Former President of Kenya Delivers Inaugural Lecture for Course 33 National Defence College Nigeria

The former president of Kenyan Republic, His Excellency, Uhuru Kenyatta has delivered the inaugural lecture for participants of Course 33 of the National Defence College Nigeria (NDC) in Abuja. In the lecture titled “The Imperatives of Strong Institutions: A panacea for National Security and Development in Africa,” the Guest Speaker hampered on the need for African leaders to build strong institutions that will enhance security and development in the region. He called for technology innovation that is contextualised towards developing African needs in areas of Agriculture, Science, Technology and Infrastructure among others aimed at actualising economic independence in the continent adding that such feat can only be achieved through adequate provision of security. “As military officers, your constitutional role is to protect the national integrity of your various nations, which will provide an adequate environment for citizens to engage in economic activities that will boost the economy of the nation. We are witnessing the activities of non-state actors like the Boko Haram, Al- Shabab and other terrorist groups, which have affected our economy and food production. To address this problem, we must have some level of introspection across all layers of government and politics. By instituting reforms at the national level, we are laying the foundation to reinvent ourselves as Africans at the sub-regional, regional, and continental levels,” President Kenyatta said.

The former President also emphasised the need to curb corruption and other factors hindering the growth of national security. “The true measure of a country’s worth in the global comity of nations is the strength of its institutions and the way which they function. Once you have strong institutions, other things will fall into place”

In his welcome address, the Commandant, Rear Admiral OM Olotu said the NDC remains the apex strategic professional military education institution in Nigeria and an institution of repute in sub-Saharan Africa. He added that the inaugural lecture is organised to launch the participants into the Course and to prepare them for the scholarly activities in line with the mission of the College. He thanked the Guest Speaker for accepting to deliver the inaugural lecture and charged the participants to pay attention to the lecture as some of the points raised will be applied during the course of their studies.