The National Coordinator, National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka, says violent extremism remains one of the most complex security challenges that threatens Nigeria’s national security.
Laka stated this at the opening of the Workshop and Validation Meeting on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) Guidelines and Strategic Communication Plan on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said violent extremism had also threatened the very fabric of Nigerian communities, institutions and social cohesion.
Laka said the workshop highlighted their unified determination to enhance the nation’s capacity to counter violent extremism and to ensure the seamless implementation of PCVE strategies at every level of governance.
He said the Federal Government had developed the Policy Framework and National Action Plan for PCVE to serve as a guiding strategy for a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach in tackling radicalisation and violent extremism.
According to him, a policy is only as effective as its implementation, and that is why we are gathered here today, to ensure that we take deliberate and strategic steps toward localizing and operationalising this framework.
“Over the course of these two days, we will focus on the domestication and localisation of the PF-NAP for PCVE.
“This will be done through exploring strategies to integrate PCVE principles into the operational frameworks of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, as well as at the state and local government levels.
“We will also identify existing gaps, challenges, and opportunities for institutionalizing PCVE efforts across various sectors.
“For the validation of the PCVE Guidelines and Strategic Communication Plan, we will conduct a thorough review of the draft PCVE Guidelines to ensure they align with national priorities, security realities, and international best practices.
“Furthermore, we will validate the draft strategic communication plan, taking cognisance that effective messaging is crucial in countering extremist narratives, fostering positive community engagement, and ensuring that our responses remain proactive, and evidence based,” he said.
The Director of PCVE at NCTC, Amb. Mairo Musa, said the main objectives of the workshop was centered around enhancing the understanding of the policy framework on preventing and countering violent extremism and facilitating its localisation at institutional state and community levels.
Musa said effective implementation requires domestication, ownership, integration within existing government agencies and security structures.
She said it was to also assess, refine and validate the strategic communication plan to align with the evolving security landscape and leverage effective messaging to counter extremist narratives and promote peace-building efforts.
According to her, it is also to foster cross-sectional collaboration and information sharing, strengthening multi-sector stakeholder synergy in PCV implementation.
Musa said it was expected that the outcome would strengthen understanding of the PCV-PFNAP amongst MDAs at the state, institutions and other stakeholders with clear strategies for its localisation and institutionalisation.
The spokespersons for the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force as well other security, intelligence and response agencies attended the event.
