the training institution for
the high ranking members of the military.
He described
the graduating set as a special one having presented to him a priceless
research paper on fighting terrorism and national security.
He said it
was gratifying to note that the course played host to Nigerian and foreign
nationals which showed the spirit of collaboration among nations.
He told the
graduands that having achieved the academic feat they must explore further
professional horizon.
He noted
that it was better to learn from history in order not to repeat the mistakes of
the past.
He noted
that the armed forces represented a crucial component of the country’s
intellectual population.
The Acting
President called on the Nigerian military to provide a strategic plan for the
country to enter a post-oil era due to the dwindling oil revenue and the
deadlines placed by developing countries to stop use of petrol vehicles.
“The future
calls for our revisiting our dependence on oil,’’ he stated adding that it
informed the diversification programme being midwifed by the President Buhari
administration.
Acting
President presented certificates and conferred fellowships to the 133
graduants.
Course 25 of
the NDC was inaugurated on Sept. 2, 2016 with participants from 15 military and
para-military formations in the country as well as 10 nationals from Ghana,
Mali, Zimbabwe, Cameroun, DR Congo, India, Cote D’Ivoire, Togo, Brazil and
Tanzania.
By the 2017
ceremony the college had graduated 2,134 professionals, among them 190
foreigners.
The event
was also used to launch the college’s anniversary brooch and journal.(NAN)
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