In a determined effort to achieve a coherent framework to respond to evolving security threats nationwide, President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday approved the immediate preparation of a comprehensive National Threat Assessment and a rolling five-year Strategic Defence Operations Plan.
The decision was taken at the Federal Executive Council meeting.
The new framework, according to President Tinubu, is to provide a common understanding of the threats facing the nation, the operational objectives to be achieved and the capabilities required to address them.
A statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President, Information and Strategy, disclosed that the President’s Special Adviser on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka A. Famadewa, will coordinate and provide secretariat support for the 11-man committee the President constituted to draft the Strategic Defence Operations Plan.
Other members of the committee are the National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu; the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa; the Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Bello Muhammad Matawalle; the Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede; the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Waidi Shaibu; the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke; and the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas.
The Director-General of the Department of State Service, Tosin Ajayi, and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Muhammed Muhammed, are also members of the committee.
The committee, which is to commence work immediately, has a timeline of 90 days to submit the completed National Threat Assessment and Strategic Defence Operations Plan to President Tinubu for his consideration.
He subsequently directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Office of the National Security Adviser to take all necessary steps to give immediate effect to the directives.
Tinubu noted that the Strategic Defence Operations Plan has become compelling, citing recent security successes, including the rescue of pupils and teachers abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, which demonstrated the importance of improved coordination among defence, security and intelligence agencies.
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“The operation demonstrated what can be achieved when our agencies work together with a clear objective and the necessary intelligence,” the President said.
President Tinubu noted that operational requirements were currently often considered individually, without sufficient reference to an agreed national threat assessment or unified medium-term plan, making coordination more difficult and limiting the efficient deployment of resources.
He said the National Threat Assessment would identify the principal threats facing the country, determine their relative urgency and establish operational objectives for addressing them.
The Strategic Defence Operations Plan, he added, would translate the assessment into clear operational priorities, identifying the forces and capabilities required in each theatre, existing capability gaps, equipment and support needs, and an implementation timetable.
Under the presidential directive, the committee may also consult or co-opt representatives of other ministries, departments and agencies where their participation is required.
Once approved, the plan will serve as the principal framework for coordinating military and defence operations over the medium term.
It will also provide the basis for preparing a corresponding multi-year defence expenditure and procurement plan, ensuring that resources are directed towards agreed operational priorities and critical national security requirements.