From Molly Kilete, Abuja

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The Federal Government said it  has concluded plans to create a new Ministry of Defence for easy flow of communications and synergy between  military and civilian personnel for effective execution of their security duties.
The new ministry which can be likened to that of the pentagon in the United States of America, is expected to take kick off as soon as the ministry of Defence finetunes the implementation document of the presidential Committee on the reform of the ministry of Defence and  the Armed forces of Nigeria.
The minister of defence is expected to meet with the Chief Of Defence Staff(CDS), General Lucky Irabor, the service chiefs and other critical holders in the defence sector any moment from now.
Newly appointed Permanent Secretary of the ministry of Defence, Dr Ibrahim Abubakar Kana, made this known when he visited the Chief Of Army Staff(COAS), Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, in his office at the Army Headquarters in Abuja.
Kana, while noting the enormous task of the Nigerian Armed Forces to keep the country one despite the myriads of security challenges, commended personnel of the Armed forces just as he noted that the ministry of Defence cannot operate effectively without the Armed forces which is the backbone of the ministry.
Kana, who said he was at the army Headquarters to familiriaze himself with the army chief and officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army, appeal for cooperation.
On the creation of a new ministry of Defence, the Permanent said “on assumption of duty, I was also given another task and that task is the reform which the military have actually carried out on the instruction of Mr president. “Yes the president has approved the implementation but I understand from my minister that the Defence Headquarters have expressed some reservations in some of the areas as far as the implementation strategies is concerned.
“Next week the minister will invite you the major stakeholders to  a meeting to again look at the implementation strategies to see how we can begin implementation.
“One of the most important aspect  of the implementation is the creation of  a new ministry of Defence which will be like what we have at the pentagon in the United States of America where you see a mixture of military and civilians working together. That is going to be our new ministry of Defence.
“Some of you should get ready to be posted to the new ministry of Defence to work with us.
He said “It is not  going to be easy for you as military officers to work with civilians and for civilians to work with you but this are the scenarios most government are operating and Nigeria cannot be left behind
“For us to have the best Armed forces it must start from the MoD. Policies are designed from MoD therefore we must have brilliant officers posted to work with brilliant and active directors.
“By the time the military officers are posted  we are going to make them undergo orientation to change their psyche that they are going to work with civilians and we will also do the same for the civilians to make them appreciate that we are operating a new terms and for them to also accommodate the military officers.” He added.