The National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Mohammed Sambo Dasuki, has said the federal government is tinkering with the national school curriculum in its bid to stem the spread of violent extremism among youths in the northern part of the country.
According to the media adviser of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), PRNigeria, Dasuki disclosed this on Monday when he addressed the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in New York.
The council had invited the NSA to address it on Nigeria’s non-military Counter Violence Extremism (CVE) programme, also known as the soft approach, which is aimed at ending terrorism and was first unveiled by the NSA on March 18, 2014.
In his address to the council Sambo said an extensive assessment of schools across Northern Nigeria had been conducted in order to gain a better understanding of the state of education.
Dasuki said that the soft approach was developed to complement the war effort against the terrorists by the military, in what he described as the “carrot and stick” approach, as had been recommended by experts on counter-terrorism across the world.
“We have conducted an extensive assessment of schools across Northern Nigeria in order to gain a better understanding of the state of education.
“We have now begun preliminary consultations with the Ministry of Education with regards to potential changes to the national curriculum and will be hosting an education summit, bringing together key stakeholders and policy makers,” he informed his audience.
The NSA explained that the CVE programme has four basic aspects which comprise de-radicalisation, strategic communications, counter-radicalisation and economic regeneration.
He told the council that some prisons were being prepared for the de-radicalisation programme, which involves the training of a new generation of practitioners in the areas of forensic psychology, religious instruction with particular emphasis on extremist narratives, art therapists, social workers and vocational and educational counsellors.
Sambo also disclosed that the government is training a multi-disciplinary prison-based treatment team, including Imams, to manage terror suspects. They will be responsible for developing curriculum and training in religious education, cognitive behaviour therapy, anger management, relapse prevention, empathy, risk management and risk assessment.
According to Dasuki, this stream is expected to foster greater respect for human rights and the rule of law; train relevant prison staff on CVE, to professionally handle terror suspects and issues of rehabilitation; and develop a range of expert psychologists and counsellors to pioneer rehabilitation efforts.
The will also introduce a more holistic approach to the rehabilitation of prisoners in the country, using in-depth psychological analysis and research to understand the root causes of extremism and other criminal ideologies.
“Through strategic communications, we are working to counter extremist ideology and narratives,” explaining to the council that extremists’ views are often based on ignorance, misconceptions, willful misinterpretation and twisted ideology.
“In the case of Boko Haram, narratives are founded on a set of core beliefs that are opposed to the state and aspects of western education,” he said.
The NSA further explained that one of the ways to implement the strategic communications strategy would be by developing “a voluntary code of conduct on reporting national security issues that will regulate crisis reporting especially with regards to terrorism for the media”.
Also in this multi-thronged strategy, he said civil servants and members of the military were being trained to strengthen government’s public diplomacy efforts.
Currently, a documentary on Boko Haram and research on the pathways to radicalisation have been commissioned to further the understanding of Boko Haram, Sambo said.
The implementation of the counter-radicalisation plank, the NSA added, rests mainly on the Society Against Violent Extremism (SAVE) -roject based in the ONSA and will seek determinedly to counter the drivers of radicalisation by encouraging CVE action in communities, civil society and government institutions; building community engagement and resilience; using education as a tool for countering violent extremism; and promoting religious tolerance.
Dasuki noted that in order to achieve the above objectives, key projects have been designed to ensure that education is used as a tool to stem extremism by emphasising the teaching of critical thinking and logical reasoning.
All this will be done in conjunction with sports, music, arts and drama while also creating psychological support structures for victims of terrorism through the mainstream provisions of PTSD.
He told his audience: “We are beginning to make real progress but are aware that these are but the early stages of what must be an extensive and all-encompassing set of interventions.
On the economic regeneration aspect of the CVE programme, he said ONSA will work with governors of the six north-eastern states in designing an economic revitalisation programme targeting states most impacted by terrorism.
Dasuki also commended members of the international community that have supported Nigeria’s fight against terrorism but reminded his audience that “no nation has the monopoly of knowledge especially when it comes to dealing with terrorism”, as could be attested by the United Kingdom, Columbia, Spain and Iraq.
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