... Commanders would be held responsible for any security breach
By Olayemi Esan
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Farouk Yahaya on Wednesday declared that ‘laissez faire’ attitudes on the part of commanders would not be tolerated in their approach to matters of security breaches.
Yahaya also reeled out strict rules expected for all personnel towards returning to the basic tenets of soldering, and charged for strict adherence to the customs, traditions and ethics of the Nigerian Army.
The Army Chief gave this order at the closing ceremony of COAS Combined Second and Third Quarters Conference 2021 which was held at Army Headquarters Command Officers Mess 1 in Abuja.
Lt. Gen. Yahaya stressed that Army personnel must uphold regimentation as well as emplace transparent sanctions and rewards system developing competencies while undertaking their constitutional duties.
He noted that in doing so, personnel must remain determined to change the tides of events.
He reminded formation and unit commanders on the need to ensure adequate security of their bases, barracks and cantonment, declaring that "Commanders would be held responsible for any security breach."
"In the conduct of our operations, commanders must ensure that their troops maintain a state of constant alertness and vigilance at all times to avoid any surprise attack by the adversary.
"It is also the task of commanders to take care of the resources and logistics put at their disposal for the conduct of operations towards achieving results,” the Army Chief emphasized.
Yahaya said the importance of leadership cannot be overemphasized, especially in the military which was in line with the lecture on Day 1 of the Conference, adding that it is the responsibility of a leader to develop and earn the trust of his or her subordinates.
“Trust built on good character is the bedrock for effective leadership which is geared towards achieving results,” he said.
Giving the directive, the Army Boss emphasised that failure is failure irrespective of the circumstances. "To that end, I have directed the appropriate departments to come up with modalities for the evaluation of the performance of commanders in the course of their command."
He opined that Commanders at all levels must provide quality and good leadership while imbibing the core values of the Nigerian Army; he said Commanders must also ensure that they remain selfless; build and earn the respect and confidence of their subordinates in order to lead effectively.
"I have directed that leadership training modules be developed and utilized in all our training institutions to enhance the career and performance of all Nigerian Army personnel.
He charged commanders to continue cooperating and working in synergy with sister Services, security agencies and stakeholders while developing novel processes, strategies and tactics to overwhelm the enemy using both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches.
"Commanders must be proactive in the conduct of their operations. You must take the fight into the identified and known enclaves of terrorists and criminals to neutralize them", he stated.
On behalf of the officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army, Yahaya commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his strategic guidance, untiring and unwavering support to the Nigerian Army.
He however sought the understanding and supports of all Nigerians to enable Army serve the nation as expected.
SpyeTV reports that the Conference was declared opened on Monday to brainstorm and interact on the state of affairs of the Nigerian Army and to review activities for the Second and Third Quarters 2021 with a view to coming up with new strategies for winning the war against terror and sundry crimes being perpetrated across the Country.
