BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – Former Director of Defence Information (DDI), Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade (rtd) says recent events in the country clearly show that there are still traces of disharmony, poor information management, lack of cooperation and synergy in operation among security agencies.
He also said the inadequacy in the level of cooperation among security agencies in the country is having serious negative impact not just on their operations but on national security and economy.
General Olukolade, while illustrating the reasons why synergy in government activities remains a major component of vital processes for achieving the purpose of government, said allegations leading to court ruling on alleged media trial as reported by Col Nicholas Ashinze and consequent embarrassing ruling against another government outfit could have been avoided.
The former Defence spokesman’s position was contained in a paper titled ‘Achieving Synergy Between National Security And The Economy: The Place Of Effective Public Relations’ delivered in Ibadan at the Second Quarterly Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Oyo State Chapter.
He said the need to have a harmonized information dissemination system within the security agencies led to the establishment of the Forum of Spokespersons in Security and Response Agencies (FOSRA) in 2013 as part of the counter terrorism drives of the country.
He said the existence of government hinges on two factors namely; national security and economy, hence the need for every the country to pursue both economic and security goals in a coordinated manner.
According to him; “The application and practice of PR being an indispensable tool in building relationship, achieving synergy and creating mutual understanding between individual and between organizations, stands a very good chance in helping to attain the necessary synergy between national security and the economy.
“Along with advocacy and legislation, PR has often come in handy as a component of the lobby processes towards achieving the required smooth synergy among state institution interests or entities. Lobbying is not easy, neither is it for everyone”, the retired officer said.
