Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, says the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) does not have the manpower to secure all parts of the country, stating that good governance is a top requirement in tackling Nigeria’s current security challenges.
General Musa, who spoke last Thursday at the official launch of the Presidential Community Engagement Peace Initiative (PCEPI) for the North-Central region in Jos, Plateau State, said the security agencies alone would not bring the desired peace and security to the country.
Speaking as the Special Guest, the CDS said at the PCEPI initiative which is the brainchild of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement in charge of North-Central, Abiodun Essiet, that due to the growing population and size of Nigeria, the military does not have the manpower to secure all parts of the country.
According to General Musa: “The military cannot be everywhere; there is no nation that has enough forces to secure the whole of its territorial borders. Nigeria is over 900,000 square kilometres. We do not have the capacity to man everywhere.
“So, what we largely do is to interface through non-kinetic efforts. The kinetic effort is just about 25 to 30 per cent of the solution; 70 per cent is non-kinetic.
“And what does that have to do with anything? It has to do with good governance, and good governance has a lot of layers. Giving everyone a sense of belonging is a critical aspect of good governance.’’
The CDS, who promised that the military would remain professional in its operations, called on the traditional rulers to expose the bad eggs in their domain.
Earlier on Tuesday, General Musa canvassed the fencing of Nigeria’s border as a means of tackling insecurity in the country.
Musa delivered a keynote address at the inaugural Voice of Nigeria (VON) Forum themed: “Renewed Hope Agenda: Citizens’ Engagement and National Security” held in Abuja, said: “I look at the aspect of good governance which is critical for dividends of democracy and local government autonomy. These are aspects that will help secure our country.
“Do we have a comprehensive database as Nigerians? We need a census that will capture every Nigerian in the world, not only in Nigeria. If you go abroad and commit a crime, you will be caught because there is a database to fall back on.
“Border management is very critical. We have had countries that because of the level of insecurity in their country had to fence their borders. If you mentioned this in Nigeria people will say this is impossible.
“Pakistan fenced 1,350 kilometers of border with Afghanistan that was the only time they had peace. Saudi Arabia and Iraq, a 1,400 km border, are completely fenced.
“Can we start thinking of fencing our border, we have 1,500 with the Niger Republic, 1,900 kilometers with Cameroon. Chad is there, all over us we are surrounded by francophone countries. The Sahel is heating up; if the Sahel falls it is Nigeria that they are interested in.”