Nigerian Airforce's resounding 1-0 opening football game win over Nigerian Army was their biggest top-flight victory over the ruler of land operations when it comes to Combat.
Airforce players were not at their best against Army side but they proved lethal in front of goal, with strikes by their Number 17 (Nigerian Air Force player) enough to secure all the points.
Consequently, the Defence Minister said, Inter Service Sports Competition need to be continuously created to facilitate mutual interaction amongst troops especially as the current security challenges confronting Nigeria are enormous and thus, calls for synergy and cooperation among the three Armed Services.
The Minister of Defence, Major General Bashirpl Salihi Magashi (rtd) who was a Special Guest of Honour on Tuesday 20th September 2022 disclosed this while declaring open the 2022 Armed Forces Inter-Service Sports Competition in Abuja.
Defence Minister who was represented by the Director, Army Affairs, Mr Sunday Attah, noted that the championship is a Defence Headquarters Initiative sets out to provide the platform for the Armed Services to interact with one another towards sustaining the good relationship built and enjoyed over the years.
"Physical fitness is the basis for service personnel's good health and physical wellbeing, hence it is physically and mentally fit personnel that make the difference in combat operations. These physically and mentally fit personnel are able to endure tough weather/terrain conditions and other stressful harsh battle conditions.
"Physical fitness therefore remains the cornerstone of troops combat readiness as it keeps Service Personnel in the top, physical state that enable them carryout/achieve assigned tasks", he stressed.
General Magashi commended the efforts of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor for initiating the Sports Competition which stands to foster comradeship among our service personnel while promoting synergy among the three Armed Service as professionally required.
He charged all athletes to imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship and strive to put in optimal performance towards winning laurels for their various Armed Services. "Let fair play be your watchword as you keep in focus, the objective for the organization of this sports fiesta", he said.
In his welcome address, the Chief of Defence Staff General Lucky Irabor ably represented by the Chief of Air Staff, Vice Marshal Oladayo Amao sais, sports provide a basis for team work that is needed for troops to be able to function with a cohesion that is often called upon both during peacetime military engagements and combat operations.
General Irabor noted that, warfare is a grueling experience and the ability to advance long distances with full combat gear through rugged terrains and to fight effectively requires strength, agility and stamina from troops. "This can only be conditioned through sports and effective physical fitness training. As such, team sports have been found to provide both physiological and psychological benefits that reduce stress, illness and injuries especially during operations".
Accordingly, he said, physical fitness and mental alertness of personnel have become key considerations for the armed forces to meet increasing demands of current and emerging threats. This is in line with my leadership focus which is to "Foster a Professional Armed Forces Capable of Effectively Meeting Constitutional Imperatives". Sports is a key element of achieving this goal.
General Irabor stressed that, the Armed Forces of Nigeria has made giant strides in encouraging personnel and their families to always engage in sports through organized events like the Armed Forces and Security Agencies Half Marathon, Children Sports Clinic and various sports championships.
"These competitions aside being aimed at promoting gynergy and cooperation between the AFN and other security agencies, has encouraged troops to build fitness and maintain combat readiness.
"Several talents discovered from competitions of this nature are representing the country in different international sporting events and making exploits. May 1 also inform you all that the Armed Forces Cross Country Team would be selected from this Inter-Service Sports Competition to represent the AFN in the 58 World Military Cross Country Competition slated to hold at Beja, Portugal next month.
"In this light, we would continue to create platforms and avenues such as this for the discovery of new talents and promoting physical fitness among members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria", he noted.
The 2022 Armed Forces Inter-Service Sports Competition was held at Mogadishu Cantonment between 18 to 23 September 2022 and Athletes from the Services (Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force) will compete for laurels in 5 games namely: Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Taekwondo and Volleyball during the competition.
