A former Military Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, will chair the international lecture on insecurity and the fight against corruption, organised by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The Managing Director of NAN, Malam Ali M. Ali, disclosed this in Abuja when visited Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, alongside other management team.
Ali said the visit was to intimate the EFCC boss on the agency’s plan to organise an international lecture on insecurity and the fight against corruption.
The NAN boss stated that the lecture billed to be held on October 3, at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre, Mambilla Barracks, Asokoro Abuja.in Abuja, is themed “Insecurity in the Sahel (2008-2024): Dissecting Nigeria’s Challenges, Genesis, Impact and Option”.
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“Thankfully, the former ECOWAS commission president, and currently United Nations Special Rapporteur on Sudan, Mohamed Ibn Chambers, has agreed to deliver the lecture.
“The lecture will be chaired by the former Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, and the date of the lecture is Oct. 3. The President is bid to attend, also the ministers of defense are all going to be there,” he said.
According to him, the agency, as part of its efforts to also contribute to the body of knowledge, has to go about having a resolution to this lingering crisis of insecurity in the country and beyond.
He added, “We took it on a bigger scale. We are looking at insecurity in the Sahel, how it has affected Nigeria. We are dissecting the origin, the genesis, the impact and the options available to the country.
“We are looking at insecurity in the Sahel, how it has affected Nigeria, we are dissecting the origin, the genesis, the impact, the impact, and the option available to the country.”
Speaking on insecurity and corruption, Ali identified a strong relationship between the two menaces bedeviling the African region.
“Why we said we’ll come and give you a first-hand notice is because there is a linkage between the two, the security and corruption,” he said.
He said that the EFCC, under the leadership of Olukoyede, had made significant strides in the anti-corruption fight over the years.
“We have seen the commendable job you’ve been doing in the last couple of months. We said let us go to the EFCC and intimate them and this is what is happening.
“We do not want to just have the Chairman as a mere invitee. The whole management came to intimate you about our plans,” the NAN MD said
On his part, the EFCC chairman in his response stressed the need to collaborate with the Media and Civil society in the Fight against Corruption.
Olukoyede described the media as an important ally in fighting and defeating the monster of corruption in the country.