Insecurity: COAS charges commanding officers to ‘think outside the box’

Insecurity: COAS charges commanding officers to ‘think outside the box’. 

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, has charged commanding officers in various military and para-military formations to think outside the box in tackling security challenges.

Yahaya, who was represented by Maj.-Gen. Kamilu Kadiri, Commander, Corp of Engineers, gave the charge at the opening ceremony of the First Commanding Officers Workshop 2022 held in Enugu on Monday.

The theme of the five-day workshop is “Enhancing the Capacity of Commanding Officers for Effective Operations in a Joint Environment”.

The COAS charged commanding officers to come up with well thought out strategies to improve their capacities and develop synergy in dealing with contemporary security challenges.

“It is by so doing that we shall maximise the benefits of this forum.

”I am convinced that this workshop will immensely help in refocusing the drives of our commanding officers towards operating with more resilience and professionalism in a joint environment.

“I, therefore, have no doubt that our erudite resource persons and discussants in this workshop will do justice to this line of thought,” he said.

He expressed the hope that at the end of the workshop, there would be a positive change in attitude of commanding officers to training and conduct of operations across the various theatres of operation.

Yahaya appreciated the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari, for his strategic leadership, direction and continuous support in enhancing the capacity of the Nigerian Army in tackling the multi-dimensional security challenges confronting the nation.

He thanked Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State for his support to the Nigerian Army in the state and contributions towards the success of this workshop and the General Officer Commanding 82 Division, his officers and soldiers for a successful workshop.

The COAS said: “I am indeed glad to observe the presence of members of sister services and other relevant security agencies as worthy participants in this workshop.

“It is my hope that the synergy of ideas that would be generated in the course of interaction would contribute significantly towards enhancing your capacities in combating the security challenges in the joint operating environment.”

Earlier, Maj.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, said that the workshop would help to tackle contemporary and emerging security threats and promoted greater cooperation among military and para-military formations.

Lagbaja lauded the COAS for choosing the 82 Division to host the workshop early this year notwithstanding scarce resources and other programmes begging for attention of the Nigerian Army authorities.

“This workshop will provide the opportunity for participants to learn, interact and share experiences as well as help to build synergy for security agencies – both military and para-military – to work together and stamp out insecurity in the country,” he said.