The 177 battalion of Guards Brigade Nigerian Army on Thursday emerged winners of the 2019 Brigade Inter-Unit Change of Quarter Guard Competition which held at the Mambilla Barracks Parade Ground with a total of 333 points out of 500 points.
The second position went to 7 Guards battalion with 308 points while third position went to Guards Brigade Garrison with 297 points.
176 Guards battalion emerged fourth with 290 points while 102 Guards battalion took the fifth position with 288 points.
Speaking at the occasion, the Guest of Honour, Brigadier General MI Abdulkadir, who is a Director in the department of Army Standards and Evaluation, disclosed that drill is the basic foundation of Military Regimentation.
He said, “Drill is aimed at producing a soldier who is proud, alert, and obedient as well as also providing the basis for teamwork. Therefore, the importance of drill in building a discipline force cannot be over-emphasized.
“It is the yardstick for measuring the level of discipline of a force and the building block that sharpens the individual soldiers’ military bearing.
He further told the officers and soldiers participating in the competition, “You must not forget that this event intends to test your proficiency in Quarter Guard as well as assessing the general state of your alertness.
“It would also build the capacity of the participating units and Guards Brigade in general.
Read Also:
“You must therefore take advantage of this event and other scheduled training activities in your Brigade, as this will enhance your performance as Guards Brigade troops and also endear the confidence of the civil populace in order to actualize the COAS vision which is to have a Professionally Responsive NA in the Discharge of its Constitutional Roles.
“It is my believe that this drill competition will no doubt make you more responsive in the discharge of your duties” adding, “I am also sure that the objective and purpose of putting together this event will be achieved at the end of the day.
On his impression of the colourful but keenly contested drills, Brig-Gen Abdulkadir said, “What I have seen today is quite encouraging. I want to commend you all for all your efforts and the zeal you put up for the competition.
“Please be reminded that in any competition, there is always a winner and a looser. The looser in this case have not completely lost because the competition was quite keenly contested. I therefore want to urge the looser to work harder while also imploring the winner not to be complacent.
“On the whole it was very impressive and I enjoyed every bit of the event. I urge you all to continue to train and retrain realistically in order to sustain the Brigade’s high standard of regimentation and discipline.”
Other highlights of the occasion were the presentation of awards to the best individual performers with Sergeant Ahmed M of 177 Guards battalion getting the award for Best Quarter Guard SGT, Guardsman Mark A of 102 Guards battalion winning the Best Binglar award and Guardsman Olajumoke O winning the award for Best Sentry
END
