Be loyal to civil authority at all times, Dan-Ali tells military

Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, on Thursday, charged the military to continue to support democracy by being loyal to civil authorities at all times.

The minister gave the charge shortly before he inaugurated participants of Course 1 of the newly established Nigerian Army War College at its temporary site at Asokoro in Abuja.

He said: “I charge you all to continue to support democracy by being loyal to civil authorities at all times.

“It is the duty of all officers and men to be absolutely loyal to constituted authority at all times. Issues of discipline will be viewed seriously to maintain professionalism in the military.”

Dan-Ali added that the military played important role in the security of the nation, especially in degrading the Boko Haram terrorists who killed innocent citizens and seized territories in the past.

He promised that government “will continue to support the Nigerian Armed Forces in its quest to sustain and maintain professionalism.

“Already, government is acquiring necessary equipment required by the military to prosecute the war against insurgency in the North-East.

“New platforms are already waiting final clearance from Tin Can Island (port) and very soon they will be inserted into Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri.”

According to him, the procurement of new equipment, coupled with good leadership has boosted the morale of troops, which led to the numerous successes recorded in the fight against terrorism.

He noted that the rate of crimes such as kidnapping, cattle rustling and communal crises were on the decrease, adding that the crisis in the Niger Delta was being handled at the highest political level.

The minister said militancy in that region had been brought to “an all-time low.’’

He expressed delight that programmes in the new army war college would cover operational arts and inter-agency cooperation and coordination in military operations.

“These are important requirements for any operational level leader. This would help officers on one hand with the necessary tools required to plan and execute military operations, while on the other hand create synergy among security agencies in the conduct of operations.

“The Nigerian Army must therefore continue to build intellectual capacities through education.”

Earlier, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, had said that prevailing strategic environment of the 21st century was volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous and therefore required evolutionary approach to war fighting.

Buratai also said that terrorism and insurgency were challenges confronting governments around the world because of transitional nature of terrorists and their “asymmetrical techniques.

“It is very germane that we train our operational level commanders to understand the dynamics and think out of the box to develop feasible strategies to defeat adversaries and their allies.

“Having critically assessed the Professional Military Education (PME) curriculum and the performance of officers in the field, it was discovered that there were gaps in the Nigerian Army training, especially at the operational level.”

The army chief noted that there was no army level courses that supported officers’ capacity building at the operational level, hence the officers were not well grounded in operational art.

“It is against this background that the college is expected to develop the capacities of officers in operational planning and management, as well as the development of basic strategic skills for effective application of land power,’’ Buratai said.

Meanwhile, 32 senior officers from the rank of Colonel were inaugurated by the minister as pioneer participants in the Course 1 of the new college.