The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has urged the Nigerian media to take national security as sacred and always rally support to the military in the discharge of its constitutional duties.
Buratai made the call when he received the management team of Daily Trust Newspapers, led by its Chief Executive Office/Editor-in-Chief, Malam Mannir Dan-Ali, in his office on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said that there was need for the media and the military to understand each other while discharging their constitutional roles for the sake of national security.
He assured that the Nigerian army would ensure that it maintained a cordial relationship with the media, adding that both needed to be patriotic in order not to jeopardise national security.
“We need to understand each other very well in discharging our constitutional roles because we are all products of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“As such, it should be natural that if the military institution is facing challenges, everybody should rally round it without exposing our national security.
“Therefore, it is our sacred responsibility to believe in our country to be able to achieve the desired result of our national objective.
“The national security is paramount and we will be doing everything to ensure that our country is secured,” he said.
Earlier, Dan-Ali informed Buratai that the visit was to thank the Nigerian Army for all the good work that it had been doing towards securing the country.
He expressed confidence that the Army and the military as a whole would be able to address the prevailing security challenges in the country sooner than later.
While pledging the continuous support of the newspaper for the Army to win the insurgency war, Dan-Ali called for closer partnership.
“We are very grateful that the Nigerian military has been there for all of us, all the time.
“Of course, there are still issues but we are confident that the Nigerian Army will be able to curtail and deal with those issues effectively.
“We understand why the Nigerian military has been deploying the way it has been doing and we commend the military for the gargantuan duty that they have been carrying out on our behalf,” he said.
