The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has advised the federal government to provide proactive leadership in security communications in the country.
The party gave the advice in a statement issued by its national publicity secretary, Ini Ememobong, in Abuja on Friday, while reacting to the US military airstrikes on terrorists’ targets in Sokoto State on Christmas Day.
Mr Ememobong said that Nigerians were notified of the American strike on terrorists’ assets through the verified social media pages of President Donald Trump and other American officials.
He said that this was confirmed by the ministry of foreign affairs’ spokesperson in a statement many hours later, offering “a passive confirmation of the knowledge and cooperation of the Nigerian government in the operation.”
Mr Ememobong further stated that while international cooperation in the fight against high crimes like terrorism was very much appreciated, PDP was deeply concerned about communication structure.
He particularly said that the party was concerned about why foreign powers broke the news of security operations in the country before the Nigerian government could do so.
Mr Ememobong noted that the ‘inverted communication’ approach did not help the federal government or Nigerians in any way.
This, he said, was more so when there were reports alleging that the US military had previously entered and operated in Nigeria successfully without the permission and knowledge of the government.
According to him, the federal government should have been the first to report the news in order to properly sensitise the Nigerian populace, instead of waiting to confirm news already in public circulation.
“We urge the federal government to ensure that the defence agreement with the USA includes joint operations,” he said.
This, he said, ultimately results in knowledge sharing and experiential learning to help Nigeria in sustainably combating insecurity rather than full externally led ‘precision attacks’.
(NAN)