DIPLOMATS and foreign agencies in Nigeria have been urged to refrain from issuing “frivolous” statements on the security situation in the country to their nationals.
The Federal Government, which reacted yesterday to recent travel warnings by some embassies to their nationals, asked the envoys to align more with the nation’s security and avoid making statements, which create “undue panic” among the public.
Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, who spoke with journalists after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, noted that such warnings were creating “a lot of panic” among foreigners and Nigerians.
The latest of such warnings came from the United States (U.S.) Embassy in Abuja yesterday when it advised its nationals to avoid all major hotels in Abuja as the terror group, Boko Haram, might have planned fresh strikes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The embassy, in the emergency message to its citizens, said it had received information that Boko Haram was planning attacks in Abuja, including against hotels frequently visited by Westerners. The embassy claimed that it had alerted the relevant government authorities and had been assured that measures had been taken to counter the threat to lives and property.
Maku also disclosed that the government is establishing a central database to avoid duplications of national data centres by its agencies.
The programme is expected to provide a single database for all agencies and reduce the cost of governance.
Vice President Namadi Sambo presided at the session as President Goodluck Jonathan is currently on a state visit to Germany.
Maku, who frowned at the frequency at which diplomatic missions and agencies issued such travel warnings, said the practice had assumed a worrisome dimension.
Reacting to a reporter’s question, Maku said: “I have been in the Federal Executive Council since morning (yesterday). I have not seen the report or the warning, which you are talking about. But, let me say that it is not new. You remember that about a year ago, a similar statement was made by some embassies and I think we discussed it in this Council. We tried to respond to it. Whereas we believe that every country has a duty to secure its citizens and take decisions that will ensure their safety. We have always appealed to such embassies and agencies not to create public panic in our country. This is because some of these statements that are issued often create undue panic among the public.
“I will still appeal that embassies and organisations, which have any doubt about the preparedness of our agencies to secure public places, should communicate that to us. But, I must say that our security agencies have increased their capacity to respond to some of the threats, particularly within this city and several others. And we also know that when the issue came up last year, our security agencies re-assured the nation of their preparedness to safeguard all public places, especially the hotels.
“So, I will continue to appeal to all the foreign agencies in the country to align more with our security rather than often running to make statements, which can create undue panic among the public. And I am not sure that security comes from such measures. I understand the responsibility of the media, but we are beginning to get a lot of panic from the sensational reports, which have been given to anti-state groups. I think we have a responsibility to this country to be very deliberate in the kind of attention and space we are giving to such groups,” he said.
Maku said the creation of a central national database was based on a policy proposal sent to the FEC by the Minister of Communications and Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson.
He said the database would serve as a “one stop shop” for information gathering to serve all the agencies.
The minister said now, the country has a database maintained by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and the National Identity Card Commission.
He said the banks also keep their own database for their clients, adding that, “this is not supposed to be so. We need co-ordination such that the nation can have a database, which different agencies can subscribe to. The ministry sought to co-ordinate and emphasise the need also for training. Under this, government activities are now to be treated online. You can send even your memos online.”
Maku also said that the Council also reviewed the outcome of the National Council on Education (NEC) meeting and agreed that after years of implementing nomadic education at the primary level, there is need for special secondary schools for graduates of such schools.
The government also called on schools to issue certificates to school leavers within three months of graduation.
The Council, he added, approved a new curriculum for senior secondary schools.
