Abuja – The Presidential Committee on the Review of National Defence Policy submitted its draft report to the Minister of Defence,retired Lt.-Gen. Aliyu Gusau.
The 35 – member committee was inaugurated on November 20, 2014.
Receiving the report, Gusau said the National Defence Policy (NDP) was promulgated in 2006 and had never been reviewed, even though the nation had undergone a lot of transformation.
He said the nation had also gone through security challenges, adding that there had also been new developments and challenges in the global environment that had direct impact on national defence and security.
“All these highlighted the need for the review of the NDP in order to bring it to terms with the new developments, emerging and anticipated threats and challenges.
“We have started a process which can obviously not be completed before May 29 when a new government takes over.
“As a non-partisan group of professionals, what you have produced will be handed over to the next administration for the continuation of the review process.
“And, I am confident this may lead to the promulgation of a new defence policy for Nigeria,” Gusau said.
The minister said inputs for the NDP were further expected from defence establishments, civil societies, the National Assembly and other stakeholders.
Gusau noted that the model of national defence for the 21st century all over the world remained complex, fluid and multi-dimensional.
He said that fashioning the right defence posture for Nigeria now and for the future remained a daunting task.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee, retired AVM Mohammed Umar, said the defence of any modern society like Nigeria was a collective responsibility of the political leadership, the military, security agencies and the civil populace.
Umar said there were also cross-border cooperation with neighbouring countries and international community to minimise transnational threats.
He said these were critically considered during the review and were at the heart of the philosophy of total defence.
Umar said the need for the armed forces and security agencies to work together based on the principle of comparative advantage in specific tasks was also enshrined in the reviewed policy.
“Democratic control of the military is also emphasised in the reviewed policy.
“However, the first step to having a strong armed forces is for the society to be based on the ethos of democratic governance.