Okebukola Keynote Address SAN 49 th Conference Page | 1 Exploring Advancement in Science and Technology for National Security Peter A. Okebukola, FSAN, OFR Keynote Address presented at the 49 th Annual Conference of the Science Association of Nigeria, University of Ilorin, April 27-May 1, 2014 Introduction This keynote address sets out to do three things. First we will discuss the concept of national security examining its theoretical framework and situate some of the definitions within the Nigerian context. Next we will catalogue some advances in science and technology that are being or can be deployed to enhance national security. Third, we will discuss the role that the Science Association of Nigeria can play in drawing on recent advances in science and technology to support the Nigerian effort in tackling threats to national security. I will take the liberty of expanding the scope of our discussion by beginning with the broader concept of human security. At the Centre for Human Security of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library where I serve as Director, we define human security as freedom from want and freedom from fear with regard to a range of evolving threats including illiteracy, poverty, food insecurity, international terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering, illegal arms dealing, institutional corruption, organised crime, disease and environmental degradation. We have identified the following thematic areas in our human security programmes:  Food Security: including availability and access to food; economics, politics and sociology of food security; vulnerability to food insecurity due to climate change and mitigating causative factors.  Poverty Vulnerability: including exposure of the poor to social, economic, political and cultural marginalisation.  Conflict Prevention, Mediation, Management and Peacebuilding: including conflict analysis, peace operations, mediating regional, sub-regional and national conflicts, peace building, transition and democratisation, and trafficking in humans.  Health and Healthcare Security: including availability, affordability and access to quality healthcare delivery especially for rural poor; combating HIV and AIDS.  Education and Employment Security: including access to quality basic and functional education; entrepreneurial education and employment security; achieving global goals such as Education for All (EFA) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  Climate Change and Environmental Security: including promotion of environmental awareness regarding climate change and promoting sustainable development practices within the African cultural context.  Cultural Security in a Globalising World: including promotion of the African cultural heritage and fostering cultural co-existence with peoples from other regions in a globalising world.  Energy: including provision especially to African rural population of affordable and renewable energy such as from solar and wind. Interestingly, the sub-themes of this conference gravitate around many of the thematic areas of our Centre. Therefore, I intend to speak briefly on those aspects of human security where our themes and the conference sub-themes converge.