The United States Consul General in Lagos, Mr John Bray, on Tuesday said that the U.S. would work collaboratively with Nigeria to help achieve prosperity. Bray made this known at the `Securex West Africa’, an exhibition and conference encompassing fire and rescue, commercial, homeland and cyber security, organised by Afrocet Montgomery.
He spoke on the topic: “Collaborative Security: A Multi- Stakeholders Approach to Addressing Nigeria’s Security Challenges”, at the exhibition attended by about 150 people. The conference and exhibition which opened on Tuesday will end on Wednesday. According to him, the security of a nation is good but government needs to take their eyes out from security and focus on the stability of the economy. He said that to achieve stability of the nation, it behoves the leadership of that nation to provide the amenities that its people need to survive. “Security in Nigeria is an important topic but in discussing this there is need to look at the stability of the economy. “The key security issues relevant to Nigeria has to do with stability and to achieve security one needs to look at the economic challenges, the unprecedented population growth, the lack of amenities like power and others. “These factors and poor economic output will have a negative impact on the stability of the country and also lead to security unrest if not well managed,’’ he said. Bray listed some factors that contribute to instability in a country as: corruption, violent ethnic conflict, population movement, exploitation of natural resources, trafficking of persons, natural disasters and others. He also said that the values a good leader should have to push the country forward would be: good judgement, factual, courageous, knowledgeable, decisiveness, having endurance and others. Bray said that in the world of security, it would take three Ps – Patience, Persistence and Perseverance, urging government to adopt these tools “For patience, there is need to understand that things do not change quickly and cannot be achieved overnight but with one step at a time. “The very small step at a time, persistence, will lead to an actual goal and one should not allow a lack of progress to get one down,” he said. Bray also said that a four Cs which are Culture, Communication, Collaboration and Cooperation between stakeholders was needed to tackle the challenges of security in the country.
According to him, a leader needs to bring people together through policies and education to achieve unified ideas. He stressed the need to communicate ideas and objectives clearly to stakeholders, address endemic corruption, insist on transparency, must strategise and create economic opportunities. Bray also listed financing infrastructure projects and investment in people through education to stablise the economic growth to tackle the challenges experienced in the country. Earlier, Mr George Pearson, Event Director, Afrocet Montgomery, said that there was need to deploy the right technology and work together to achieve the desired goal for the country. According to him, deploying the right technology will help to provide safety that will sustain peace and prosperity for the country. He said that the 9th edition of the `Securex West Africa’ would provide a platform for participants to display state-of-the-art product solutions, showcase the latest technology and educate visitors on the current global trends within the industry. “In addition it will provide an arena for regional and international companies to meet, network and do business with some of the biggest companies in the region, requiring security products and services,’’ he said.