Date: 2018-02-26

Kwara state university (KWASU), Malete, has unveiled doctoral degree programme in advanced military studies (IAMS) to prepare students for intellectual solution to war, crime and conflicts in African nations.

Speaking at the launch of the IAMS in Malete at the weekend, the director of the institute and former head of political, policy and planning for the consolidation of democratic governance of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), Dr Ademola Araoye and Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Abdulrasheed Na'Allah, linked security tensions in parts of Nigeria to neglect of military intellectualism.

Professor Na'Allah, who said that crime could be eliminated in the society through intellectualism and not by merely buying more guns, added that "We have neglected high level of intellectualism and critical thinking in the elimination of crimes in the society. Nigeria should develop enough intellectual power to resolve security challenges in Nigeria".

The vice chancellor also raised the alarm that poverty is a threat to world peace, saying that no amount of money expended to stamp out poverty is misplaced.

"Militarism and military tradition are not new to us as Africans. However, we inherited a postcolonial institute from the British Government and embraced different experiences. Unfortunately, it has become outdated in the 21st century, thus making Nigeria not to catch up militarily.

"We look to mobilize the entire African continent to begin to rethink and develop things of our own. Something that is local but global, something that is Africa but also universal. This not a technical military school, but an academic, intellectual and interdisciplinary institute", he said.

He said that the institute had been mandated to "award doctor of philosophy (Ph.D) degree in advanced military studies. The doctoral degree programme is to groom students through immersion in the advanced history and multi-disciplinary theories of war as a fundamental human challenge.

"The programme would also interrogate the immense potential transformational consequences of war-related inventions and technological innovations for society and state as well as their implications for systemic stability".

Dr Araoye, a retired diplomat said the current security tensions in Nigeria were not unique to the country.

"It is not a unique experience to have the current security challenges orchestrated by the Boko Haram insurgents, but what we need to do is to manage those tensions constructively.

The security architecture should flow from a grand national strategy, a grand national strategy should be underpinned by a common national vision. Beyond that, whatever architecture that we have will not be underpinned by a sound theoretical understanding of the challenges that we are facing.

"If you look at the development of the military in advanced states and the military in post-colonial states, 99 percent of the military in advanced states is externally focused while more than 85 percent of the post-colonial armies are internally focused.

It goes to say that there is a need for policy making to be firmly underpinned by strong theoretical understanding of our experiential military.