Nigerian military has capacity to check cyber terrorism, says Olonisakin

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By Okodili Ndidi, Abuja

The Armed Forces of Nigeria has in the last five years developed the capacity to protect the country against cyber and asymmetric threats, the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, has said.

Olonisakin who spoke during his Pulling Out Parade at the Mogadishu Barracks in Abuja, prided that under his leadership, the Armed Forces of Nigeria has been transformed from being inexperienced in asymmetric warfare and has over time, built enormous capacity, and gained valuable experience in fighting asymmetric threats to the nation.

According to him, “in the course of my five and a half years as the Chief of Defence Staff, the Armed Forces of Nigeria, under my leadership, and with the strategic guidance of the President, Commander-in-Chief, and the Honourable Minister of Defence, has been transformed from being inexperienced in asymmetric warfare and has over time, built enormous capacity, and gained valuable experience in fighting asymmetric threats to the nation.

“Our current capacity to defend Nigeria has transited from fighting conventional war on land, sea and air alone, to capacity to also contain threats to the nation in the cybersecurity and information domain. We have therefore built a solid foundation on which the current and indeed future generations of Nigerian military Commanders can build on in the performance of their constitutional roles of defending our dear nation from both external and domestic threats to our corporate existence.”

Describing his five-year tenure as the Chief of Defence Staff as successful, Olonisakin, assured that he has the Armed Forces in capable hands.

He said, “I wish to state that I am leaving the Armed Forces of Nigeria in the hands of a competent and experienced successor, who apart from being a former Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force, a former Commander Operation LAFIYA DOLE and a former Chief of Defence Training and Operations, have also been fully involved in all our operational and other initiatives of the Defence Headquarters under my watch.

“I urge you all to continue to work with greater commitment and support to the Chief of Defence Staff and the Service Chiefs in order to achieve the mandate of addressing the spate of insecurity in our dear country.”

Highlighting his experience in his military career that spanned 48 years, the Ambassador-designate, noted that, “it is with deep gratitude and reverence to the Almighty God that I stand before you this morning to deliver my farewell speech having had a very successful career spanning almost 48 years in the Armed Forces of Nigeria, about 40 of which was as a commissioned officer of the Nigerian Army and five years, six months and 13 days as the Chief of Defence Staff of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

“I remain highly humbled by the opportunity and privilege to have served as the Chief of Defence Staff in the history of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. My long and successful career is by the uncommon grace and favour of the Almighty God, and the magnanimity of Mr President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, who found me worthy of my appointment as the 16% Chief of Defence Staff of the Armed Forces of Nigeria”.

He continued that, “as you are well aware, my appointment as the Chief of Defence Staff, and the appointments of the immediate past Service Chiefs, came at the onset of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari with the accompanying security threats confronting our dear country and threatening the security and corporate existence of our nation. Confronting these threats was the major pre-occupation of our Armed Forces throughout my tenure

“As the Chief of Defence Staff. The five and half years of my tenure have therefore been very eventful and challenging. Prior to my assumption of command along with the immediate past Service Chiefs on 13 July 2015, the Boko Haram Terrorists held sway in parts of the North East. Our immediate challenge on assumption of office was to flush out the Boko Haram and restore Nigeria’s sovereignty over these occupied territories.

“Gratefully, with the support of the political leadership, particularly Mr. President, Commander-in-Chief, and indeed all Nigerians, the Armed Forces of Nigeria, under my leadership was able to reclaimed territories that were hitherto under the control of the Boko Haram Terrorists. While the security threat posed by the Boko Haram is still being contained, the Armed Forces of Nigeria have, in the past five years, continued to develop capacities to contain insurgency and other asymmetric threats to our nation.

“In addition to building operational capacity, enormous resources were committed to infrastructure development. Attention was also given to the welfare of our Service personnel through provision of office and residential accommodation, and the approval of an improved Terms and Conditions of Service, and Manuat of Financial Administration for the Armed Forces of Nigeria by Mr. President, Commander-in-Chief.

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“In consonance with the overall strategy of the Nigerian Government to apply a whole-of government approach to addressing the Boko Haram crisis, our military/defence diplomacy saw to the operationalization of various military alliances between Nigeria and her neighbours, especially the Lake Chad Basin Commission countries. We also established close interaction and liaison with other strategic partners. This fed to improved regional cooperation and the strengthening of the Multinational Joint Force (MNJTF).”

He added that, “similar synergy of efforts was established with the P-3 Partners comprising the United States of America, United Kingdom and France. We also strengthened strategic relationship with some Middle East countries as well as South Africa in the overall interest of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and in furtherance of our national security efforts.

“Within the Nigerian Security and Intelligence community, we built synergy and cooperation with the nation’s security and intelligence agencies in order to have a focused and unified approach to addressing our national security issues.”

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