-Blank NEWS Online (NIGERIA) –
As Nigeria grapples with rising insecurity on multiple fronts, the International Institute of Professional Security (IIPS) has been urged to make its expertise available in resolving the crisis.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Bashorun Askia Ogieh, gave the charge in an address at the 15th anniversary of the Institute in Lagos, at the weekend.
Bashorun Askia who was chairman of the occasion noted that Nigeria is contending with a serious security challenge that requires the input of experts on security issues.
Represented by Barrister Yinka Kotoye,, Bashorun Askia said: “We must and should go to the institute in security matters. We must be innovative as we design ways and means, including effective security communication strategies to tackle our security challenges.”
Given the progressive slide towards breakdown of law and order, the DESOPADEC boss said the Institute as a front line body of security professionals, must put its expertise at the disposal of the country’s security agencies to help secure the nation.
“We should now position the Institute to an enviable level to engender patronage by corporate bodies, thereby enhancing our status and standards, comparable to our contemporaries in the world”, he told the Institute.
In addressing the nation’s security challenges, he said the safety of industrial infrastructure which, according to him, is critical to economic growth should not be ignored.
“There should be more collaborative effort between our Institute and the manufacturing and other industrial sectors in enhancing industrial security and safety. Efficient protection of companies’ assets has a way of improving profit generation, which in the long term has a multiplier effect on the economy”, he noted.
The DESOPADEC chief executive said experts in security matters should provide guidance in the effort to curb rising insecurity in Nigeria, stating that members of the Institute can do more to help safeguard and secure Nigeria.
The International Institute of Professional Security is the first security institute to be accredited by the Federal Ministry of Education for the award of proficiency certificate in industrial security.
