Nigeria needs integrated infrastructure to make security technology effective, says Irabor

Nigeria needs stronger infrastructure to deploy technology effectively against insecurity, former Chief of Defence Staff General Lucky Irabor said during a Channels Television programme. Irabor said the problem was not simply a lack of technological solutions or a failure to use them. He argued that the country needed an underlying system capable of integrating the different applications used to address complex security threats.

Using drones as an example, he said information gathered over an area of interest could either be downloaded and analysed after the drone returned to base or transmitted in real time to an analysis centre. Both approaches, he said, depended on infrastructure that Nigeria currently lacked. Irabor made the comments on Generation Next: Youth, Power & The Future We Must Build, a live broadcast held to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Day anniversary.

He said technology alone could not resolve insecurity because its value depended on the ability to process and interpret the information collected. Integrating the various tools, he added, was the main challenge. Irabor nevertheless said efforts were being made to improve the situation.

He described the development of the necessary infrastructure as a process and said it had contributed to some improvements in Nigeria’s security situation. His comments formed part of a wider discussion about the country’s future, including the role of young people, economic conditions and security. Security expert Kabir Adamu, speaking during the same programme, also highlighted the importance of technology, data and analytics.

The supplied material does not identify specific infrastructure projects, funding commitments or deadlines. It records Irabor’s assessment that better integration is needed for existing and future security technologies to produce useful results.