Insecurity: Defence minister demands timeline from service chiefs

The Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru, yesterday requested the service chiefs to give a timeline and requirements to end the insecurity in the country. He said the timeline would be passed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who, he noted, would be monitoring performance. Badaru spoke in Abuja when he and his Minister of State, Bello […]

The Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru, yesterday requested the service chiefs to give a timeline and requirements to end the insecurity in the country.

He said the timeline would be passed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who, he noted, would be monitoring performance.

Badaru spoke in Abuja when he and his Minister of State, Bello Matawalle, took over the affairs of the ministry. He said he would be engaging the service chiefs as a group and individuals. 

The minister said the service chiefs would have to forgive him if “I cross the command channel.” 

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He said: “We’ve to deliver and for the sake of our country, we know without security, there’ll be no investment and without investment, there’ll be no economic growth, even our food security is threatened. Farmers can’t go to their farms.

“The president is ready to give us all the support to do this so from now on. I want the service chiefs to give me a timeline and their requirements on how we’ll begin to solve these problems one by one.

“This timeline and target will be passed on to the president and trust me, he’ll be monitoring us and he doesn’t have the patience to work with lazy people. So, all our jobs are at stake if we don’t deliver.”

On his part, Matawalle, assured of collaboration with relevant ministries and agencies to implement programmes that would address the socio-economic disparities that often fuel conflicts.

He said the government would work closely with international partners to acquire cutting-edge technology and expertise that would enhance the nation’s defence capabilities. 

“At the same time, we recognize that military might alone cannot guarantee lasting security and stability,” Matawalle added.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa, assured of the service chiefs’ loyalty to the government. 

“It’s our responsibility that we ensure that there would be restored peace, tranquility, and security in Nigeria.

“We’re happy you are going to make a lot of things happen.  We assure you of our support and we would be transparent. That’s how we’ve been working together since we took over. All in the past that they had issues of conflict of interest are gone.

“We’re all professionals, we love Nigeria and we want Nigeria to be peaceful. We’ll do everything it takes to achieve success.”