Olaleye Aluko, Abuja

The Office of the National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.), on Monday, released the 2019 National Security Strategy document to tackle the emerging problems of Boko Haram’s alliance with the Islamic State West African Province.

The NSA noted that the strategy document, which replaced the 2014 document, would serve as a blueprint to deal with the “myriad of security challenges in the country.”

Monguno stated that the strategy document would safeguard the fundamental rights of citizens and uphold the national interest and objectives.

He said, “Nigeria, like most nations, has contended with a myriad of security challenges that include terrorism, kidnapping, militancy, small arms and light weapons proliferation, banditry, and pastoralists and farmers’ conflicts. It was against this background that the National Security Strategy was conceived and formulated to contend with these challenges.

“This strategy underscores the need to address the socio-economic concerns such as corruption, which breeds poverty and unemployment; insecurity and the diversification of the economy.

“The 2014 document was subject to review after a 5-10 year period or as the contemporary environment dictates. It is noteworthy that most of our contemporary threats identified in the 2014 document are still potent. Added to our threats are the fast-developing advances in technology, notably drone technology.”

The NSA noted that the Federal Government expected Ministries, Departments and Agencies to look at the National Security Strategy and see where they were concerned.

“A National Security Strategy document is meaningless if its contents are not holistically implemented,” Monguno added.

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