•Commissions Defence Intelligence Headquarters

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has assured members of the Armed forces and other Intelligence agencies, of the commitment of his administration to their welfare and provision of other administrative and logistics requirements to enhance their productivity to enable them carry out their mandate.

President Tinubu gave the assurance while speaking at the commissioning ceremony of Headquarters Defence Intelligence Agency, Abuja on Thursday.

Represented by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu said: “I assure you along with the entire armed forces of Nigeria that I will sustain the provision of the welfare, training and other administrative and logistics requirements to enhance your productivity and to enable you carry out your mandate.

“I am persuaded that a conducive and well-equipped intelligence outfit would positively impact on the overall intelligence gathering effort, processing and timely dissemination to various arms of the military.”

President Tinubu commended the present and future leadership of the Defence Intelligence Agency for seeing to the completion of the project, saying: “Let me at this juncture, commend the leadership of the DIA past and present for conceiving and completing this beautiful edifice. It is my sincere belief that out of this magnificent office structure shall emerge innovations and creativity in the field of intelligence gathering that would keep Nigeria ahead of its foes and make our country and people safer.”

Speaking further, Tinubu noted: “Since I assumed the leadership of our great nation a year ago, I have made a task of securing every inch of our country a topmost priority. I have no intention of relenting on this sacred duty. I am thus delighted to be here today to inaugurate the headquarters of the DIA; a key agency in our security architecture that primarily provides intelligence to our armed forces and Ministry of Defence.”

According to him, “Our country is bedeviled by myriads of security challenges across the six geo- political zones. We are not only faced by physical threats, but also economic and digital threats. In terms of digital threats, we are all aware of the capacity of criminals, terrorists and cyber bandits to exploit advances in technologies to undermine any nation including our own.

“This is why security tops the 8-point agenda of our administration. In our bid to combat physical threats, we deploy our armed forces in all the 36 states of the federation to assist the civil authorities.”

On other threats, Tinubu stated: “You have to contend with behind your computers, using if necessary AI, which enables our military to know the position of our enemies or the games they are up to and of course you will do that in secret. I know that with each passing day, the adversaries wish that our commitment in responding to various threats would wane, our optimism, dreams and our courage evaporates.

“Our adversaries got our DNA wrong. The underline spirit of Nigerians cannot and will never yield to forces of darkness. You have all left me in no doubt that you have no other higher obligations than to serve this nation of ours, he declared.”

Earlier, in his welcome speech, Director, Defence Intelligence Agency, General Emmanuel Undiandeye, thanked President Tinubu for his support for the military since his assumption of duty, assuring him and his government of the continued loyalty and support of the Armed Forces to his leadership.

“I want to sincerely thank you, Mr President, Sir, for your unwavering support and recognition of the importance of intelligence in national security and for matching your words with action, by providing the resources that brought about the completion of this building.

“Your leadership and vision have guided us to this pivotal moment, and for that, we are deeply grateful. Your Excellency, may I affirm that going forward, in all our endeavours, this building will serve as a motivation for us, a beacon of strength and resilience and a symbol of our collective determination to protect and defend our beloved nation.

“We will make sure that this artistic expression meets citizens’ expectations. Therefore, permit me to use this opportunity to assure you, our Jagaban, Sir, of our total commitment to your leadership and the realization of your Renewed Hope Agenda for Nigerians, by providing timely and actionable intelligence for all operations.

“We will be diligent in our support to the achievement of all the lofty goals you have set up for our nation under your courageous leadership. No doubt, we acknowledge the steady progress made toward our ultimate goal of a secure nation, but we are aware that so much remains to be done. Therefore, we will continue on our charted course toward permanent.”

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