Nigeria’s Defence Minister Calls For Collaboration Among Nations To Tackle Asymmetric Security Challenges

By Michael Peter, The Sight News

Abuja: Nigeria’s Minister of Defence,  Mansur Dan-Ali has stressed the need for collaboration among nations in order to effectively tackle the current Asymmetric Security Challenges confronting nations of the world.

The Minister who said this on Tuesday in Abuja, noted that due to the nature of the new emerging security threats, no single country can successfully address the threats in isolation.

Dan-Ali who went down memory lane, noted that the definition of security took on a new meaning after the Cold-War in the 90s due to the multifaceted and multidimensional nature of the new threat to national and international security.

Represented by General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin, Dan-Ali who was speaking at the opening ceremony of the international seminar on managing Asymmetric Security Challenges In the 21st Century organised by the Nigerian Army, insisted that the Military which was a key player in the management of national and international security during the Cold War will remain so despite the altered nature of the threats but must know that pure military engagement cannot provide sustainable solutions to the new threats.

To this end, he therefore stressed the need for the military to possess an excellent understanding of how asymmetric security challenges mutate from the latest stage to violence so as to be able to successfully nip threats in the bud.

According to the Minister, “The post cold war era saw the emergence of none military threats such as poverty, identity, environmental insecurity, human rights violation, justice, horizontal inequality, traditional crimes, corruption and bad governance. Also, a prominent feature of this era is the emergence of non State armed groups such as dissidents and violent extremists groups that are threatening national, region, and international security around the globe.

“Managing these new emerging threats has become a fundamental challenge in view of their globalized and transnational nature which has been compounded by the revolution in information and communication technology.

“The underlying issue is for the military in the 21th century to be relevant in the management and prevention of violent conflicts, it must understand the realities of the contemporary conflicts and hybrid nature of the current threats”, he said.

Earlier,the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai pointed out that the forum will accord participating nations the opportunity to rethink and re-strategize on the best approach from shared experiences to confront the current challenges posed by Asymmetric Warfare.

Buratai stated that it was imperative for nations’ militaries to identify new ways to counter and effectively manage these challenges, noting that one way to achieving it, is through capacity building and training to enable stakeholders understand the nature of the War.