The Exercise Camp Highland for final year Cadets of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) has ended at Kontagora, Niger State, with the Commandant, Major General Adeniyi Oyebade disclosing that there are plans to extend the exercise to other parts of the country to give cadets a more diverse training experience.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the exercise, Major General Oyebade said the expansion to other parts of the country was necessary in order for the cadets to be adequately acquainted to all different terrains possible so that they could function optimally in any military operation.
He said, “On my assumption of command at NDA, I presented a plan to the NDA Council to have different training grounds for our Cadets training. And it was approved”.
“The essence is that on Commission, we would have different Courses that are trained in different terrains exchanging ideas on how to go about any challenges they encounter in an operation”.
While noting that in the past 40 years, the training exercise has primarily been conducted around the Jos – Kaduna axis, the Commandant declared that the new trend will make the Cadets more ready for deployment to tackle security challenges in the country.
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“I assure the leadership of our country and the leadership of the military that these cadets, on commission, have been trained adequately and given the necessary fundamental training to be able to carry out tactical operations at whatever level and they have been sufficiently trained to deploy and to conduct operations in the face of the security challenges we face now, essentially asymmetric warfare, kidnapping, banditry and others”, he said.
Speaking at the Battle Inoculation and Fire Power phase of the exercise, Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Sani Bello, harped on the need for joint military operations in forest areas of the state in order to reduce banditry attacks, cattle rustling and kidnapping across the state.
While noting that Niger State has large forests areas that have become hideouts for bandits, he assured that his administration is ready to partner with security agencies that want to conduct extensive military exercises in the state.
Earlier, NDA’s Director of Military Training, Brigadier General Victor Onumajuru disclosed that the aim of the exercise is to give the officer cadets basic experience of tactical military manoeuvres carried out in land operations.
He praised the efforts of the current NDA Commandant for his foresight and vision in ensuring the cadets are exposed to all kinds of terrains in the country, noting that on commission these cadets can quickly deploy and fight to win.
The Exercise Camp Highland which was for cadets of 66 Regular Course, 67 Regular Course and Short Service Course 45 had a total of six hundred and thirty five cadets participating in all activities during the exercise.
“Of this number, forty-four were female cadets”, Major Abubakar Abdullahi, the Academy PRO said in a statement.
