By Suleiman Shehu
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Maj.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, says the Nigerian Army under his watch remains alive to its Constitutional mandate of protecting Nigeria’s territorial integrity and curbing activities of insurgents and terrorists.
Lagbaja said this during the 2023 Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL) lecture and Book presentation on Wednesday in Ibadan.
The topic of the lecture was “Optimising Nigerian Army Administration for Successfully Countering Insurgency Operations: Strategic Options.
The COAS said that the Nigerian Army was committed to tackling the activities of banditry and other criminal activities and most importantly safe guarding Nigeria’s territorial integrity.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for entrusting the stewardship of the Nigerian Army to him at this crucial time.
“I want to use this opportunity to pledge that under my watch the Nigerian Army shall remain loyal to do all within its power to defeat all adversaries across the length and breadth of Nigeria,” COAS said.
In his address, the guest lecturer, Retired Maj.-Gen. Adeniyi Oyebade, advised the Nigerian Army to look critically into the issue of troop’s rotation and regular payment of allowances of troops in the war front.
He also urged the Nigerian Army to provide medical attention to wounded troops for optimal performance in insurgency operations.
Oyebade, who retired as the 28th Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), said that the Nigerian Army had the responsibility to ensure its troops were provided with necessary administration and logistics to effectively deliver and tackle counter insurgency and operations.
“Over the years, effective administration for troops remained a reccurring challenge; the dynamic engagements of the Nigerian Army in different internal security and counter insurgency operations have serious administrative and logistics challenges.
“This is evident in Nigerian Army troops’ complaints of poor feeding, delay in payment of allowances, irregular issuing of protective kits among others, all these incapacitate the willingness of the troops to fight effectively,” he said.
Oyebade urged the Nigerian Army to critically assess the issue of special promotion and promote those who actually deserved to be promoted.
According to him, promoting wrong persons has an effect on the morale of the troops to fight and put in their best.
He said the Nigerian Army should take care of the families of deceased officers and ensure they get their benefits as and when due, to boost the morale of those still alive.
He also advised the Nigerian Army to invest in latest technology that would help in their operations, and be abreast of what the insurgents were doing in order to be ahead of them.
Oyebade also urged the Nigerian Army to look inward by partnering relevant industries and produce their weapons locally rather than depending on foreign countries.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that during the programme, the book “Nigerian Army Participation in Ecomog Operations and Lessons Learnt 1990-2003 was presented to the public.
The idea of the book published by the Nigerian Army is to provide a pure and virtual account of Nigerian Army operations to improve on knowledge, training and subsequent operations.
Dignitaries present at the occasion included the Vice-Chancellor of University of Ibadan, Prof. Kayode Adebowale and representative of Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Lekan Balogun, among other senior military personnel (NAN)
