ABUJA — President Muhammadu Buhari has told the Nigerian Army to remain professional in protecting democracy and defending the territorial integrity of the nation.
He was speaking at the opening of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Conference 2021, on Monday in Abuja with the theme, “Building Nigerian Army’s Capacity in Combating Emerging Security Threats in a Joint Operating Environment”.
Buahri said the army is a key element of any nation’s power and vital tool required to protect its territorial integrity and project its foreign policy.
Buhari, who was represented by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, also urged commanders to ensure effective command and control of personnel and equipment in their formations for optimal performance in the field.
The President noted that the COAS conference was an opportunity to appraise the training and operational activities for the year with a view to building on lessons learned and preparing for 2022 activities.
Buhari urged the COAS to continue to develop the Nigerian army of the future by doing more to entrench professionalism.
“I have no doubt that the renewed emphasis on high standard of training and discipline, adhering to military values, effective command, and control, servant to rule of law and excellent civil-military relations will enable the Nigerian army to function effectively to bring glory to our fatherland.
“Therefore, as the army of our great nation, your role in securing the nation is paramount.
“While performing your constitutional roles, I urge you to remain apolitical and continue to operate within the framework of the principles of fundamental human rights and the law of armed conflicts,” he said.
He said government would continue to equip the armed forces to perform their constitutional roles by providing needed equipment, training and motivation.
Buhari disclosed the government was in talks with friendly nations to equip the military optimally and enhance their effectiveness in various operations.
“The war against terrorism and insurgency is intelligence-driven, requiring the gathering of information and processing it into actionable intelligence for the conduct of operations.
“It also needs cooperation and synergy of effort by all the security agencies.
“I therefore charge you to do more in your information gathering effort and the level of synergy among intelligence operations in order to comprehensively defeat all forms of insurgency and terrorism in our country within the shortest possible time.
“I am aware of the successes so far achieved in the Northeast operations as well as all other operational theatres, following of course, the increased surrendering of some of the insurgents that we have witnessed in the past few months.
“You must therefore maintain the tempo to ensure that more of these insurgents continue to surrender until normalcy is fully restored in the region,” he said.
In his remark, the Minister of Defence Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi (Retd) expressed optimism that the conference would generate new strategies toward enhancing stability and charting a better course for the Nigerian army in 2022.
He commended the Chief of Defence Staff and the Service Chiefs for putting in place measures to achieve greater joint synergy among the services in the ongoing operations across the country.
The minister who was represented by the Director Army, Ministry of Defence, Mr. Sunday Attah, said more synergy is still required to ensure that all operations on the ground reflect that ‘jointness’ in all ramifications for greater successes.
“I am bold to say that due to the doggedness of the officers and soldiers of the armed forces and the army in particular, peace is gradually being restored to all the troubled areas in the country.
“I therefore, want to implore you all to continue decimating the bandits, terrorists and insurgents within our country,” he said.
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