Presidential Think-Tank on Defence and Security has shifted the National Summit on Protecting Nigerian critical national infrastructure,monuments and business assets earlier scheduled for Monday December 6 and 7 to February 28 and March 1st 2022.
Secretary, Planning Committee of the Summit and Chief strategy, Ashcraft Centre for Social Science Research, Dr. Chiakor Alfred announced the new date on Friday.
The Summit is being organized by the Presidential Think-Tank on Defence & Security in collaboration with Ashcraft Centre for Social Science Research.
Addressing the press on Friday , Dr. Alfred explained that the shift was necessitated by the need to accommodate more critical stakeholders and to make attendance of the summit convenient for most shareholders who are already winding down their operations for the year.
Chairman , Presidential Think-Tank on Defence & Security, Major General Abdulmalik Jibrin (rtd), had on November 18 while announcing date for the summit disclosed that it is aimed at finding solutions to threats posed to the security of national critical assets .
He had said that it is a high priority project aimed at engendering stakeholders synergy for real-time management solutions and systemized rapid response strategy.
It is also aimed at harnessing expert/operational knowledge that would mitigate threats to national critical infrastructures and to put the country on pedestal for quick recoveries in the event of an emergency, he said.
The Presidential Think-Tank on Defence & Security is organizing the summit in response to the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, to the armed forces, intelligence and security establishments, business owners as well as to all residents of Nigeria to work in concert to “reducing the vulnerability of the nation’s critical national infrastructure to threats and hazards.
Dr. Alfred said on Friday that after the press conference of November 18, 2021, there was a flurry of activities and intensification of engagement between the diverse stakeholders, comprising (i) members of nigeria’s defence, security and intelligence agencies; (ii) the regulators of the diverse sectors in the oil and gas, telecommunications, education, transportation, power, financial institutions, etc;
Others are (iii) operators of the assets; (iv) investors/owners of the assets; and (v) the civil society organisations/non-governmental organizations/ pressure groups and other special interest groups within the general spectrum of the society.
That in the course of these robust engagements, “we were, unfortunately, inundated with complaints by some of the stakeholders that they were being left out”, he said
He also said that the Planning Committee was amazed at the interests shown by all stakeholders to the summit and had unfortunately discovered that several critical stakeholders were not invited.
Alfred said there was a compelling need to postpone the summit to a more convenient date as this give them more time to reach out to the other stakeholders who were not invited.
According to him the national summit will now hold on Monday, February 28 and Tuesday, March 1st, 2022 at the congress hall, Transcorp hilton hotel, Abuja.