Nigerian Army Celebrates 160th Anniversary

The Nigerian Army has lined up activities for the commemoration of 160th anniversary of its establishment. At a media briefing in Abuja, on Tuesday, the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Abiodun Lagbaja, said this year’s celebration better known as Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL) will be hosted in the ancient city of Ibadan.

Represented by Chief of Special Services and Programme, (Army), Major General Emeka Onumajuru, the army chief noted that NADCEL offers the Nigerian Army an opportunity to take stock, assess its performances, interface with the public and set goals for continued professional growth. This, he said, will enable the Nigerian Army to better perform its constitutional roles and also compete favourably with other armies around the globe “It will also showcase the army’s operational activities as well as its transformational strides in innovation, research and development, civil-military relations, and technological advancement,” he said. Going down memory lane, he said: “The Nigerian Army, as an enviable national institution saddled with the constitutional mandate of defending Nigeria’s territorial integrity, has evolved over 160 years.

This rich history of the service dates back to 1863 when Lieutenant Glover of the Royal Navy formed a local force known as the Glover Hausas. “This local force eventually became part of a larger body established by Lord Fredrick Lugard in 1889 as the West African Frontier Force (WAFF). Since then, the force underwent several transformations with consequent changes in nomenclature viz the Nigerian Regiment, Queen’s Own Nigerian Regiment, and Nigerian Military Force before its current name, the Nigerian Army”, he said. He stated that the transformation continued through different phases of growth and development until the Nigerian Army witnessed an astronomical increase in strength from 10,500 to 250,000 all ranks during the unfortunate Nigerian civil war”. The war, he said ended with the slogan “No victor, no vanquished,” reuniting the country in 1970. He, however, recalled that the Nigerian Army downsized into a compact army with a four division structure of 1 Division, 2 Division, 3 Division, and 82 Division. He also disclosed that 2 Division, one of the army’s foremost divisions, is hosting this year’s Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL) in the ancient city of Ibadan. NADCEL, he added, is held annually on July 6 to commemorate the day the Nigerian civil war broke out.

“It also marks the day the very first shot of the war was fired at Garkem in the present- day Cross River State. “The date is set aside by the Nigerian Army to remind us about our past and the need to address our problems peacefully rather than resorting to arms. It also reminds us of the slogan, ‘no victor, no vanquished’, the slogan that emphasises our unity in diversity, the love we share in diversity, and brotherhood in diversity,” he said. Noting that NADCEL was first celebrated in 1978 in Lagos, the COAS, said that this year’s celebration marks the 160th year of the Nigerian Army’s existence since its formation. Gen. Lagbaja concluded that to the week-long NADCEL is an important event due to its significance to national security peace, and unity. He said the theme of the NADCEL 2023 is “Sound Administration as a Panacea for Effective Military Operations”.