The Council on African Security and Development (CASADE) in conjunction with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) has announced the convocation of the first Nigeria Summit on National Security with the theme ‘Confronting and containing threats from terrorism and sectarian insurgency’.

The summit is scheduled to take place from the 25th to 26th May 2016 in Abuja Nigeria.
The event will bring together 30 international and Nigerian experts on security and intelligence to discuss and proffer solutions to the myriad of security problems in the country.

Some of the distinguished personalities to grace the occasion include, the former Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador John Campbell; a former Nigeria Minister of Defence, General T.Y Danjuma; former Nigerian Permanent Representatives at the United Nations Professor Ibrahim Gambari, among others.

In addition to the above dignitaries, the summit is also expecting the heads of the Nigerian security agencies, the diplomatic corps, members of the organized private sector, academics, and the press.

According to the Director of the CASADE, Prof. John Ifediora, the occasion will serve as forum for seasoned exchange of information and discussion of acquired knowledge on domestic security strategies, protection of civilian populations and critical infrastructures. In addition to hardcore security issues, the summit will further discuss the role of education and skill acquisition in the protection of the critical national data from cyber terrorism.

Having noticed the vulnerability of Nigeria’s critical data and infrastructures, the experts will suggest the best procedure towards protecting the Nigerian cyberspace.

More importantly, this is first time a non-governmental research think-tank would partner with the Nigerian government to discuss the rising cases of security lapses in the country.

According to Prof. Ifediora, the security situation in Nigeria has come to the point where experts in military and civil-military relations would discuss the best approach to counter- insurgency; “we believe this is the best time to sit down and re-strategize on the best approach to permanently put an end to the diverse security issues bedeviling the county’’

Also speaking on the upcoming summit, the Assistant Director of CASADE, Jake Okechukwu Effoduh stated that the war against terrorism in Nigeria has not benefited from the rich academic resources needed to permanently tackle the situation.

Mr. Effoduh reiterated that the array of distinguished personalities scheduled to speak at the security summit were carefully selected to bring in their rich and wide array of experience into the panel discussions.

The attendance to the summit is strictly by invitation. Interested participants are advised to log on to https://www.casade.org to register. Email invitation would be sent to the selected participants.

Others can follow the event through a live tweet feed with the hastag #SecurityNG2016 or watch the summit live online via the website.

Members of established media organizations who are interested in covering the event are also encouraged to apply for a media license, by filling the required form also on the CASADE website.

CASADE and IPCR promise Nigerians that the recommendations from the summit would develop as an intellectual and operational foundation for the response to insecurity in Nigeria.

For more information, call 2348151204086 or email [email protected].

Oreoluwa Peters