Commodore Promise Dappah, a retired navy officer, has urged the federal government to increase security spending rather than funding other national initiatives.
Dappah made this request on the Channels Television show “Sunday Politics,” which the Daily Post watches. Speaking about national security, he emphasised that the country’s security comes first.
“So, the securitisation issue is what I’m talking about. Because securitisation is what happens when a country finds itself in a situation like this. At that point, security is paramount.
“A nation like Algeria, which does not even face the same difficulties as us, spends as much as 10% of its GDP on defence. What are we discussing, then? Then we have the luxury of constructing opulent projects in the nation while spending less than 1% of our GDP on defence, despite the fact that we are deeply insecure.
“You dare to construct projects when people and the nation are not safe? What initiatives might be superior to the nation’s security? You construct airborne castles and bridges. Tomorrow, everything might be down when you wake up.
Therefore, I believe that we need to securitise security issues. Priority one is security. For the defence of this nation and its citizens, the government must transfer funds and allot a significant amount of resources,” he stated.