The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai has said that there are plans to re-organise troops deployment in the North East to give them reasonable comfort in the field.
Buratai, who made this known Tuesday when he received the House of Representative Committee on Army, said that the issue of troops’ welfare was being given priority.
““We have the interest of our troops at heart, we will ensure that we cater for them and look after their welfare.
“”We know the importance of morale.
“”Morale is one of the principles of war and to be able to defeat the enemy in a battle, you must have highest morale within your troops,’’ he said.
Buratai assured the committee the army would continue to remain apolitical and subject itself to the supremacy of constituted political authorities, while discharging its roles.
The army chief noted that accommodation within the barracks for personnel had remained one of the challenges of the army over the years.
He solicited for more fund but appreciated the support the National Assembly had been giving to the armed forces, especially the army.
Buratai urged the committee to endeavor to visit the North East in its next oversight visit to army formation across the country.
Earlier, Rep. Rammamande Shawulu, the Chairman of the committee assured that the national assembly would take the issue of security “”very seriously’’.
According to him, the welfare of troops is also important apart from arms and ammunitions.
Shawulu noted that wars were not only won by weapons alone but also welfare of troops.
He said the committee observed a lot of things when it paid oversight visit to some army barracks across the country, especially the issue of lack of accommodation for personnel.
The chairman, however, noted that the situation had improved compared to what he described as the “bad and unfortunate situation when the committee paid a similar visit in 2015.
He assured that in the current appropriation bill before the national assembly and subsequent bills, adequate fund would be budgeted for the army.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that shortly before the committee went into closed session with the army authority, its Deputy Chairperson, Rep. Olufunke Adedoyin presented an award to Buratai.
Adedoyin explained that the award was given to her for onward passage to Buratai by a Canada-based Nigerian and a member of that country’s parliament, Funmilola Lucas.
She said it was to appreciate the army chief’s performance in surmounting security challenge in the country, especially in decimating the Boko Haram terrorists in the North East. (NAN
