Always Be Ahead of the Adversary, Army Chief Orders Commanders in N/West

Ikechukwu Aleke in Abuja

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, yesterday tasked commanders of the Nigerian Army operations in the North West region, to adapt strategies that will at all time put them ahead of the adversary.

He also noted that surmounting insecurity in the North West region needs periodic review of the situation, which in turn gives commanders and troops the opportunity to truly understand the generality and specifics for seamless planning and execution of operations.

Lagbaja gave this order in Abuja, while delivering a keynote address at the official opening of a three-day retreat organised for past and present commanders of the Nigerian Army operations in the North West region.

According to him, “The threats, as I mentioned, are always fluid and evolving, thus requiring us to quickly adapt, for us to be at least a step ahead of the adversary.”

Represented by the Chief of Operations (Army), Maj. Gen Benson Sinjen, the COAS noted that the retreat provided a unique opportunity for them to review the situation in the North West by brainstorming for the next three days to arrive at potent solutions.

“This operational retreat, as is the norm in the military, is to review all activities in the North West so as to build on the operational successes recorded so far and achieve the desired objectives. The current security challenges the nation is facing are volatile, complex and fluid, and vary from one zone to another,” Lagbaja said.

He said the security situation in the North West, is made complex by activities of non-state actors who engage in banditry, kidnappings, cattle rustling, illegal mining and violent attacks on innocent citizens, leading to destruction of lives, properties and means of livelihood.

Activities of these non-state actors, he said, have continued to impact the security environment, not only in the North West zone, but by extension the entire country, despite the unrelenting efforts to curb the trend by the Nigerian Army, sister services and other security and government departments and agencies.

Lagbaja added that the retreat will provide an opportunity for operational and tactical level commanders to step away from their normal routines in the field and theatres of operations and review their past and present performances with a view to reinvigorating future operations.

He concluded that the retreat will allow time for introspection, which will not only stimulate new perspectives and creative thinking, but also facilitate problem solving.

In his address of welcome, the host and Director General, Nigerian Army Resource Centre, Maj. Gen. Garba Wahab (rtd), said the military alone cannot solve the issue of security threats in the country.