I won’t allow insecurity bring Nigeria to its knees while other countries are advancing– Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu says he will not allow insecurity
challenges to bring  Nigeria to its knees
while other countries are advancing

Babagana Monguno, the national security adviser, spoke to
journalists after a meeting with Tinubu and security chiefs at the Presidential
Villa on Thursday.

Monguno said Tinubu has also asked heads of security
agencies to present a working blueprint to address the lingering insecurity in
the country.

The national security adviser said the president also
mandated him and his colleagues to address maritime insecurity and “crush” oil
thieves.

Monguno said the president directed the security agencies to
comply with the demands of “frequent consultations and also timely reports
which must be acted on”.

“All agencies must work to achieve one single purpose.
Working at cross purposes and colliding with each other is not something that
he will condone. He has made it very, very clear that all the security agencies
must comply with the demands of coordination, with the demands of frequent
consultations and also timely reports which must be acted on,” Monguno said.

“He is going to embark on a lot of reforms in terms of our
security architecture. He is going to take a closer look at our misfortunes in
the maritime domain, focusing particularly on the issues of oil theft that he
is not going to tolerate. Wherever the problem is coming from, it must be
crushed as soon as possible.

 “He has already
mandated the security agencies to come up with a blueprint as far as he knows,
as far as it’s concerned, he doesn’t have the luxury of time. And whatever
changes will be made have to be done as soon as possible.

“The president also has decided that whatever ventures the
armed forces are going to be engaged in, they must carry along those operatives
in the theatre. They must be well-fed, well-kitted, motivated and given all
that they require.

“President has said clearly that he will do whatever is
within his powers to enable the operational elements but the intelligence
agencies must also make their work easy for them by providing the type of
intelligence that they require to carry out the assignment.”

The service chiefs present at the meeting were Lucky Irabor,
chief of defence staff; Farouk Yahaya, chief of army staff; Awwal Gambo, chief
of air staff, and Isiaka Amao, chief of naval staff.

Others were Usman Baba, the inspector-general of police; Yusuf
Bichi, director-general of the Department of State Service (DSS); and Ahmed
Abubakar, director-general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).