President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday tasked Nigeria’s defence, security and intelligence agencies to prioritise sharing of information and intelligence, stating that hoarding such resources could be counterproductive in the fight against terrorism.
Speaking after undertaking a tour of the new Office of National Security Adviser and facilities at the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Abuja, Tinubu said that with the efforts demonstrated in countering terrorism and the state-of-the-art facilities, it must be backed with knowledge.
Saying that his administration recognised that in order to achieve economic revival, prosperity, and development, security should be of optimum priority, the President noted: “It is a great joy to see that we are getting proactive resources to prepare ourselves.
“Terrorism is not unique to Nigeria alone. It is across the world and we have to fight it. We have to eliminate it completely. If we as Nigerians are looking for economic revival, prosperity and development, then we have to give priority to security.
“What I have seen here is a demonstration of intelligence efforts to counter-terrorism. This must be backed by knowledge. Counter terrorism that is not backed by knowledge and intelligence is not going to be of any service to any nation. We are going to work on that together.
“The effort of the entire armed forces of this country must be put together in a way that there will be one single focus on securing the country. You can’t have disharmony in an orchestra. We must focus on one tunnel; coordinate, share information, share intelligence and work harder.
“You cannot hoard information. You cannot hoard intelligence. I am glad that Nigeria is on the path to succeed. We will, I assure you. We will make it a priority and that is why I am here this morning.”
President Tinubu, who described the tour of facilities at the new ONSA building as very important, expressed his willingness to do whatever necessary to support the nation’s security architecture.
In his remarks, the NSA, Major-General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), thanked the President for making the visit his first engagement outside the Villa, saying that “it reinforces his commitment, dedication and inflexible rigidity to ensuring that the security misfortunes of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and by extension the sub-region are overcome within the shortest possible time.”
Monguno pledged the total commitment and dedication of ONSA to ensuring that President Tinubu realizes the promises he made to the Nigerian people on security.