By Ike Nwachukwu
I am deeply honoured to participate in this important summit. Permit me to commend the Government and the organisers for convening this timely dialogue. At a time when our nation continues to confront complex security challenges, there can be no substitute for honest reflection, strategic thinking, and genuine collaboration.
After many decades in military service, diplomacy, and public life, I have come to appreciate one enduring truth: Security is not simply the absence of violence. It is the presence of justice, trust, opportunity, and legitimate authority. When these pillars weaken, insecurity begins long before the first gunshot is fired.
Today, the South-East faces significant security challenges. These are often described in terms of kidnappings, violent crimes, attacks on public institutions, and threats to law and order. Yet these manifestations are, in many respects, symptoms rather than the underlying disease.
The deeper challenge is the gradual erosion of confidence-confidence in institutions, in leadership, in one another, and sometimes even in the future itself. No security architecture can succeed where trust has collapsed. Military force is indispensable. But military force alone has never permanently solved a political, economic, or social problem.
