President Bola Tinubu has been described as a veteran captain who would safely land Nigeria from its current turbulent situation.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume said this during a courtesy visit by the management of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, in Abuja.
The delegation, led by Ali M. Ali, the Managing Director of the Agency, includes the Director of Administration, Abdulkadi Khaliel and the Editor in Chief, Ephraims Sheyin.
The team briefed the SGF on the forthcoming inaugural Annual International Lecture by NAN slated for October 3, 2024.
The lecture’s theme is ‘Insecurity in the Sahel (2008-2024): Dissecting Nigeria’s Challenges – Genesis, Impacts and Options’.
The SGF described the state of Nigeria that Tinubu met as a situation witnessed by a pilot who took off in turbulent weather.
He added that such a pilot must be an experienced type for safer landing. There are indeed lots of turbulent situations in the country.
“Tinubu’s government is like a plane that takes off in turbulent weather, but when it takes off in turbulent weather, it’s not easy to control.
“But when you have a pilot who is very skilful, he knows where he is going, he knows there’s a problem but the problem is his landing, yes he will land us safely that’s why he is a veteran captain,” Mr Akume said.
While describing the forthcoming event as a ‘wonderful initiative’, Akume said media sectors have critical roles to play in disseminating information on the government’s policies and programmes to educate the public.
“This is a very wonderful initiative. There is no way you can do any meaningful and purposeful summit and conference in this country now without having a very rich content of security.
“And for those of you in the Media, you have a critical role to play and that’s why your forthcoming lecture is one of these roles you are playing to disseminate this information through such initiative about government’s policy,” he said.
The SGF explained that security architecture had been redesigned by the present administration, adding that things have started picking up gradually in the country.
Speaking earlier, Ali lauded Akume for the tremendous achievements recorded by his office since the inception of the present administration.
Ali said that the lecture was imperative in looking at Nigeria’s state of insecurity and NAN’s position of disseminating news wider across the international level.
“We are here to inform you of our impending first international lecture organised by the News Agency of Nigeria.
“We are here to let you know first-hand and also to invite you formally,” he said.
While speaking on the choice of the topic, Mr Ali said that NAN management was looking at the state of insecurity, as not only a disturbing issue in Nigeria but within the Sahel region.
“Actually we are looking at insecurity in the Sahel region and that’s why it is an international lecture.
“The insecurity is becoming a serious issue and we restricted it between 2008 to 2024 as part of the national effort to enliven public discourse on the debilitating challenges of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping for ransom, and militancy among others,” he said.
He used the visit to laud the efforts of Tinubu’s government on its commitment to fight the insecurity by equipping the Nigerian Armed Forces to curb the ugly situation across the country.
“So, we are looking at all of these, beyond the shores of Nigeria.
“We are convinced at the editorial board of the News Agency of Nigeria to look at this beyond Nigeria at the Sahel region, which has remained a hotbed of crisis,” Ali said.
