The Eastern Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy has engaged about 12 military and paramilitary agencies on inter agency cooperation to enhance the country’s security.
This was disclosed by the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Eastern Naval Command, Rear Adm. Saheed Akinwande during the command’s 2024 inter-agency seminar in Calabar on Tuesday.
The seminar has as it theme: “Strengthening Inter Agency Cooperation Amongst Security agencies At The Tactical Level: a Panacea For Operational Effectiveness”.
Speaking on the basis of the seminar, Akinwande said the complex nature of Nigeria’s security challenges required mutual trust to meet the challenges .
“I will like to stress that the complex nature of security challenges demands that security agencies emplace a very robust, collaborative arrangements that will foster common understanding of security challenges, mutual trust as well as intelligence sharing to meet the challenges.
“We want to talk directly to the lower cadre, our men out there in the field.
“We expect that at the end of the seminar, the outcome will foster that much needed inter agency collaboration, cooperation, mutual trust and common understanding among them as far as meeting contemporary and complex national security challenges that confront us,” he said.
Speaking on the theme, Dr Ubong Essien, a resource person, emphasised that security agents are a reflection of their agencies.
He stressed that a big problem lies with the agents, adding that every security agency must moderate, sanction and also look inward at what the agent does at the tactical level.
Also speaking on the sub topic: “Importance of Building Trust And Communication Among Security Agencies”, Essien said that lack of trust among security agencies made it difficult to cooperate.
This, he said, was made difficult by the environment and information age we are in.
He said that the organisational culture of an agency could change a lot and this culture should reflect in the character of the agent.
On his part, Dr Atehle George, whose lecture was titled: “Conflict Resolution And Mediation Techniques: A Solution for Effective Interagency Collaboration”, urged security agencies to avoid cross cutting mandates, focus on their mandates and not position.
He added that no agency is superior to the other and that collaboration and partnership is for the overall development of the society.
In his closing remarks, the Chief Staff Officer, Headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command, Rear Adm. Ebiobowei Zipele, said that every agency remained unique in its own way, adding that there is no place for superiority of agencies.