The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has highlighted the need for a people-centric leadership concept as he commits to ensuring better synergy among the Nigerian Armed Forces and the civilian populace.
The defence chief spoke on Monday while delivering a lecture titled ‘Nigeria’s Security and Defence Policies: My Leadership Concept for the Armed Forces’ to participants of Senior Course 46 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State.
According to him, the approach will help in addressing contemporary and emerging security challenges posed by terrorists, bandits, secessionists and other criminal elements threatening the corporate existence of the country.
He noted that the present security challenges required that the armed forces of Nigeria work in synergy and collaborate with the communities and individuals to defeat the enemies of the state, stating that the adversaries must surrender or be ready for total war.
Gen. Musa also stressed that defending the territorial integrity of the country against its enemies is the fundamental responsibility of the armed forces.
The lecture series for participants of Senior Course 46 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College is designed to interrogate how the nation’s armed forces can adopt a multipronged defence strategy to curb such security challenges as against relying solely on kinetic approaches.
The defence chief underscored the importance of joint operations and synergy among the three services of the military as well as effective collaboration with the people, which he said are key in achieving a sustainable action plan.
While assuring Nigerians that no part of the country will be occupied by criminal elements again, Gen. Musa promised that all military operations henceforth will be done jointly with everybody playing a role, including the citizens.
According to the chief of defence staff, the current security challenges are surmountable as the armed forces are ready and willing to achieve success as a team.
