Embrace professionalism to tackle insecurity,  GOC charges officers 

Maj. Gen. Obinna Onubogu, General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2 Div., Nigerian Army, has urged junior commanders to embrace professionalism in tackling

By Muftau Ogunyemi

Maj. Gen. Obinna Onubogu, General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2 Div., Nigerian Army, has urged junior commanders to embrace professionalism in tackling insecurity in the country.

Onubogu made this known on Monday at the opening ceremony of the 2 Div. Inter-Brigade Combat Proficiency Competition held at Headquarters of 32 Artillery Brigade l, Owena Cantonment, Akure, Ondo State.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that  six formations participated in the competition.

The competitors were 4 Brigade, Benni City; 12 Brigade, Lokoja; 22 Brigade, Ilorin; 32 Brigade, Akure; 42 Engineer Brigade, Ibadan; and 2 Div. Garrison, Ibadan.

Meanwhile, 4 Brigade, Benin, came first,42 Engineer Brigade, Ibadan came second while 12 Brigade, Lokoja came third in the keenly contested tug of war competition.

The GOC explained that the competition was designed to improve the leadership qualities of junior commanders, challenge their initiative and prepare them for higher responsibilities.

According to him, the desired end result is to enhance the junior commanders’ understanding, interpretation and application of all aspects of the competition.

“To the participants, I challenged you to effectively apply the knowledge that you gained during your training in preparation for the competition here and in your future endeavours.

“You should also ensure that you apply that, even after you have left here . The essence is that after this competition, you will be better officers.

“So, training and re-training of Nigerian Army personnel is necessary to prepare and develop tactics, techniques and procedure to adequately deal with evolving security challenges, ” he said.

He charged the officers in the participating formations to sustain the tempo and ensure that they keep on training because, according to him,  it is one of the pillars of the command philosophy of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

Onubogu reiterated his commitment to ensuring and discharging his responsibility in line with the command philosophy of the COAS, Lt.Gen. Taoered Lagbaja.

He thanked Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State, community leaders and other stakeholders for the support given to Nigerian Army in discharging their constitutional roles in the state.

NAN reports that head of other sister security agencies present at the competition included the state Commissioner of Police; DSS; representatives of the NSCDC, Nigeria Custom Service, FRSC and Fire Service.(NAN)