Despite Progress in Ongoing Military Operations in NE, NW & other Theatres, Nigeria still faced with numerous threats of Kidnapping, Banditry/Terrorism, Pipeline Vandalism – Defence Minister

Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (rtd) has said that even though a lot of progress has been
made in the ongoing military operations in the North East, North West, and other theatres, the nation is still faced with numerous threats of armed banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and pipeline vandalism among others.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony of Course 6, Army War College, Nigeria on Friday in Abuja, the minister said, “These asymmetric security challenges have impacted heavily on our collective well-being, and are increasingly posing a considerable threat to national cohesion”.

“Hence, the Armed Forces are deployed across the 36 states of the country, and the FCT in Military Aid to Civil Authority as enshrined in our constitution”.

Represented by the Acting Permanent Secretary and Director of Reforms in the Defence ministry, Mrs. Susan Ashida, the minister said, “Their loyalty, commitment, and doggedness in the various theatres of operations deserve every commendation and support from all Nigerians.

“The Federal Government on its part is ever committed to supporting the Armed Forces in the efforts to develop the right set of skills and knowledge of its personnel to be better prepared to tackle security threats that confront us all.

“That is the reason why operational-level training such as this is being conducted in the War colleges, with training outcomes that speak directly to the plethora of security challenges that have besieged our dear country.

“This is also one of the top priorities of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government. It is my belief, therefore, that with the continuity and sustainability of this level of training, we will develop the required capacity, and in no distant time, be able to overcome present security challenges and those of the future.

Noting that, “War Colleges the world over, hold their pride of place as centres of excellence for military operational leadership training Magashi said, “I am therefore delighted that almost 6 years after the establishment of the Army War College Nigeria, the Institution has remained focused and abiding in its mission of producing well-trained, educated, and inspired operational-level leaders for the Nigerian Army”.

“I believe this is because the learning objectives at the College which are focused on national security, military strategy, theatre strategy, and operational art are to enable you, to be more effective in the complex terrain of the Twenty-First Century security environment.

“I am also aware that as a citadel of learning and Centre of excellence in land power and joint military operations and strategic studies, the Army War College Nigeria has done so much work in evolving a robust curriculum that is continuously updated to anticipate the vagaries of contemporary warfighting.

“In just over 5 years, the College has been able to enthrone the culture of ingenuity, hard work, diligence, and dedication to duty amongst its participants and staff. thus contributing to enhancing its status as a cradle of learning and think-tank of the Nigerian Army,

“I, therefore, commend the Chief of Army staff, the College Board, the Commandant, members of Faculty, and the staff for these giant strides. There is no gainsaying that the Ministry of Defence will continue to support the Army Headquarters and indeed the Armed Forces in meeting the demands of training in the Army War College Nigeria and other military training institutions.

“Today’s graduation will definitely not have been possible without the support of President Muhammadu Buhari. I, therefore, wish to express our profound appreciation to the President for his unflinching support to the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

“To the graduands, I say a special congratulations to you who have gone through the 8-month rigour in the College and steadied the storm of hard academic activities with commitment and perseverance”.

In his welcome remarks, Commandant, Army War College, Nigeria (AWCN), Major Gen Bamidele Ali Alabi disclosed that 73 participants comprising 51 Army participants, 2 from the Nigerian Navy, 2 from the Nigerian Airforce, also had participants from the Nigerian Police Force, NSCDC, Immigrations, FRSC, EFCC and Fire Service as well as foreign participants completed the 35 weeks course.

He disclosed that since 2017 when the college was established 367 participants have graduated from the war college.
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In a goodwill speech,the Commandant of the United Kingdom Defence Academy, Major General Andrew Roe pledged a continuous and robust working partnership between the UK Defence Academy and the Army War College, Nigeria which has been on since inception of the war college.

“We will continue to provide Command, Staff and leadership traiiing courses. We are committed to further cooperation hence we don’t take this important cooperation for granted.

Deputy Commandant of the College and Director of Studies, Brigadier General Umar Alkali while elaborating on the Course Highlights said the course focussed on operational art, higher military strategy, and campaign planning among others.

He said the course was broken into 8 modules including foundation module, leadership, military history, peace support module and operational art module.

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