The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, has stated that the Nigerian military has no excuse not to defeat terrorism, banditry, oil theft, kidnapping, secessionist agitations, and other emerging security threats in the country.

This is just as the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, disclosed that the Nigerian Navy would require about $11 million to overhaul each of its attack helicopters.

Also, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, has accused the media of portraying the military in a bad light before the international community.

He, however, noted that the issue is gradually being addressed.

Speaking during the closing of the Chief of Defence Staff Joint Task Force Commanders Conference 2025, at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in Abuja, Ogalla said the nation is currently waging irregular warfare, which requires the whole-of-society approach to defeat.

?We must understand that these threats are evolving and have remained dynamic over the years.

?I am happy to say that as these threats keep on developing, the armed forces and other security agencies have also been evolving in our counter-strategies.

?We know that our basic training, which was conventional warfare, has within the past decades changed because of the existing and emerging threats. This has necessitated a modification in our training to improve the skills required to counter these new threats.

?We all know that the threats we are facing today are different kinds of warfare which are not conventional.

?We can call it irregular warfare and of course, for us to counter irregular warfare, it requires the application of all the elements of national power?.

He listed the elements of national power, including the military, economy, diplomacy, information, and several others, stressing that all these powers must be put in place to enable the military and other security agencies to counter these kinds of threats known as irregular warfare.

Ogalla said that for the military to address these myriads of threats, there must be a whole-of-society approach, similar to the application of all elements of national power in defeating the threats.

He stressed that the key amongst these elements of national power required now is the military element.

?Another is the economic elements; these two go hand in hand because the economic component is required to create a powerful military force that will address the threats that we are facing.

?Again, the military elements are required to safeguard the economic component for us to have enough resources to fund the military.

?We cannot run away from this fact and there is no excuse for us not to defeat these identified threats,? the CNS added.

Earlier, the COAS, Lieutenant General Oluyede said military actions alone cannot achieve the desired end state of the counter-insurgency operations.

To this end, he stressed that commanders must continue to explore the non-kinetic approach by collaborating with traditional and religious leaders in every community within their area of responsibility to build trust.

He also cautioned the field commanders to be mindful of sabotage and subversion.

He however accused the media of portraying the military in a very bad light, stressing that such negative reportage of the military is counterproductive in the counter-insurgency effort.

The CAS, Air Marshal Abubakar, emphasised the need to respect the rights of citizens during operations.

Represented by the Chief of Training and Operations, Air Vice Marshal Francis Edosa, the CAS decried the activities of some stakeholders who present the Nigerian military in a negative light, leading to difficulty in procuring needed military armaments at the international market to continue to stay ahead of the insurgents.

He said, ?I wish to make remarks on some of the recommendations made by some commanders, which centered around air assets.

?Enough is being done in this regard; we will all agree that running the air assets is capital intensive and that is why we are advocating for more funding for the Air Force.

?As we speak our attack helicopters that are due for overhaul may require about $11 million each to overhaul the attack helicopters. So, this is what we face.

?In addition to that, even when you have this money you cannot easily get the spare parts. For instance, Mil Mi series, which is the major attack helicopter that we use, we cannot get the spare easily because of the international environment.? (THISDAY)

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