Azubike Ihejirika, a former chief
of army staff, says more soldiers and officers were recruited into the army to
fight Boko Haram insurgents during his tenure.
He said this in Abuja at the
reunion and gala night of the army’s 18 regular course.
The retired lieutenant-general
said they were able to identify the nature of the insurgency at the time and
this made them increase the army’s strength by 25 percent in three years.
“We were able to identify the
nature of and complexity of the problem, we went ahead to quickly increased the
strength of the army by 25 percent in the span of three years,” he said.
“Without that, it would have been
a major issue because of several commitments both internally and externally
when Nigerian Army was involved in foreign operations.”
He said following the strategy,
the problem of insecurity was detected and this led to the prevention of a
major problem that would have increased the challenges of insecurity that the
country is currently being confronted with.
Speaking on his achievement as
army chief, Ihejirika who served from 2010 to 2014, said the Nigerian Army
Language Institute (NALI) was established at Ovim in Isuikwuato local
government area of Abia state and was aimed at facilitating the integration of
the Nigerian army with other neighbouring countries.
“The idea was to give Nigerian
army the capacity to collaborate with other countries. Nigerian being a nation
surrounded by francophone countries and with time, other languages will be
taught,” he said.
He said he established the
institute to help Nigerian soldiers on peacekeeping mission to fluently
communicate after observing the poor nature of communication between the
Nigerian soldiers and their colleagues from neighbouring non-English-speaking
countries.
He said the army has already set
different languages as part of the criteria for junior officers to be promoted.
“With time, other languages of
interest will be taught but it is important to note that since the army has
gone further to make different languages parts of the requirements for the
promotion of junior officers.”
Gabriel Olonisakin, chief of
defence staff, also speaking at the event said the 18 regular course
contributed significantly to peace and security in the country.
“Permit me therefore to commend
the sacrifice and contributions of the members of the course, who took pleasure
in laying the foundation of discipline and valour upon which development of
subsequent generations of the officers,” he said.
“Furthermore, I wish to state
that the armed forces of Nigeria has benefited immensely from the professional
advice offered by the members of the course in carrying the whole task of
monitoring the younger generation of officers and responding to contemporary
threats to national security.”
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