Defence Minister Laments Over Rising Insecurity, Food Shortage
The Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi has said the high cost of food items and economic growth in the country is a result of the prevalence of insecurity.
Magashi stated this on Monday in Abuja at the opening of a retreat for Defence Advisers/Attaches Conference, organised by the Defence Intelligence Agency.
He said, “The threats currently facing Nigeria and understanding their socio-geographic context is pivotal for adapting appropriate and lasting counter-measures. Regrettably, the prevalence of these threats has continued to endanger not only national security and economic growth but also food security.
“In particular, food security has been adversely affected with the attendant rise in the prices of foodstuff across the country which portends a new dimension of threat.
“This makes it imperative for the various security agencies in the country to continue to collaborate to tackle this menace in order to create an enabling atmosphere for economic activities to thrive and to attract foreign direct investment.
He added that “It also means that the security agencies must explore all avenues within their respective systems to come up with innovative ways of identifying and confronting the challenges facing us as a nation”.
The National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, said the defence Attachés/Advisers were considered as critical stakeholders in surmounting the myriad of security challenges facing Nigeria.
Monguno, who was represented by his Principal General Staff Officer, Maj. Gen. Abubakar Ndalolo, said Nigeria had been adopting both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches in dealing with security challenges, adding that both approaches had been yielding results.