Policy on Peace Support Operations - The first-ever meeting by institutions involved in Peace Support Operations (PSOs), aimed at coordinating their activities, has ended in the Nigerian capital city, Abuja, with a call for an urgent adoption of a draft National Policy on PSOs. The two-day meeting, which ended Friday, expressed regrets that “Nigeria lacks proper coordination mechanism,” blaming the situation on Nigeria's inability to gain from its huge involvement in PSOs. Agencies that participated in the forum included the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force, the Police, Nigeria Prison Service, Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, National Defence College (NDC) and the Nigerian Army Peace Keeping Centre (NAPKC).

A communiqué read by the Commandant of the National Defence College, Rear Admiral Thomas Jonah Lokoson, noted that “Nigeria is yet to derive commensurate benefit from its  huge and outstanding involvement in these international operations.”

The communique charged the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) to streamline the procurement process for PSO, with a view to addressing some of the difficulties and challenges inherent in the existing procurement process.

Calling for cooperation and coordination by all centres and organizations involved in PSOs, the communique called for a change of name for the NAPKC “to reflect a national posture; making it possible for the centre to receive participants from different agencies (the military, police and correctional institutions) and also from outside the country. It will also be able to attract international funding”

The communiqué recommended that 'There is the need to have a clearing house for information sharing among the stakeholders to help the institutions better and the country in general, so as to ensure the delivery of quality service in the area of PSO.

It said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs needed to be actively engaged in Nigeria’s engagement in PSO. In this regard, there is the need for a Desk Officer for PSO in the First United Nations Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

'A senior military and police advisor should be seconded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help strengthen the ministry’s involvement in coordinating Nigeria’s involvement in PSO,' according to the communique which also noted that 'Senior retired military officers can be brought together to serve as a team of trainers for centres and organizations in PSO.'

The communique added that 'The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should second a person to the UN Permanent Mission (New York) as a Desk Officer on PSO, to feed the nation with information (vacancies and opportunities) that are of interest to Nigeria.

Reports say that Nigeria is the fourth largest Troop Contributory Country to UN Peace Support Operations – surpassed only by Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.

In addition, the country has lost over 2,000 men and women and expended over US$ 10 billion in the last five decades of its active pursuit of global peace.”

Since the commencement of PSOs by the UN in 1948, it has sponsored a total of 55 initiatives, with Nigeria participating in about 40 of them. Currently.

Pana 20/08/2011