….Applauds Appointment of YEM Musa As Counter Terrorism Centre Coordinator
By Armsfree Ajanaku
As Nigeria continues to grapple with the challenge posed by terrorism, a civic coalition, the Partnership Against Violent Extremism (PAVE Network) has admonished government at local, state and federal level to focus on communities as the major beneficiaries of reintegration projects.
Reintegration projects generally comprise initiatives and support packages to assist citizens involved in violent extremism with the objective of enabling them resettle in society. PAVE Network gave the admonition at the end of its Steering Committee meeting and General Assembly held in Abuja recently.
The network also held a two-day strategy development session, during which it reviewed its founding strategic documents, including its operational, institutional and strategic plan towards finalisation of a five-year strategic plan. Participants at the sessions include strategic allies such as ActionAid Nigeria and the Global Community Emergency and Resilient Fund (GCERF), and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) – who is mandated by Nigeria laws and policies to coordinate Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) interventions in the country.
PAVE Network Steering Committee Chairman, Comrade Jaye Gaskiya in a statement noted that participants at the various sessions similarly charged stakeholders in the PVCE sector to actively encourage intergenerational discussions as a means of enhancing community social cohesion.
Similarly, the network called on state and non-state actors to be deliberate about unmasking, identifying and investigating the phenomenon of unknown gun men/gun women. According to the network, “government should design and implement trust building mechanisms between security agencies and communities.”
Participants also reflected on the key role that the PAVE Network has played in PCVE development, including its collaboration with the Club De Madrid in the organisation of high level strategy consultation on PCVE in Nigeria, and issuing of the Civil Society Declaration on PCVE in 2017. The PAVE Network therefore reaffirmed its commitment towards working with all stakeholders and communities to achieve the objective of safer and more resilient communities in the country.
The group said: “Towards this end, the PAVE Network will regularly meet to review the context of PCVE in Nigeria and globally, draw and share lessons from ongoing practice and interventions, on the basis of this issue advisories to government and recommendations to all stakeholders; and generally work to improve quality, effectiveness and impact of PCVE interventions, and ensure that such interventions and programs are inclusive and equitable, based on social justice, and do not violate the human rights of citizens, residents and communities.
“Finally, the PAVE Network, on behalf of civil society organisations programing in PCVE, welcomed the recent appointment by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, of Rear Admiral (rtd) YEM Musa as the pioneer National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), under ONSA.
This appointment is well deserved, given the leadership and dedication shown by the appointee over the last five years in his previous role as Director of the Counter Terrorism Directorate under ONSA.”
