Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff , Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, has identified poor funding, inadequate manpower, and poor understanding of security as factors that are limiting the army’s role in combating insecurity in the country.
Speaking at the Nigerian Army Resource Center in Abuja, Lagbaja stated that to overcome these challenges, there is a need to raise awareness of the whole of society approach to security.
The Chief of Army Staff said he believes that while funding gaps and inadequate manpower are challenges, they can be surmounted.
However, Lagbaja noted that the three arms of the Armed Forces of Nigeria are inadequately manned, which applies to other security agencies in a country with a population of 226 million people.
Lagbaja’s views were echoed by other speakers at the event, who emphasised the importance of multi-agency collaboration in combating security challenges in Nigeria.
The government is pursuing a whole of society approach to tackle security issues, but stakeholders need to understand the strategy better.
The society is still faced with violent crimes, extremism, and other criminal tendencies that have led to radicalization, terrorism, banditry, and militancy.
