By Steve Oko
UMUAHIA — Former Military Administrator of old Imo State, Maj.-Gen. Ike Nwachukwu (retd.), has warned that Africa must not replace apartheid with xenophobia, condemning attacks against Nigerians and other Africans in South Africa.
Nwachukwu spoke on Thursday at the South-East Regional Security Summit in Umuahia, Abia State, where he commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his condemnation of recent xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.
The elder statesman said Nigeria played a major role in the fight against apartheid and should not witness Africans turning against one another.
“ Our country worked hard to put down apartheid. We will not replace apartheid in Africa with xenophobia. We cannot fight apartheid with our blood, our money and our sweat, only to have Africans turning against fellow Africans.
“Xenophobia is a non-starter on our continent,” Nwachukwu said.
The summit was organised by the Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa, in collaboration with the South-East Governors’ Forum, and attracted governors from the region, military chiefs, traditional rulers, lawmakers and other stakeholders.
Speaking on insecurity in the South-East, Nwachukwu said security goes beyond the absence of violence, stressing that justice, trust, opportunity, legitimacy and responsive leadership were critical to achieving lasting peace.
He warned that challenges such as kidnapping, violent crime and attacks on public institutions were symptoms of deeper problems arising from declining public confidence in institutions and leadership.
“No security architecture can succeed where trust has collapsed. Military force is indispensable, but military force alone has never permanently solved political, economic or social problems,” he said.
The retired general identified intelligence-led policing, community participation, youth empowerment, regional cooperation, security sector reforms and preservation of democratic space for dialogue as key measures required to tackle insecurity.
He described citizens as the most valuable intelligence resource available to any government, urging authorities to build trust that would encourage people to provide timely information to security agencies.
“The greatest intelligence asset any nation possesses is the civilian who believes that government will protect rather than punish,” he stated.
Nwachukwu also called for the establishment of an additional military division in the South-East, arguing that the region’s strategic importance, economic activities and population justified a stronger military presence.
“The South-East is strategically located, economically vibrant and commercially indispensable. It has the demography to support another military division,” he said.
He urged governors, security agencies, traditional rulers and community leaders to strengthen cooperation through intelligence sharing and coordinated security operations.
The former military administrator also praised Abia State Governor Alex Otti, saying the governor had transformed the state after years of poor governance.
“Governor Otti has put to shame, 24 years of nothingness in Abia State. Today, I am proud to say I am an Abian,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Kelvin Aneke, assured residents of the South-East that the Nigerian Air Force remained committed to restoring peace in the region.
Aneke said the Air Force had intensified intelligence gathering, surveillance and precision air operations under Operation Udoka, resulting in the degradation of criminal groups responsible for kidnapping and other violent crimes.
He, however, stressed that military action alone could not end insecurity.
“The military can secure the forests, but communities must secure their neighbourhoods. The criminals are not ghosts; they live among us. If you see something, say something,” he urged.
The Air Chief appealed to traditional rulers, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, community leaders, political actors and youths to support security agencies through credible intelligence sharing, noting that sustainable peace required a whole-of-society approach.
Security chiefs, political leaders and other stakeholders from the South-East attended the summit.
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