The Defence Intelligence Agency and Voice of Nigeria, both agencies of the federal government, are to collaborate on kinetic approach towards tackling the security challenges in the country.
The Director, Psychological Operations, Defence Intelligence Agency, Mrs. Chinyelum Usman made the request when she paid a courtesy visit to the Director General, Voice of Nigeria at the VON headquarters, Abuja on Tuesday.
Mrs Usman said; ”the collaboration is in recognition of the important role of the Media in information dissemination and molding public opinion, and in furtherance of the non-kenetic approach towards ending the security challenges in the country.”
She said VON has both local and foreign audience and the DIA decided to seek partnership to use its wide reach platform and audience to attain the objectives of reaching across to the audience because of the many issues arising and happening in the diaspora that are crucial to national security.
“With all the Kenetic operations, we came up with psychological operations for our agency, The psychological operations Directorate which I head is pretty new and it is charged with softer approach because forces alone can not yield the needed result so non kenetic instruments compliment hard power. Basically our work is centered on winning the hearts and minds of the citizens, it could be varied target audience in support of national security objectives and government policies. In this we work in support of national security objectives, and do a lot of jingles, workshops, psycho-socio support.
“The reason we are here is to be able to work together in disseminating some of these messages, to partner with Voice of Nigeria, using your wide reach platform to be able to get across to our target audience, it could be foreign audience because we see a lot of things that are happening in the diaspora, that is inimical to national security, so these are areas we wish to collaborate, it could be in terms of organizing training of relevant MDAs,” the DIA Director explained.
Responding, the Director General, Voice of Nigeria, Mr. Osita Okechukwu said; ”What you have so far highlighted is what we have been doing in Voice of Nigeria since inception, we took off as an external department of Radio Nigeria when it was Nigeria Broadcasting Commission back in the 60s and in 1991, the external department was graduated to Voice of Nigeria, and our mandate had been how to tell the international Community what is going on in Nigeria, especially now when the social media has got no gate keeper to circulate and write information that may not be true.”
Mr Okechukwu further said with the instrument of social media, traditional radio alone can not suffice hence it became necessary in modern broadcast for VON to migrate to digital platform with the digital world, with the use of apps for easy listenership as the international arena is competitive.
He said; “So it becomes our primary responsibility to tell the world the truth about what is going on without addition or subtraction. It is important we collaborate, we will not just depend on press releases but get background information as psychological warfare is one of the greatest arms of any engagement, because if you do not get the people to understand what you are doing or understand why you fight, you will loose the people even if you conquer, so we share in your reach out for partnership.”
“We started as doing only short wave radio but today we expanded to digital media that’s why we have the Information Technology Department. We said since audience have migrated to the digital world, so it became incumbent in us to move with the audience and today we are on smartphones with VON app, Simple Radio app, TuneIn Radio app and Radio Garden all internet based… We try to follow the dynamism in digital media space aside Facebook and other social platforms. We have come a long way with the Nigerian Army partnership for years now.”
The Executive Director News, Ahaziah Suleiman said Voice of Nigeria has a long standing relationship with the Nigerian Army and the Armed Forces by extension.
He stated that ”VON has a programme known as BEYOND BULLETS ; Road Map to Peace, that carries not just the activities of the Army, but the Armed Forces as whole and it is produced in three major languages and broadcast on Armed Forces Radio and Radio HADIN KAI in the North East Theatre of Operations. The programme came following the crisis in the North East region of the country when Boko Haram started and the activities of the military was not being recognised. The Director training made a proposal to the former Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, that gave birth to the programme.”
Mr Ahazia called for training in the area of reporting security and how to handle matters of national security.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Director Training, Ben Shemang, said; ”No nation survives by betraying its National security and Voice of Nigeria is fully on board in terms of partnership with the Directorate of Defence Intelligence.”
Defence Intelligence Agency came into being in 1986, when the then government came up with three National Defence Intelligence Agencies; Defence Intelligence Agency is charged with the collection of Defence related intelligence within and outside Nigeria, National Intelligence Agency, charged with the collection of intelligence from outside Nigeria, and the Department of State Services is charged with intelligence within the Nation. The DIA is charged with Defence related intelligence . It supports the Armed Forces and National security objectives.
On the team with the Director of Psychological Operations, Defence Intelligence Agency, were Jeremiah Adamu, Deputy Director Media Management in the Directorate of Psychological Operations, Colonel A U Abdul, the Assistant Director psychological operations, OC Military Police, DIA, Major Adebusi and Liason Officer, Isaac Akaagerger.
