The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya has said that the Directorate of Army Physical Training has taken giant strides on reinvigorating fitness training in the Nigerian Army under the strategic guidance of the Department of Army Training towards improving troop's physical fitness and combat readiness to enhance their professionalism.
The COAS said this today 23rd May 2023 when declaring open the Fourth in the series of the Directorate of Army Physical Training Officers' Conference 2023 with the theme of the conference, “Enhancing the Capacity of DAPT for Improved Fitness of Nigerian Army Personnel in Twenty-First Century Operating Environment”, at the Multi-Purpose Hall of the new complex of the Headquarters Directorate of Army Physical Training in Abuja.
The Army Chief ably represented by the Deputy Chief of Training (Army) Major General Musa Etsu'Ndagi noted that the conviction by the Chief of Training (Army) on the imperativeness of holding this conference is a confirmation that the DAPT is on the right path, towards the achievement of the specific training objectives for the year while preparing for the future.
He said, the need for appraisal of the various training innovations and initiatives, which have been implemented across the Nigerian Army in the last 2 to 3 years has also made this Conference timely.
"This will afford the DAPT the opportunity of sharing thoughts with resource persons who have been on the field and have been at the receiving end of the challenging fitness training regime of the last 2 years. Thus it will lead to evolution of steps that would fine-tune or review our current approaches to fitness training," he noted.
In his opening remarks, the Acting Directorate of Physical Training, Brigadier General Olawale Fawole appreciate the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya for bequeathing a new edifice to the DAPT, and that this is the first Conference that would be holding at the new site at the Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment, Giri Abuja, since the movement of the Headquarters from Zaria to Abuja in 2021.
Brigadier General Fawole noted that the enormous furnishing of the quarters and other logistics investments on vehicles and infrastructures have gone a long way to make the DAPT, the cynosure and envy of other Corps and Services.
"Permit me to re-call the popular saying, "to whom much is given, much is equally expected". It was in the light of this, that the DAPT has always sought for opportunities to enhance the capacity of its personnel, towards the actualisation of its mandate on fitness training," he noted.
He stressed that the immediate past Chief of Training (Army) contributed towards the re-positioning of the DAPT, and the consideration of various novel initiatives and innovations in the recent past.
Acting DAPT pointed out that the incisive discourse which he initiates on proposals from this Directorate have added tremendous values and has been the defining factor for the successes in all training activities since the beginning of Training Year 2023.
It has also resulted in the attainment of sports excellence by individual NA sportsmen and teams. The DAPT is therefore in-debted to him and other Principal Staff Officers, for all the support, noting that these supports, culminated in the recently approved expansion of the ORBAT provisions of the DAPT and the amendment of its organogram.
He therefore revealed that DOTC - 2023 Theme was conceptualised and designed, to appraise current strategies on fitness training across formations and NA Schools.
While urging the participants, especially those of in the DAPT, to maximise the opportunity, magnanimously provided by the COAS for the holding of the Conference, the Acting Director Army Physical Training, Brigadier General Fawole said this was with a view to fine-tuning or reviewing NA approach for better results and efficiency.
There was unveiling of new approved DAPT badges, presentation of Physical Training Apparatus at the Opening ceremony of the 2023 of the Directorate of Army Physical Training Officers' Conference 2023.
