The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Faruk Yahaya has charged General Officers Commanding, Brigade and other field commanders to secure their barracks against any external attacks.
Yahaya gave the charge at the closing ceremony of the chief of army staff combined second and third quarters conference 2021 held at army headquarters command officers’ mess 1 Asokoro, Abuja.
According to him, “I want to remind formation and unit commanders on the need to ensure adequate security of their bases, barracks and cantonment. Commanders would be held responsible for any security breach. The importance of leadership cannot be over emphasised especially in the military. This was aptly captured in the lecture we had on Day 1 of the Conference. It is the responsibility of a leader to develop and earn the trust of his/her subordinates.
“Trust built on good character is the bedrock for effective leadership which is geared towards achieving results. Therefore, Commanders at all levels must provide quality and good leadership while imbibing the core values of the Nigerian Army. “Commanders must also ensure that they remain selfless, build and earn the respect and confidence of their subordinates in order to lead effectively. I have directed that leadership training modules be developed and utilized in all our training institutions to enhance the career and performance of all NA personnel.”
The conference was declared opened on Monday.
He noted that the event afforded army heirachy opportunity to brainstorm and interact on the state of affairs of the Nigerian Army.
“The Conference also offered me the veritable platform to explain my Command Philosophy and Vision to participants. I have crafted my Vision as to lead “A Professional Nigerian Army Ready to Accomplish Assigned Missions within a Joint Environment in Defence of Nigeria”. I believe that with diligent implementation of the decisions taken during this Conference in line with my Vision, the Nigerian Army will end the Year 2021 on a high and successful note. “Let me also reiterate that we must return to the tenets of basic soldering, adhere strictly to the customs, traditions and ethics of the NA and uphold regimentation as well as emplace transparent sanctions and rewards system as we seek to develop competencies to undertake our constitutional duties. In doing so, we must remain determined to change the tides of events.
“In the conduct of our operations, commanders must ensure that their troops maintain a state of constant alertness and vigilance at all times to avoid any surprise attack by the adversary. It is also the task of commanders to take care of the resources and logistics put at their disposal for the conduct of operations towards achieving results.
“Laissez faire attitudes on the part of commanders would not be tolerated. Like I have always said, failure is failure irrespective of the circumstances. To that end, I have directed the appropriate departments to come up with modalities for the evaluation of the performance of commanders in the course of their command. Additionally, commanders must continue to cooperate and work in synergy with our sister Services, other security agencies and stakeholders while developing novel processes, strategies, and tactics to overwhelm the enemy using both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches. Commanders must be proactive in the conduct of their operations. You must take the fight into the identified and known enclaves of terrorists and criminals to neutralize them.”