Between February 7 and 8, 2024, Nigeria hosted the second edition of the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership Dialogue, through the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), led by the National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu. The UK delegation was led by the Deputy National Security Adviser, Dame Sarah Macintosh, who said Nigeria and the UK operate in a relationship of mutual respect and supportiveness.
According to a communique after the two-day dialogue, the event allowed Nigeria and the UK to reaffirm the two countries’ deep and long-standing security and defence relationship. The relationship underpinned shared history, mutual trust and shared commonwealth principles of democratic governance and respect for international humanitarian and human rights law, as well as a shared desire to support regional and international peace and security.
Held with several technical sessions, the Dialogue in Support of Security and Defence Partnership between Nigeria and the United Kingdom also reaffirmed both parties’ commitment to deepening the partnership required to face the challenges of complex and evolving global threats such as terrorism, conflict, human trafficking, serious and organised crimes, drug trafficking, cyber-crime and piracy. Both countries made it sufficiently clear at the dialogue that these threats do not respect international borders.
The inaugural edition of the dialogue was held in 2022 in London and featured defence staff talks and a cross-government forum on human rights. During the event, Nigeria and the UK agreed to enhance their existing cooperation in the areas of civilian policing; approaches to stabilisation including civilian-led security and civil-military co-operation; human rights; women and youth, peace and security; defence co-operation and maritime security; serious and organised crimes, drug trafficking, human trafficking and border security; and countering terrorism and violent extremism.
As a follow-up to those resolutions in 2022, the dialogue explored further areas of cooperation in cyber security; countering terrorism and violent extremism; kidnap response; defence cooperation; policing and civil-military relations; human rights; women, peace and security; serious and organised crimes; and regional security and ECOWAS.
In his opening address NSA Ribadu said the event marked another significant milestone in the enduring partnership between the two nations, united in their unwavering commitment to regional, continental and global security, stability, and peace. He also emphasised that the longstanding ties between the UK and Nigeria are grounded in shared values, mutual respect, and a common aspiration for a safer and more prosperous world while advocating a holistic and forward-looking approach that leverages the full spectrum of their respective capabilities and expertise in addressing the myriads of security challenges confronting Nigeria. He further called for the adoption of a comprehensive and integrated approach towards addressing the root causes of insecurity in the country, by promoting inclusive economic growth and empowering marginalised communities.
The two countries agreed to embed a mutual accountability approach to their cooperation, whereby they both agreed to deliver on their commitments to each other and to work in the spirit of partnership. This is particularly important because the two countries had, by way of measuring progress in these areas of the renewed partnership, committed to reviewing progress against each party’s commitments.
This sustained partnership between Nigeria and the UK is a welcome development and a testament to the commitment of ONSA under Ribadu to explore various levels of cooperation in the fight against national security threats. Of course, the ever-changing international security landscape aggravated by the conflicting interests of states demands continual and informed analysis of the geo-strategic environment. Therefore, the assessment of security threats is not just limited to domestic situations but includes an appreciation of the security issues and challenges in the regional, continental and global environment.
The National Security Strategy (2019), Nigeria’s policy document formulated by ONSA to guide the country’s approach to tackling national security threats, emphasises the role of partnership and collaboration in the fight against existing and emerging security threats.
Chapter 1 of the NSS outlines the National Objectives of the strategy as: a) to protect Nigerian people and territory; to promote Nigeria’s prosperity and sustainable development; to promote national unity and peaceful co-existence; and to promote (our) regional and international interests. These objectives, especially the last one, require bilateral and multilateral cooperation and partnership.
“Nigeria is an active member of the international community and will continue its tradition of dynamic engagement with other nations. In the context of a globalized world, threats to national security, whether posed by terrorism, climate change, epidemics and hostile non-state actors possess transnational implications and can only be effectively confronted by strong transnational partnerships.”
The deft understanding and implementation of the responsibilities of ONSA to develop and maintain intelligence and information-sharing relationships with international, military, domestic and private sector partners to promote intelligence-related communications, standardise processes for collaboration and lead coordination on all issues concerning national security, has have been praised by stakeholders who say they are a reflection of President Bola Tinubu’s relentless effort to see that security and intelligence agencies work together. Under the present administration, vertical and horizontal collaboration have not been taken for granted and this partnership with the UK further affirms Tinubu’s firm belief in collaboration and partnership.
A known strong advocate of inter-agency cooperation among the security and intelligence community, the president has wielded a magic wand and through his intervention, rivalry among sister agencies in the security and intelligence community has drastically reduced. This has led to better synergy in information gathering and sharing which, in turn, has led to many cases of preempting and forestalling threats to national security. Since the first engagement in 2022, notable progress has been achieved and the second dialogue reflected those areas of achievement, including the establishment of an anti-kidnap fusion centre and a jointly funded aviation security accreditation centre in Nigeria.
Both parties also reiterated the challenges posed by security threats from the precious dialogue, such as terrorism and violent extremism, cybercrime and other transborder threats. It was obvious at the second dialogue that there is a need for continued joint effort at enhancing security and defence cooperation towards achieving the common objective of addressing these complex, evolving and multifaceted security concerns.
One of the most complex, evolving and multifaceted security threats extensively explored during the dialogue is cyber security, for which a new area of cooperation was established for the first time. The area of cooperation was sealed with a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which detailed the importance of working together to develop cyber resilience. They exchanged views on policies and programmes for strengthening cybercrime cooperation and combatting online fraud as well as the development of emerging technologies, international standards and cyber security. The dialogue also addressed countering cyber threats, enhancing global governance, promoting responsible behaviour in cyberspace, and garnering international cooperation in multilateral fora including, the United Nations.
Just like in 2022 and to the excitement of critical stakeholders, both parties also agreed to continue an approach of mutual accountability to the cooperation, whereby both governments agreed to deliver on the commitments made and to work in a spirit of partnership.
Zakari U. Mijinyawa is the Special Adviser, Strategic Communication to Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu
Bilateral security cooperation: The UK-Nigeria example
