NAN-DS -9
Defence
By Doris Esa
Abuja, March 2, 2018(NAN) The Alumni Association of National Defence College (AANDEC) has called for the development of a “Defence Science and Technology Organisation’’ that can reasonably meet the basic defence needs of Nigeria.
The National President of the association, retired Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Temlong, made the call at a news conference on Friday in Abuja.
Temlong said that toward achieving this, the association would organise a National Security seminar from March 6 to March 8 in Abuja with the theme: “Fighting Tomorrow’s Warfare Today.’’
He said that a stronger science and technology base would enable the country to be less dependent on foreign weapon systems for “our basic needs.’’
Temlong said that the seminar would be organised in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
According to him, the collaborative approach adopted is to achieve synergy in the association’s efforts to enhance peace and security in the nation.
He noted that the armed forces and other security agencies were trained on “counter revolutionary warfare some decades back when that was the prevailing security challenges.’’
“Inter-state wars dominated the scene prior to the end of the Cold War, but now, the focus has changed to counter terrorism.
“Counter insurgency operations since the conflict scenario have changed around the world mostly intra-state wars and conflicts just as globalisation remains a major factor impacting on the security of nations.
“The weapon systems are getting even more sophisticated and easily accessible to non- stare criminal actors.
“The focus on land , sea and air operations has also changed with added dimensions from space and cyber space which have resulted in strategic reviews of ministry operations,’’ he said.
Temlong stressed that to achieve the objective of coping with emerging trends in warfare, there was need to develop a stronger science and technology base.
He said that this was necessary to make the country less dependent on foreign weapon systems for its basic needs
“Nigeria would also need to look beyond defeating terrorism to rebuilding the broken communities with a view to healing the wounds from years of terrorist activities and moving the nation forward,” he said.
He said that some topics had been carefully selected to be addressed at the seminar.
The AANDEC national president listed the topics as: “Technology and Future Warfare: A strategic Approach for the Armed Forces of Nigeria and “Cyber Warfare and National Security: Challenges and Prospects”.
Others, he said, are: “Developing a Defence Science and Technology Organisation in Nigeria to Meet Future Security Challenges and Space Technology and National Security: Challenges and Prospects.’’ (NAN)
ORD/JEY/AMY
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Edited by Johnson Eyiangho/Abdullahi Yusuf