Rear Adm. Abdullahi Ahmed said in Abuja on Monday that climate change has become a strategic national security threat and requires military preparedness. Speaking as commandant of the National Defence College, he said the issue has moved beyond environmental and developmental concerns.
Ahmed opened a roundtable on military response to climate-driven energy security challenges and called for defence institutions, government agencies, development partners and local communities to work together on resilience and sustainable responses. The event drew senior military personnel, policymakers, academics, development partners and climate-security practitioners.
National Defence College Abuja
Ahmed said climate change now poses serious risks to national stability and human security. He added that the roundtable, organised by the Centre for Strategic Research and Studies of the National Defence College with the Sustainable Development Training Centre, was meant to deepen understanding of the climate-security relationship and generate practical recommendations for defence and security institutions.
Prof. Adam Ahmed told the gathering that it was no longer possible to discuss governance, economic growth or political stability without considering climate change. He said global conflicts and crises are increasingly linked to climate-related factors, including competition over scarce resources and environmental stress.
Ninth Defence Course
In a separate event in Abuja on Monday, Ahmed declared open the ninth defence and security management course and called for stronger institutional capacity, adaptive leadership and enhanced inter-agency cooperation to confront rising security threats. He said terrorism, insurgency, cyber risks, economic disruptions and geopolitical tensions were key drivers of instability.
The two events placed climate change inside a wider security agenda at the National Defence College, with defence institutions now being asked to treat climate pressure as part of their planning rather than a distant policy issue. For agencies and communities named in the roundtable, the practical next step is cooperation: build resilience, share planning and prepare for threats that cross environmental, security and development lines.
