The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has promised to provide befitting living accommodation for officers and soldiers at Abogo Largema Military Cantonment, Biu in Borno.
Buratai made the pledge while addressing troops after he inaugurated several water projects across the barracks on Wednesday.
He assured them of his commitment to ensuring improved living standard of officers and soldiers as well as their families in barracks, adding that improving welfare of personnel remained his utmost concern.
While expressing dissatisfaction with the quality of work on the renovation in the barracks, Buratai promised to ensure that army engineers would embark on proper renovation of the cantonment.
“We will try to see how we can improve on your barrack accommodation but it seems there is still much work to be done. We will still build more,” he said.
The COAS commended the efforts of the commanding officers of 331 Artillery Battalion and 231 Tank Battalion in addressing the perennial water challenge that had faced the barracks over time.
“I want to thank the commanding officers for their resourcefulness towards solving the perennial water problems in this cantonment.
“This initiative is highly commended because it is one of the cardinal principles in my vision which is to have a professionally responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles.
“The commanding officers have shown the responsiveness in the provision of this water to meet the need of the soldiers and their families to have portable water for their consumption and domestic use.
“I want to also urge the commanding officers to be judicious in the use of the resources at their disposal no matter how small,’’ he said.
Buratai also commended the troops for their efforts in stabilising the security of their area of responsibility, urging them to continue to ensure that there were no threats in the area.
“While you ensure you train, you must also continue to attend to the security threats that arise from time to time.
“As such, I want you to remain steadfast, loyal to the country, committed and obey your superiors.
“Surely, we will move Nigerian army forward and achieve our mandate of defending our country from any external aggression as well as safeguarding its territorial integrity,” he said. (NAN)
