By Adebayo Gbeja
The Commandant-General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Prof. Ahmed Audi, has commended the NSCDC outgoing Acting Deputy Commandant-General, Dr Benito Eze, for documenting the corps’ experience in protecting critical infrastructure.
Audi, represented by ACG Rasaki Olusesan, gave the commendation on Thursday in Abuja, at the presentation of Eze’s book, “Critical Infrastructure Protection in Nigeria: The NSCDC CNAI Experience”.
The event marked Eze’s disengagement from service as Acting Deputy Commandant-General in charge of the Critical National Assets and Infrastructure (CNAI) Directorate.
Audi described Eze as an asset to the nation, saying the book documented his contributions and experience in the CNAI directorate.
He said the book would serve as a useful guide to the NSCDC in strengthening its effectiveness and efficiency in protecting critical national assets and infrastructure.
Earlier, Eze in his remarks said that his motivation for writing the book came from what he identified as gaps in Nigeria’s approach to infrastructure protection.
He said his operational experience revealed that infrastructure projects were often established without adequate protection plans.
“I noticed that Nigeria is the only country where infrastructures are established by the owners without any protection plan,” he said.
The author added that his study examined the statutory role of the NSCDC in critical infrastructure protection and advocated stronger inter-agency collaboration.
According to him, infrastructure protection has moved from a fragmented system to greater collaboration, cooperation and coordination among relevant agencies.
“The three Cs come to play: collaboration, cooperation and effective coordination. With that, infrastructure protection in Nigeria is better protected now than before.”
He identified inter-agency competition and what he described as a “superiority complex” as challenges that previously encouraged agencies to operate in silos.
He recommended stronger government directives to ensure effective implementation of the national policy on critical national assets and infrastructure protection.
The Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Udenta Udenta, described Eze’s retirement as a significant rite of passage after a distinguished career.
Udenta also commended him for combining professional service with scholarship, describing the book as an important intellectual contribution to the country.
Reviewing the book, Prof. Bakut Bakut, said its major contribution was documenting the evolution of the NSCDC from its traditional civil defence role to specialised protection of critical national assets and infrastructure.
Bakut identified “security by design” as a major concept in the book, saying security considerations should be incorporated into infrastructure planning and design rather than introduced after vulnerabilities had emerged.
He therefore called for stronger empirical evidence and measurable performance indicators to assess the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
The book reviewer also said the precise scope of the NSCDC’s role as lead agency in critical infrastructure protection required further clarification, particularly given the roles of other security agencies and government institutions.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 248-page book, examines the evolution of critical infrastructure protection, strategic protection methods, sectoral case studies, terrorism-infrastructure nexus, institutional reforms and recommendations.(NAN)
Edited by Deborah Coker