Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Muhammed Badaru Abubakar, has advocated for joint Operations amongst all the security forces of the nation in combating modern conflicts, saying no modern conflict can be successfully prosecuted using only one element of national power.
The Minister, who spoke while giving his closing remarks at the Air Power Consult Senior Leadership Forum on “Emerging Trends and Threats in the Battle Space and their impact on employment of Air Power,” said that a nation needs a whole of government approach in fighting more modern conflicts.
According to him, “In reality and concomitant to this reality is that, in the use of the military element of national power, no single service can hope or expect to successfully overcome the modern hydra-headed complex conflicts. Therefore, we need to move away from paying mere lip service to something as fundamental to our success as a sector as Jointness.
“We are using it in our training. We must adopt it in our operations. The Ministry of Defence will continue to enhance jointness within the Armed Forces, building upon the existing collaboration and cooperation that has been a hallmark since the inception of the present administration.”
He commended the organiser of the forum; a unique body of patriotic, retired senior Nigerian Air Force officers under the aegis of Air Power Consult, which was aptly described as “a body of thinkers”. “I appreciate you all for organizing this special forum to enlighten us and agitate our minds on emerging trends and threats in the contemporary battlespace, and their impact on the delivery and sustenance of Air Power,” he said.
“Your efforts and resources, in terms of time, intellectual and financial resources expended in putting together such an interaction as this, are clearly proofs of the patriotic zeal of these officers who despite having paid their dues and meritoriously served our nation and now retired, but still continue to concern themselves with the affairs of the Country,” he thanked them.
The Minister added that Air Power is essential and has a pivotal role in ensuring the successful outcome of any joint action and other aspects of modern conflict.
He said that the truth was perhaps at the root of the desire and clamour of every arm of our military and indeed the Nigeria Police and other para-military organizations like Nigerian Customs Service, Nigerian Immigration Service, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and the Federal Road Safety Corps to acquire organic air assets to support their individual operations.
“However, this desire and clamour must be interrogated dispassionately especially within the context of the fact that a whole Service, the Nigerian Air Force was established and is being funded and equipped to manage the nation’s air power,” he explained.
Also, the Minister explained that the emerging technologies are by their nature disruptive and particularly more so in the conduct of warfare and the resolution of conflicts. And to maintain our edge as the dominant military power in our region and to adequately confront the plethora of security challenges facing us as a nation, we must immediately begin to integrate these technologies into our warfighting capabilities. Our defence and services research and development outfits and must evolve from being mere “staff organizations” to actual development organizations.
“To this end, the Ministry of Defence will focus on establishing effective communication with the Ministries of Science and Technology, Communication, Trade and Investment, and other pertinent government ministries and agencies. This will facilitate the production and application of technologies developed by our research and development institutions,” he stated.