… Urges members to approach assignment with professionalism, objectivity, urgency, patriotism
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) has urged members of the Presidential Committee on the National Threat Assessment and Five-Year Strategic Defence Operations Plan to approach their assignment with the highest degree of professionalism, objectivity, urgency and patriotism.
The SGF gave the charge on Wednesday while inaugurating the Committee established by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to prepare a comprehensive National Threat Assessment and a rolling Five-Year Strategic Defence Operations Plan for the country.
He said the Committee had been entrusted with an assignment of considerable national importance and must deliver both documents within 90 days for the consideration and approval of the President.
According to the SGF, the Committee has been authorised to consult or co-opt representatives of other Ministries, Departments and Agencies whose specialised knowledge may be required in the course of its work.
He assured the Committee of the full support and cooperation of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in carrying out the assignment.
The SGF said the inauguration represented an important step in strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to understand, anticipate, plan for and respond effectively to an increasingly complex and evolving security environment.
He noted that contemporary security threats had become increasingly interconnected and adaptive, with the capacity to exploit gaps between institutions, jurisdictions and operational theatres.
While acknowledging the significant successes recorded by the Armed Forces and other security agencies across different theatres in recent months, the SGF said the government must move beyond responding to individual security challenges to establishing a system capable of anticipating threats, setting priorities, allocating resources rationally and sustaining operational momentum.
He said such a system must also ensure that national security objectives are consistently translated into measurable outcomes.
According to him, although heads of defence, intelligence and security agencies must retain the flexibility required to respond to immediate threats, their responses should be anchored on a shared national understanding of the security environment and a coherent short-, medium- and long-term strategy.
He observed that operational requirements were sometimes considered independently without sufficient reference to an agreed national threat assessment, clearly prioritised national objectives or a unified capability plan, a situation he said made coordination more difficult and limited the efficient deployment of scarce resources.
The SGF said the Committee was therefore expected to help establish a coherent strategic system in which Nigeria’s assessment of threats would determine operational objectives, while the objectives would, in turn, determine the capabilities required.
He added that capability requirements should inform expenditure, procurement, force development and industrial priorities.
“In simple terms, we must establish a clear path from threat to objective, from objective to capability, from capability to resource, and from resource to measurable outcome,” he said.
The SGF explained that the Committee was expected to produce two key documents — a National Threat Assessment and a Five-Year Strategic Defence Operations Plan.
He said the National Threat Assessment should provide the government with a comprehensive and objective understanding of Nigeria’s security landscape by identifying what threatens the country, why the threats matter, how they are likely to evolve, the consequences of failing to address them and the appropriate government response.
The assessment, he added, would provide a common planning basis for the Armed Forces, intelligence services and other relevant security agencies, while helping the government distinguish between immediate threats requiring urgent operational responses and emerging threats demanding early investment in intelligence, technology, infrastructure, doctrine, training and other capabilities.
The Five-Year Strategic Defence Operations Plan, on the other hand, is expected to translate the National Threat Assessment into practical and prioritised operational requirements.
The SGF said the plan should establish what must be achieved in each operational theatre and identify the forces, capabilities, equipment, infrastructure, logistics, intelligence, technology and other enablers required to achieve the objectives.
It is also expected to identify existing capability gaps and establish priorities based on the severity and urgency of identified threats, as well as provide a realistic implementation timetable specifying what is required, when it is required, why it is required, who is responsible for delivering it and how progress will be measured.
He said the five-year timeframe would provide the medium-term horizon required for force development, capability acquisition, infrastructure development, training, maintenance, research and development and the strengthening of Nigeria’s defence industrial base.
The plan would, however, operate on a rolling basis and be reviewed annually to accommodate emerging threats, changing operational realities, technological developments and lessons from ongoing operations.
Under its Terms of Reference, the Committee is to review the principal security threats facing Nigeria, including existing and emerging threats, and assess their relative urgency and strategic implications.
It is also mandated to define operational priorities and identify the capabilities required in each theatre; identify capability gaps and the equipment, logistics, infrastructure, technology, personnel and support requirements necessary to address them; and determine procurement priorities based on assessed threats and operational requirements rather than institutional preferences.
The Committee will also establish implementation steps and realistic timelines for each priority, including measures for monitoring progress and assessing outcomes, as well as make other recommendations necessary for the formulation and effective implementation of the Strategic Defence Operations Plan.
The SGF said the nation’s military and security personnel, who continue to demonstrate courage and commitment in defending the country, deserved a strategic framework that clearly defines their objectives and provides the capabilities, resources and support required to accomplish them.
He thereafter formally inaugurated the Committee on behalf of President Tinubu and wished its members wisdom, diligence and successful deliberations in the discharge of the national assignment.
The Committee, which will be coordinated and supported by the Office of Mr. President’s Special Adviser on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka A. Famadewa (Rtd) has the following membership: National Security Adviser – Malam Nuhu Ribadu; Minister of Defence – General Christopher Musa (Rtd); Minister of State for Defence – Alhaji Bello Muhammad Matawalle and Chief of Defence Staff – General Olufemi Oluyede.
It also has the Chief of Army Staff – Lt. General Waidi Shaibu; Chief of Air Staff – Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke and Chief of Naval Staff – Vice Admiral Idi Abbas; Inspector General of Police – Olatunji Rilwan Disu; Director-General, Department of State Service – Tosin Ajayi and Director-General, National Intelligence Agency – Ambassador Muhammed Muhammed as members.q
In his closing remarks, the Special Adviser to the President on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka Famadewa (rtd), expressed appreciation to President Tinubu for the confidence reposed in members of the Committee and for the opportunity given to them to contribute to the security and wellbeing of the country.
Famadewa urged members to work collectively and in synergy towards strengthening Nigeria’s security architecture, stressing that the assignment must be approached as a shared national responsibility.
He said his role would not be to command members of the Committee but to facilitate collaboration and harness their collective expertise towards achieving the objectives set by the President.
The Special Adviser also disclosed that subcommittees would be established to facilitate the work, enable members to focus on specialised areas and ensure the Committee completes the assignment within the stipulated timeframe.
