The Minister of Defence, Major-General Bashir Magashi Retired has charged the men and officers of the Nigerian army to re-double their efforts and justify the confidence reposed in containing the menace of insecurity in Nigeria.
In June 2019, about four Nigerian Army bases were attacked by the Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East with the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai attributing the unrepelled attacks to soldiers’ lack of commitment to the counter-insurgency operations. The Army Chief later recanted saying he was quoted out of context.
However, at the decoration of 31 newly promoted Major-Generals, the minister of defence, Bashir Magashi and the Army Chief charged the newly promoted officers to justify the confidence reposed in them by putting more efforts in containing the menace of insecurity in Nigeria.
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The Defence Minister said “Indeed this elevation is in recognition of your hard work, sacrifices you must have made individually and collectively to the armed forces of the federal republic of Nigeria. I am sure you all deserve the promotion, you should be ready to discharge any daunting task that may come within the new rank”.
He noted that the officers should be ready to make more sacrifices so that the nation can surmount the security challenges. Saying the business of soldering was not an individual task but a collective responsibility.
“While redoubling your efforts in discharging your duties as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution, particularly now that the nation is now confronted with numerous security challenges. Let me spare a moment to now emphasize on the need for you for your support sacrifices and steadfastness toward tackling the myriad of security challenges bedeviling our nation today. You must all come together to develop an enduring solution which can bring these challenges to the end”
He held that mentoring and encouragement of upcoming senior and officers alongside the junior officers will help imbibe positive attitude and commitment to work.
“To the upcoming officers, I encourage you to aspire and endeavour to be the best to get to the peak of your career this can only be achieved with your hard work dedication and professionalism”.
Promoted Generals must give their best -Buratai
In his address, the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai charged the newly-promoted Major-Generals to remain focused, responsive and give their best at all-time in the line of duty.
“I’m sure you are in the right place in the right time, the tasks ahead are still enormous you must continue to ally your fears of the Nigerian Army and of course that of the of Mr President Commander-In-Chief I would like you to ensure that wherever you are deployed again, you carry on with that zeal, with that commitment so that the objective and indeed our mission, as an institution as a force we will accomplish them at all times”.
The task before the Generals
Nigeria has been faced with over 500 attacks in 2019 alone killing 2040 people making the country rank at number three on the list of top 20 countries facing terrorist attacks.
According to the United Nations report, at least 140,000 persons have been displaced by Boko Haram insurgents in 2019 alone.
With the rising case of banditry, kidnapping and other internal security challenges, the defence minister noted that the newly promoted Major-Generals have a huge role to play as their experience will help sustain the gains made through evolving workable approach to mitigate insecurity in Nigeria.
Army War College Graduate 66 Officers
Meanwhile, 66 officers from various military and para-military agencies have graduated from the Nigerian Army War College.
They were equally charged by the defence minister to match the knowledge they acquire to the performance of field of operation,
Since the inception of the Army War College, the college has trained more than 100 participants drawn from Armed forces of Nigeria as well as security and Para-military agencies. The War College has played host to international officers from Across the African continent. The course had 2 participants from Congo and the Republic of Cameroon.
