Dasuki however said that the country was
responding effectively to the threat of terrorism through the making of
relevant laws and policies to destroy the terror networks in the
country.
The NSA’s comment was contained in a
keynote address read on his behalf by Ambassador Layiwola Laseinde, who
represented him at a one-week Strategic Communications Plan workshop for
counter-insurgency organised by the National Defence College, Abuja on
Monday.
The event declared open by the Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Mr. Aliyu Ismaila, who represented the
Supervising Minister of Defence, Labaran Maku, was organised in
collaboration with the United States Department of State’s Centre for
Strategic Counter-Terrorism Communication, the British Ministry of
Defence, and Albany Communications.
Dasuki said that the country had come to
the realisation that military action alone would not suffice in the
campaign against terrorism. He stressed that an enlightenment campaign
was a necessity in the quest to defeat fundamentalists’ ideologies and
terrorists’ tendencies.
Dasuki said that the need to build a
consensus against violent acts of terror remained one of the reasons
strategic communications was included in the nation’s counter-terrorism
operations.
He said, “Global terror, championed by
Al-Qaeda, has encroached upon the frontiers of Nigeria’s security and
well-being. Nigeria is responding to this threat on all fronts.
“Through new and relevant legislations
and policies, security agencies have continued to dismantle terrorists’
infrastructure in Nigeria.
“Nigeria realises that military action
on its own will not counter terror if not accompanied by a robust public
diplomacy aimed at defeating the ideology of hate and building
consensus against violent extremism.
“This is why strategic communication is an essential part of our counter-terrorism operations…”
Dasuki said that strategic communication
in the country would enhance the exposure of the true intent and form
of government “that the Al Qaeda-modelled Boko Haram seeks to impose.”
He said that the strategic communication
strategy would also strive to place emphasis on the fact that terrorism
was un-Islamic and that counter-terrorism was not targeted at Islam.
Dasuki said that efforts would be made
to improve Muslim-Christian relations and promote the rate of literacy
in the North as the fundamentalists were exploiting mass illiteracy in
the area.
The NSA stressed that the Federal
Government would promote inter-party collaboration in counter-terrorism
so that all stakeholders would contribute to the efforts designed to
provide safety and security in the society.
Fidelis Soriwei
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