Boko Haram: Army calls for extra vigilance
(Nigeria) The Nigerian Army has called on the citizens to be
extra-vigilant and security-conscious as part of efforts to tackle insecurity
in the country.
Col. Sani Usman, Director, Army Public Relations, made the
call while delivering a lecture at an inaugural Annual Lecture of Class 1992
Alumni of Mass Communication Department, Bayero University Kano, BUK, on
Sunday.
The paper was titled: ``Crisis Communication for Security
Consciousness, '' A Case Study of Nigeria.
According to him, citizens should not only rely on security
agencies for protection, but should be security-conscious and provide useful
information to relevant security agencies in the country.
“With the kind of intelligence we receive regularly from the
military and security operatives, the citizens need to be proactive and
security-conscious while the media intensify campaign on same.
“Internal security challenge is not a problem unique to Nigeria.
The U.S., UK, France and many other countries, face similar challenges within
their borders on daily basis”.
He said the difference between those countries and Nigeria
was the management of threats by the government and the citizenry, how
knowledgeable they are, how patriotic and united their citizens are against
threats of insecurity and crisis.
“The countries are never divided on any ground when the
interest of the nation is the subject. This cushions the effects of those
crises on their national security and image. The media need to mobilise people
during crisis as a cardinal element of national security effort,’’ he said.
He urged the media to enlighten the public on the true
situation in national effort to guarantee national security.
He added that media reports must focus on national unifying
factors, emphasising the desired state of the Armed Forces aimed at
safeguarding the public.
He commended organisers of the lecture for being the first
of its kind on Crisis Communication.
In his remarks, the Head of Department of Mass
Communication, Bayero University Kano, BUK, Dr. Balarabe Maikaba, thanked the
Class 1992 Alumni for initiating the annual lecture.
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