President Goodluck Jonathan has set up a committee under the chairmanship of the Vice President ,Achitect Namadi Sambo, whose terms of reference include seeking? adequate funding for the security services outside the annual budget.
?President Goodluck Jonathan said, yesterday, in Abuja that countries where lives and property were secured were respected in the comity of nations than those that pay little attention to security.
“Already I have set up a committee headed by the Vice President to look at different areas to fund some of the activities of the armed forces outside the line of budgeting.”
He disclosed this yesterday while commissioning the 176 Guards Battallion Barracks Phase 1 at Kuje near Abuja. The occasion was attended by service chiefs, Ministers of the Federal Capital Territory, Police, Housing and urban planning as well as the Minister of State for Defence and military top brass.
He gave an assurance that his government would support the military to enhance their professionalism and welfare which would enable them to compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world.
He said, “Let me you assure the armed forces that this administration will work with them because, one thing I believe is that, the strength of any nation depended on the strength of her security.? It does not depend on how powerful their politicians are, it depends on the security.
“Even from history, for a king to defend his kingdom or an emir to defend his emirate, he must have very strong security and even in modern times, people respect nations not because they have talking politicians who will always talk but because they have strong security. Government would continue to work with the services to make sure that we strengthen the Nigerian security services.”
The Commander-In-Chief also said that aside from funding the Defence Industry Corporation (DICON)
?“We are reviewing the whole process and we believe that as a nation, we are not doing too well in terms of improving our competence in building our capacity.”
He noted how some fine officers were being retired while their wealth of experience was being wasted. In order to arrest this culture of waste, the President said the Vice President panel would also find ways of strengthening the military institutions with a view to using competent officers as resource persons in their retirement.
He made it clear to them that the welfare of the officers and soldiers was at the heart of his government. According to him, nobody would expect a person living in a miserable environment to behave like a decent human being. He commended the three services for their contributions to the transformation agenda of his government.
Earlier in his address, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Onyeabo Azubike Ihejirika appreciated the support and the encouragement of the President, his government and the National Assembly. He specifically commended President Jonathan for establishing the 176 Guards Battalion during his leadership.
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