President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday pledged to continually improve the capacity of the nation’s security agencies to enable them confront the challenges of terrorism and insurgency.
The president made the pledge when he paid a maiden visit to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) in Abuja.
The president inaugurated the Foreign Languages Institute of the nation’s premier intelligence organisation during the visit.
Jonathan underscored the need for improved competence, dedication and sacrifice from the NIA personnel to confront the emerging trends in global crimes such as trans-border terrorism.
“The need for a corps of well trained and professional intelligence and security officers is all the more important in the context of the security challenges the nation is presently facing.
“These challenges, very often, emanate from the ever-changing and unpredictable global environment characterised by trans-national organised crime and terrorist acts.
“In such a complex and unpredictable environments, only dedicated and truly professional intelligence officers can rise up to the threat that the country must deal with on a daily basis,’’ he said.
Jonathan noted that as the “eyes and ears of the nation’’, officers and men of the NIA must always maintain total vigilance and agility.
He said they must also constantly improve the technical efficiency and overall quality of their operations.
He urged authorities of the NIA to relentlessly invest in human capital development which he described as a “critical requirement for effective participation in increasingly knowledge-based and knowledge-driven global environment’’.
Jonathan expressed satisfaction that the 27-year-old NIA had been faithful to its core mission, having “acquitted itself well and advanced with the demands of time’’.
He charged the personnel to make the best use of the foreign language institute.
