As part of efforts at promoting Army-civil relationship towards and countering insurgency in Nigeria، the Federal Government and stakeholders have been charged to rebrand the nation’s Army for optimum performance.
This was part of the communiqué issued at the end of a roundtable discussion held on Sunday 5th July 2020 between Olowu of Kuta, His Royal Majesty, Oba Adekunle Oyelude Makama, Tegbosin 3, and coalition of civil society organizations in marking this year’s edition of Nigeria Army Day Celebration.
The traditional ruler who convened the meeting themed: “Understanding The Nigerian Security Architecture, Nigerian Army’s Perspective,” addressed the media on the 10 point communique after the meeting in Lagos.
Olowu Kuta and the civil societies advocated for synergy among the security agencies in order to defeat the Boko Haram and other security challenges rocking the country .
According to the monarch, there said was a need for synergy and intelligence sharing among the security agencies in order to always nip in the bud any form of crisis that will result to national upheaval.
He called for confidence building between the army and the civil populace in order to flush out miscreants and other undesirable elements from our community.
He, however, stressed the need for effective and efficient communications by the army hierarchy.
Olowu explained that the civil society and army relationship should be strengthened, adding that there is need for the group and Nigerian Army to work together for perception management.
At the end of the deliberations, it was resolved that the following points should be adopted as a panacea to rebranding the army: That there should be conscious efforts towards rebranding the army. Improved professionalism, that is, the army must be allowed to face its primary assignment of defending the territorial integrity of the country squarely
“Effective and efficient communication , propaganda should be believable and credible when deployed. Confidence building/community relations among the populace so that the civil populace will see the Army as partner in progress and not the ‘aggressor/oppressor’ and an army of occupation
“Regular interface with the CSOs. Increased budgeting. Recruitment system should be more open and transparent. It must be on merit as opposed to quota system. Engaging the CSOs for perception management. There should be synergy among the security agencies. Discipline/ Ethics should be adhered strictly to in order to serve as a deterrent to bad eggs or fifth columnist.
Participants wished the Nigeria Army a successful army day celebration and congratulated the chief of Army staff LT General Tukur Yusuf Buratai on the milestone Achievements so far.
The civil societies that attended the meeting included CADV, GDI, Good Governance, CHSR, Comm Women Initiative, Campaign Against Impunity, Media Law Centre and M & B Initiatives.
Leave a Reply