Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa
A team of military researchers from the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Kaduna, monday arrived in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, to understudy the state’s security environment.
The team of about 20 senior officers from the rank of army major led by Navy Commodore, Joseph Dzunve, it was learnt would also seek to establish the root cause of youth restiveness in the area with a view to finding solutions to the challenges.
Comprising the navy, army and air force of senior course 40 in Jaji, the officers are also expected to submit a copy of their findings to the state government.
During a visit to the governor of the state, Mr Seriake Dickson, who was represented by his deputy, Rear Admiral John Jonah (rtd), Commodore Dzunve noted that it was also part of the college’s curriculum to send senior officers to understudy some areas before graduation.
“There are eight other teams going to other states. There’s a student from Niger Republic. In the curriculum of the college, they (senior officers) analyse socio-economic issues hindering the development of the country to expose them to the challenges as compared to theory.
“It will also acquaint them with the problems and prospects peculiar to a particular area and give the students an opportunity to compare notes. In the team, we have teams from any parts of Africa.
“Before now we had an exchange team with Ghana. But we have expanded that. They are here to research into the theme of this year which is environmental, national security and youth empowerment,†the team leader said.
He said the team was expected to submit a report which may form part of the security documents for the state to take decisions on its security architecture.
In his comments, Rear Admiral Jonah (rtd) who stood in for the governor , said one of the major contributory factors to crimes was unemployment.
He also advised other war colleges to borrow a leaf from the armed forces college in Jaji, in order to deepen their security operations throughout the country.
“We are hopeful that the various staff colleges that have recently been established will have this as a requirement to qualify. I am aware of a lot of changes that have been made. There are discuss going on what is causing this youth restiveness,†he said.
He argued that youths have expectations bigger than the efforts they put in and urged the officers to conduct a thorough research that will be of help to the state and the Niger Delta region.
