Mr Dominic Nitiwul, the Minister for Defence, has labelled the 2108 Defence Management Course as ‘delicate to tackling the sophisticated and inductive nature of the threat of today’s world.

Brigadier General Edem Fiawoo, who delivered the speech on behalf of the Defence Minister at the event held on Friday at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC), said training in the management of defence and security was a critical requirement for any nation.

He said the course was designed to expose uniformed and civilian personnel working within the security sector to principles and techniques for the governance and management of the defence and security sector of our nations, and into the issues that arrive in that regard.

Brigadier General Fiawoo noted that the course’s objectives were relevant and vital for continuous national development as well as that of the allied student nations and Africa as a whole.

He said a key objective of the course was to enable participants and students to locate defence within the wider context of national and regional security and it was crucial to defence management as it was a multi-agency task requiring varied skills and capabilities.

Brigadier General Fiawoo said no one agency could possibly develop all the capabilities required to manage even the simplest security and defence problem and so effective coordination of involved agencies efforts was a fundamental success factor, he said.

“In this regard, you who participated must endeavour to stay in touch and to exchange information on a regular basis. The links you have made here should serve as a foundation for improved collaboration between your agencies in the healthier management of our defence, as you put all that you have learnt over the last two weeks to work,” he said.

He said he was confident that extensive knowledge and experience was brought to bear in the course of the training, adding, “I will like to also acknowledge the presence of foreign military students from La Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leonne, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, and Zambia.”

Brigadier General Fiawoo said he appreciated the value and varying experiences added to the interaction by foreign students and the quality of resource persons and professionals from among current practitioners in the defence and security field, most enriched and practicalised the programme.

“I am convinced that participants have derived much benefit from the course, and hope that it will directly and positively impact the management of this nation’s defence and security and that of the region at large,” he added.

He urged participants to serve as trainers in their various organisations to enable more people to benefit from the knowledge they have derived from the course.

The ceremony saw participants from the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Communication, the Bureau of National Investigation, TV3’s Media General and other agencies awarded certificates of participation and excellence.