President President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of Nigeria

Failure at home to tackle the menace of Boko Haram may have led to a new thinking on the part of the Nigerian Government to enlist international counter-terror, security and defence experts in her war against terror, also against the backdrop of increasing defence expenditure to meet the growing terror threat, estimated to the tune of US$2.1 billion this year and expected to grow at 22% a year to reach US$4.76 billion by 2016.

Perhaps, as a demonstration of the Government’s seriousness, alongside its international partners a conference tagged:  The Nigeria Counter Terror Symposium has been slated to hold in the Capital City of Abuja between 20 and 22 November 2012. The international event hopes to bring together senior decision makers from the Nigerian Ministry of Defence and international governments, military, police and industry representatives across the globe.

A spokeswoman for the organisers of The Nigeria Counter Terror Symposium told Vigilance that the international event would be officially opened by a designated representative of the Nigerian Government Her Excellency Erelu Olusola Obada, the Honourable Minister of State for Defence.

Vigilance learnt the event would provide a forum to discuss Nigeria’s growing anti-terrorist challenges, force development strategies, national JV and PPP opportunities, as well as assessing a range of solutions available from leading international and indigenous security providers.

Confirmed international speakers include:

• Ambassador Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira, Head of Counter‐Terrorism Cooperation of the African Union, Director of the African Centre for the Study & Research on Terrorism
• His Excellency Simon Mulongo, Vice Chairperson, Committee on Defence & Internal Affairs, Parliament of Uganda
• Laurent Panza Elumba, Deputy Director, DRC National Counter Terrorism Committee
• Martin A. Ewi, Senior Researcher, Institute for Security Studies

Mr Duraid Jalili, Head of Defence from the World Defence Group said: “By engaging with a range of urgent discussions, from developing C4ISR architectures and information sharing, to training practices and trade requirements, this strategic gathering provides a unique opportunity to strengthen inter-agency cooperation and create new trade partnerships with the Nigerian security forces.”

Jalili added: “With the new national security strategy and stronger focus on internal security operations against rebel groups in the Niger Delta and the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram, Nigeria is the most active it has ever been in modernising its capabilities to meet this threat, and engaging with internationals to strengthen collaboration with security allies and international industry providers.”

****For more information on Nigeria Counter Terror Symposium please visit http://nct-symposium.com/