Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Mohammed Bello Matawalle has disclosed that the Nigerian Armed Forces have achieved a lot in the fight against insurgency, banditry and other groups that are enemies of the Nigerian State since the advent of this administration.
He, however, noted that a lot of these success stories are not in the public space due to security reasons so as not to expose the gallant men and women of the Armed Forces who are in the forefront of this fight to danger.
Matawalle disclosed this during the engagement with the Special Assistant to the President on Policy and Coordination/Head of Central Result Delivery Coordination Unit (CRDCU) Hadiza Bala Usman with the Ministry of Defence when she presented the 1st – 3rd Quarters 2024 Performance Assessment Report on Implementation of Presidential Priorities and Ministerial Deliverable at the Ship House, Abuja.
The Minister also informed the SA to Mr. President that before now, the Nigerian airwaves was always full of news of oil theft, bunkering, piracy and all forms of kidnapping but noted that since they assumed office, the country has recorded low occurrence and reduced reports of those activities just as he assured Nigerians of their resolve to do more to make the society safe for all.
Matawalle assured Hadiza Bala Usman of early submission of achievement data to her office for their reviews.
In a similar development, the SA to the President advised the Ministry of Defence to put out more data into the public space to avoid doubts and negative feedbacks on the successes achieved by Nigeria’s Armed Forces in the fight against insecurity.
She added that regional tour of the troubled areas could be conducted to carry out on-the-spot interviews and first hand assessment of rescued individuals whose response will serve as raw and real data to the populace and as evidence that government is not resting on its oars.
Speaking further during the review of the Q1 – Q3 Report, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Defence, Dr. Ibrahim Abubakar Kana gave a detailed submission on the achievements of the Ministry and promised that the Ministry will do more to surpass previous quarter’s report as he poured encomium on the Chief of Defence Staff and all Service Chiefs for their consistency and tireless efforts in making Nigeria a peaceful and safe place.
Kana tasked the Directors of the Ministry not to relax in their quest to give their best to the service of the country.
