Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, attends Passing Out Ceremony in Honor of Cadets of NDA 64 Regular Course on 16/09/2017

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Video Transcript

Let me specially commend you for the spectacular parade this morning. The order, the synchronization, the precision, the creativity and the discipline exhibited were simply outstanding.

The world has changed a great deal in the time since today’s graduating classes enrolled into the NDA. The threats that confront us as a nation and as a planet have evolved and continue to evolve. Forty years ago, a speech like this would have been situated firmly within the context of the Cold War, with its well-defined ideologies, and distinct warring parties.

Today, we speak of non-state actors and of asymmetric warfare, and are confronted by enemies whose identities are as nebulous as their motivations.

It feels like yesterday when the earliest high-profile Boko Haram suicide bombings happened in Nigeria. It was a surreal moment, something that no one associated with Nigeria. It was not uncommon, at that time, to hear people argue that the perpetrators had to have been of foreign origin, as it was not in the nature or personality of Nigerians to be suicide bombers.

This was only about six years ago. In the time since then we have grown accustomed to suicide bombings and by Nigerians no less. The targets evolved rapidly, from symbols of authority like the Police Headquarters and the United Nations Building in Abuja, to encompass soft targets – bus stations, religious houses and markets. And again very quickly we started to see a trend of female suicide bombers.

It is worthy of note that until about 2013, the phenomenon of female suicide bombers was virtually unknown in the Boko Haram insurgency. A short four years later, it is one of the defining elements of the insurgency – young girls, some not even teenagers yet, laden with explosives and sent off as harbingers of death and destruction.

This swift evolution in suicide bombings is a perfect illustration of the nature of the threats that nations face today – unpredictable, asymmetric, constantly adapting to changing conditions, driven by a compulsive need to inflict maximum damage with minimal effort.

This is therefore the question we ought to be asking ourselves: are our Armed Forces evolving with a similar speed and urgency, are they adapting with a similar nimbleness? How do we evolve rules of engagement in asymmetric warfare situations? Should we be redefining the borders of the Geneva Convention in the light of military engagements with armed militant combatants?

Can we observe the same human rights rules where suicide bombers and persons determined to die and take with them as many innocent lives as possible are the enemy we must confront? What are the borders of the right to privacy and freedom of expression on the internet? What is the responsibility of Nations of the world in policing the internet which has become a virtual training ground for much good and as much evil?

Some of the early analyses of yesterday’s bombing in a London tube suggest that tutorials for making the explosive devices used are available on the internet. How can the military get ahead of the curve on communications in the age of the fast, cheap and available communication for all? We must also answer the question of how to defeat the ideologies that promote mindless killings and anarchy.

But just as important as these issues around conflict are the issues around how the military can in the process of innovating or thinking through use science and technology to add real value to the society and nation it has sworn to defend.