The President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is pushing security agencies to leverage more technology-driven solutions and intelligence-driven collaboration to improve the nation’s security architecture and be more able to effectively tackle challenges nationwide.
The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), disclosed this on Saturday at the graduation ceremony of participants of the Executive Intelligence Management Course 14 at the National Institute for Security Studies, Bwari, Abuja.
According to a statement issued by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande, Professor Osinbajo said: “President Buhari has emphasized an approach that leverages inter-agency collaboration, joint operations, technology-driven enablers and the optimization of existing capabilities to avoid duplication of resources and expenditure.”
The Vice President also noted the investments made and initiatives taken by the administration to beef up the nation’s security architecture and protect the lives and property of Nigerians.
He said: “in May this year, arising from our deliberations in the National Security Council, the President established the Committee on Needs Assessment of National Security Requirements, which he tasked me to chair with the mandate of assessing the needs of the Defence, Security and Intelligence Agencies in the light of the current challenges and recommend options for containment. The President personally handpicked the membership of the Committee which had representation from the military, the police and the security and intelligence community.As a result of our work, the President signed a supplementary budget of N802 billion for the military, security and intelligence agencies. This was in keeping with his commitment since the outset of this administration to ensure that those charged with keeping Nigerians safe are adequately equipped for the job.” In his speech, the VP then identified some major challenges in the security environment, such as the global dimensions to local security, country size and the challenge of covering extensive terrain, the availability and use of technology by criminal and terrorist individuals and groups, and inter-agency coordination.
However, he emphasized, in addition to improving the capacity of security agencies and intelligence, the importance of technology-driven solutions, in addressing the nation’s security challenges.
