effort in the fight against terrorism and insurgency in the country.
This is the first time the Defense Minister would be making a public
statement against terrorism since assuming office.
Gusau made the call at the graduation dinner/award night for Course 22
Participants of the National Defence College (NDC) on Wednesday in Abuja.
“It is not just government and security services that are in the war, it
is our country that is under siege.
“It is our war and war can only be won if we keep a united front, while we
are concerned about our present we should also think of our future.
“The current challenges in some part of the country remind us that
military might alone is not enough to ensure peace,’’ he said.
Gusau, however, said that military power was essential to ensure stability
without which it would be impossible to build and sustain peace.
The minister said without the support of the people, especially the
locals, the unseen enemies in an insurgency would retain the perception
that they had the upper hand.
He said the armed forces required the total and unequivocal support of
generality of Nigerians for their actions to remain legitimate.
On training, Gusau said government was focused on renewed collaboration
with the NDC to ensure that senior officers of the military were properly
trained to enable them face the challenge of terror
“To you the graduating participants, I have cause to believe that you have
all earned the right to be conferred with the qualification Fellow of
Defence College (FDC),’’ he said.
Gusau stressed that innovation and foresight were needed to curb emerging
security threats in the 21st century.
The minister expressed satisfaction with the progress made by the college
in the areas of training, research and development as well as for
retaining its position as the centre of excellence.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that awards were given to staff
and participants who had distinguished themselves.
NAN also reports that 139 participants, including 15 foreign participants,
would graduate from the college on Aug. 8. (NAN)