The Chief of Defence Staff, Maj. Gen. Christopher Musa, has disclosed that it may be difficult to defeat insurgents, bandits, and terrorists in Nigeria without adequate cooperation and regular interaction between commanders and their troops.
He, therefore, charged all commanders in the Nigerian Army to always take the welfare of their men very seriously and engage them with words of encouragement as a panacea to the insecurity in the country.
The CDS stated this on Wednesday during a lecture/book presentation titled, “Nigerian Army Participations in ECOMOG Operations and Lessons Learnt: 1990 to 2003,” as part of activities lined up to mark the 160th anniversary of the Nigerian Army, held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State.
Musa said, “My months at the theatre had actually told me how important it is for soldiers to be appreciated. Whatever we are doing, we must make sure that those who deserve promotion are given it, because it is painful when someone is giving all he has and the promotion is given to somebody else.
“If a soldier is happy, prepared and ready, he will give you his best. How do we treat the injured? How do we treat the dead? Those alive are watching. If he has to use his money for surgery and the rest, he will not want to give his best because you are not taking care of the injured people. He will not want to make any sacrifices. So, I think we need to address all these issues and work on them. And I’m happy with the Chief of Army Staff, who listens very well and is experienced. He knows the importance of all these things.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, restated the commitment of the Nigerian Army to flush out the activities of insurgents, terrorists, and bandits across the length and breadth of the country.
Lagbaja said, “Let me remind everyone here that I stand on the shoulders of my predecessors in the Nigerian Army through good and bad times over the last seven decades. I’m glad to inform you that the Nigerian Army remains alive to its constitutional mandate, especially regarding curbing the activities of insurgents, terrorists, bandits, and other criminals and, most importantly, safeguarding Nigerian territorial integrity.”
Speaking on the book, the CoAS noted that the idea emanated from the need to preserve a clear and factual account of Army operations to improve knowledge, doctrine, training, and subsequent operations.
In his lecture titled, “Optimising Nigerian Army Administration for Successful Counter-Insurgency Operations: Strategic Options,” the retired Maj. Gen. Adeniyi Oyebade said the effectiveness of the Nigerian Army in counter-insurgency operations had been weakened by recurring challenges for over a decade.
He said, “Curbing these challenges requires different strategic options, which include the resuscitation of defence industries for production kits/protective gear and medical health partnerships with indigenous teaching hospitals. Others are the introduction of a monitoring team for the administration’s counter-insurgency operations and partnerships with selected commercial banks for loans.”
