The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai on Tuesday commended the implementation of new modalities by the Nigerian Army Finance Corps which has resulted in early and timely payment of troop’s allowances and funding requirement for tackling the war against terrorism noting that it has contributed in boosting morale of troops.
General Buratai however disclosed that the successful conduct of the counter-insurgency operations in the North East as well as other contemporary vices threatening national Security in the nation required adequate funding and timely releases from relevant government agencies.
He further declared that with improved funding, the present level of Army training and operations in several parts of the country vis a vis Operations’ Python Dance, Crocodile Smile, Sharan Daji and Harbin Kunama among others, meant to checkmate these threats would be better and more efficiently tackled.
The Army Chief spoke at the commencement of the 11th Biennial Nigerian Army Finance Corps Training Conference in Lagos with the theme, ‘Military Expenditure and Combat Readiness: Realistic Funding as a Panacea for Sustaining Nigeria Army Operations’, at the Command Officers Mess 2 in Lagos.
Buratai listed some of the vices and threats which required better funding to include prevailing cases of kidnapping and armed robbery, communal clashes, activities of Fulani herdsmen, and secessionists agitations in some parts of the country.
The army Chief added that apart from training to improve the capacity of personnel, operational training exercises were also meant to check the prevalence of these threats in the various geo-political zones.
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He said, “While the success of these exercises depends on adequate funding, I want to however acknowledge the efforts of the Finance Corps towards efficient financial service delivery to the Nigeria Army. I have taken special note of your improvement in the areas of administration of troops pay and allowances”.
“I want to particularly commend the improved modalities adopted in the payment of operations allowances to troops of operation Lafiya Dole.
“The ingenuity of establishing a dedicated data base for troops in operations and adoption of a special payment portal by the Nigerian Army Finance Corps has succeeded in solving the herculean challenges associated with payments of operations allowances in the past.”
Earlier in his address, the Acting Chief of Accounts and Budget, Brigadier General Jehadi Ezra Jakko noted that with the expansion of the Nigerian Army’s Order of Battle (ORBAT) 2016, leading to the establishment of 3 additional divisions (6, 7 and 8 divisions in Port Harcourt, Maiduguri and Sokoto respectively), thereby introducing an 8 division force structure, something had to be done to halt the continually dwindling financial allocations to the Nigerian Army.
Emphasizing that the current budgeting system (envelop system) cannot adequately accommodate the operational needs of the Army, Brig-General Jakko noted that the envelop system limits the resources at the disposal of the army for routine maintenance and full implementation of the 2016 ORBAT.
“This has also impeded routine exercises required for operational readiness and efficiency”.
“There is therefore the need to exploit new budgeting windows to include other channels of funding for the Nigerian Army as is done in other nations”, he said.
“Available options include creating a Defence Support Fund as obtainable in Turkey, establishment of a Military Industrial Base and Investment Holdings as in Egypt or enacting a local Defence Trust Fund Act like existing Tertiary Education Trust Fund in Nigeria.
“The government could also include Defence and Security sector as beneficiaries from the National Sovereign wealth Fund”, the Acting CAB added.
END
