By Sumaila Ogbaje, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
It has been established that the protracted insecurity ravaging parts of Africa, especially the Sahel region, has spiral effects on Nigeria and other West African neighbours and beyond.
It is also a fact that some of the security challenges such as insurgency, terrorism and banditry, as well as kidnapping for ransom, militancy and violent extremism are trans-border in nature.
These challenges have persisted across many states in Nigeria in spite of the best efforts of Nigeria’s security establishment.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), as part of its desire to contribute to the efforts toward addressing these challenges, is leading a conversation tagged, Inaugural International Lecture with the theme: “Insecurity in the Sahel (2008-2024): Dissecting Nigeria’s Challenges – Genesis, Impacts and Options.”
The inaugural international lecture will hold on Thursday, Oct. 3, at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre, Abuja.
The Managing Director of NAN, Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, said the event is part of the national effort to enliven public discourse on the debilitating challenges of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping for ransom, militancy and violent ultra-nationalism, among others in the country.
Ali stated that Nigeria’s security challenges could not be divorced from its regional heritage in the Sahel, a vast landmass which also traverses the troubled countries of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Cameroon.
It would be recalled that in 2020, no fewer than 4,660 people were killed in this region while another 2,600 civilians lost their lives in banditry attacks in 2021.
The NAN boss said the lecture would interrogate the root causes of the violence troubling the Sahel, examine its impact on Nigeria’s territorial integrity and lay bare the options available to policy strategists based on the country’s security architecture.
Ali said that a former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar would chair the event while Dr Muhammed Ibn Chambas, who is the Chief United Nations Negotiator in Sudan, would be the guest speaker.
According to him, it is expected that the public lecture would introduce fresh perspectives to Nigeria’s battle with terrorism and banditry as well as provide policy makers and the nation’s military establishment a strategic framework for contending with the onslaught from the Sahel.
The managing Director said that NAN, having existed for 48 years with a large editorial workforce, was yet to leverage on its reputation as a conveyor of truth to play a pivotal role in giving direction on political and social-economic issues.
“What NAN is doing is to tell the world that beyond reporting factually and objectively, it can intervene on contemporary issues, with a view to finding pathways to a greater nation and continent.
“NAN is about the only media organisation in the entire country that has several partnerships with other sister media organisations across the globe from the Russian news agency, to the Moroccan news agency, to the Chinese news agency.
“All of these, including Reuters and AFP are global brands. So, it’s about time NAN interfaces with the global community to provide the platform for people to talk.
“The aim is to ignite an international conversation around this flashpoint, the Sahel,’’ he said.
On the choice of the theme of the lecture, Ali said that security was central to every other thing to thrive, adding that agriculture had continued to suffer in the northern part of the country as a result of insecurity.
He said that Africa has been assailed by all kinds of conflicts and insecurity inhibiting its development .
According to him, the Sahel region and Nigeria face interconnected security challenges, fueled by Islamist extremism, terrorism and insurgency; porous borders facilitating cross-border movements and weak governance and institutional capacity.
Also, poverty, inequality, and social exclusion as well as climate change and environmental degradation were also some of the common challenges faced by the region.
Security experts have, equally, established that Boko Haram’s ties with Sahel-based groups such as Al’Qaida and JNIM; cross-border operations and sanctuaries; smuggling and trafficking networks have continued to worsen insecurity in the Sahel.
They added that shared ideological, competition for resources such as livestock, and water as well as extremist agendas and regional instability and conflict spillover were other causative factors.
These factors have led to increased insecurity in northern Nigeria; Boko Haram’s resurgence and territorial control, growing presence of ISWAP and other international terrorist groups; humanitarian crises and displacement as well as economic instability and disruption of trade.
According to Ali, the choice of Chambas, a prominent diplomat and public figure from Ghana, as Guest Speaker was as a result of his extensive knowledge in global diplomacy, peace and security, especially in Africa.
He pointed out, “Chambas was the ECOWAS Commission President, before moving to become United Nations rapporteur on the Sahel. Currently, he is the chief UN negotiator in Sudan, where there is a raging internecine war.
“So, you can see he is well versed and well-marinated to deliver a lecture on Sahel and insecurity, the genesis, the impact, the options”.
Also invited are President Bola Tinubu and members of the Federal Executive Council as well as the top echelon of Nigeria’s political establishment and top brass of the military.
He said members of the diplomatic corps and the academic community and media executives from local and African news agencies have also signified intention to attend.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, and Obi of Onitsha, Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe are leading traditional rulers who have also been been invited.
Ali said he was optimistic that the outcome of the lecture, after being compiled and sent to appropriate quarters, would contribute to finding lasting solutions to the insecurity issues in the Sahel.(NANFeatures)
**If used, please credit the author and the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
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