'Citizens need to be extra vigilant,' Army warns

The Nigerian Army has called on the citizens to be extra-vigilant and security-conscious as part of efforts to tackle insecurity in the country.

Col. Sani Usman, Director, Army Public Relations, made the call while delivering a lecture at an inaugural Annual Lecture of Class 1992 Alumni of Mass Communication Department, Bayero University Kano (BUK) on Sunday.

NAN reports that the paper was titled: ``Crisis Communication for Security Consciousness, '' A Case Study of Nigeria.

``With the kind of intelligence we receive regularly from the military and security operatives, the citizens need to be proactive and security-conscious while the media intensify campaign on same.

``Internal security challenge is not a problem unique to Nigeria. The U.S., UK, France and many other countries, face similar challenges within their borders on daily basis”.

He said the difference between those countries and Nigeria was the management of threats by the government and the citizenry, how knowledgeable they are, how patriotic and united their citizens are against threats of insecurity and crisis.

“The countries are never divided on any ground when the interest of the nation is the subject. This cushions the effects of those crises on their national security and image.

``The media need to mobilise people during crisis as a cardinal element of national security effort,’’ he said.

He urged the media to enlighten the public on the true situation in national effort to guarantee national security.

He added that media reports must focus on national unifying factors, emphasising the desired state of the Armed Forces aimed at safeguarding the public.

He commended organisers of the lecture for being the first of its kind on Crisis Communication.

In his remarks, the Head of Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University Kano (BUK), Dr. Balarabe Maikaba, thanked the Class 1992 Alumni for initiating the annual lecture.