NDA Commandant, Major General Ibrahim and executive members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kaduna State Council during a courtesy visit at the Academy.
By AMOS MATHEW, Kaduna –
The Commandant, Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Major General AK Ibrahim has said that Kaduna State, the seat of the Academy, is now safer than it used to be in terms of insecurity and other criminal activities.
The NDA Commandant however, added that much needed to be done to ensure wholistic security situation because, “we are not yet where we want to be”.
Major General Ibrahim stated this when the Executive members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kaduna State Council paid him a courtesy at the Academy.
The NDA Boss who noted that journalists are the watchdogs of the society called on them to sensitise the general public on the need to report suspicious persons in the society to security agencies, adding that NDA and NUJ are partners in progress.
Earlier, in his remarks, NUJ Chairman, Alhaji Abdulgafar Alabelewe commended the Commandant for quality training given to officers of the Armed Forces, admitting that journalists have a bigger role to play in ensuring a peaceful society.
According to Major General Ibrahim, “We are in the process of organizing our security help line, and very soon it will be operational, it will be ready so that if there is anything we will be able to tackle it much more earlier. We are not security outfit perse but we are also senior military officers who have taken part in working to maintain security in our society. I can beat my chest to say that Kaduna State in the last few months is much safer than it used to be. But we are not where we want to be yet. So we must join hands and work together so that we can have a country we can be proud of. Each time people travel outside Nigeria and after one or two weeks, they will like to come back to Nigeria. So it is better to work together and build a better country.
“So we appeal to NUJ to help us in projecting the activities of the Nigerian Defence Academy. We appeal to you in helping us to sensitise the general public not just because we are training institution, we are also a security Organisation because we have Demonstration Battalions that sometimes support whatever information, if there is any issue of security breach in Kaduna because there is a nexus between security and development, without one of them, one cannot survive on its own. So help us sensitise the general public that if they see anything suspicious they should have a way of reporting to us and then we take it up.
“Journalists are the watchdogs of any society. We refer to you as the fourth estate of the realm, very very important. So for us, you people do not just educate, you inform and also entertain us. As a matter of fact I am happy to see those of you behind the newspapers report because I read newspapers a lot. It is quite interesting to see live here today. I appreciate all of you for coming. We are partners in progress, we need the press if we are going to achieve certain position because whatever you tell the people outside is what they will read and it is what they will believe.
“The NDA is mainly a training institution founded over 60 years with the mandate of training young Nigerians for leadership position in the Armed Forces. But over the years we have dovetailed, we trained young officers from allied countries thereby promoting a kind of military diplomacy. As it is we have Cadet from Burkina Faso, Congo, Liberia, Cameroon, and few other countries and that has continued. They have trained over 20,000 officers both from Nigeria and outside Nigeria and even outside Africa. So basically that is what we do in the area of training.
“And with the opening of our Postgraduates school about 20 years, we are also contributing to higher education and I am happy to say that our PGD school is receiving wide acceptance. People come from all over for the school which attests to the authenticity and integrity of the training. Yes, we may have one or two issues, but I can assure you we are doing everything we can internally to see how we can solve this problem if any at all”.
The NUJ Chairman, Alabelewe in his remarks said, “We want to commend the Commandant for training quality officers for the Armed Forces. However, we want to appeal for synergy of purpose between the Academy and the NUJ to enable us report your activities appropriately.
“We are also soliciting for partnership with the NDA in terms of capacity building of our members as well as extending the social responsibility of the prestigious Defence Academy to our Union”.
