Nigerian Army to deploy ICT in countering propaganda — Attahiru

The Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, has said that the Nigerian Army will leverage Information Communication Technology (ICT) in degrading enemies’ propaganda and radicalization.

Attahiru disclosed this on Tuesday at the start of a week-long workshop on “Office Management and Document Security, organized by 1 Division Nigerian Army, Kaduna.

The army chief was represented by the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division, Maj.-Gen. Usman Muhammad.

Attahiru also said that the army would deploy relevant skills in safeguarding operational plans and orders, as part of strategies to ensure success in ongoing operations.

“The nation is at a critical point with regards to the state of security, and Nigerians are looking up to the Nigerian Army and other security agencies to end the carnage and restore normalcy.

“Capacity building has over time been disproportionately focused on honing our skills in combat; this has been at the expense of administrative competence that is often accorded less than desired attention.

“Our contemporary threat is one that is adaptive and traverses the full spectrum of operations, the adversary is increasingly leveraging ICT to bolster capability and vigorously employing the social media for its propaganda and radicalization,’’ he said.

He observed that the army had not been sufficiently aggressive in exploiting the platforms in confronting the threat.

“I, therefore, consider it essential that while we continue to improve on our combat skills and capabilities; it is also important for us to bring in to focus the skills required to efficiently manage our offices and safeguard our information and information infrastructure.

“After all, before the shot is fired in battle, the operational plans are crafted, rolled out and transmitted in our operations room and clerical pools,’’ he said.

The army chief stressed that safeguarding operational plans and orders from compromise was as crucial as protecting the fighting force in the field.

“The need to groom our clerks on office management and the security of our documents should therefore not take the back row,” he said.

According to him, the Nigerian Army must keep pace with trends in technology and efficiently employ ICT as a force multiplier.