By Mohammed Tijjani
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, says Nigeria will continue to witness improved peace and stability across all its theatres of operations across the country.
Lagbaja said this during the graduation of 545 Army personnel of Exercise Restore Hope VI at the Nigerian Army Training Centre in Kachia LGA of Kaduna State on Friday.
He explained that Exercise Restore Hope has continued to provide the Nigerian Army with a suitable platform for effective mission-oriented training to enhance the combat readiness of its
troops.
He equally explained that combat readiness was a major pillar under the operational effectiveness beam of his command philosophy.
According to him, the Nigerian Army’s decision to sustain Exercise Restore Hope was a testament to its effectiveness in providing focused, adaptive, and effective training to address and observed gaps in the Army’s operations.
Lagbaja, therefore, said the exercise has continued to offer a unique post-Depot training model designed to enhance the professionalism and battle readiness of young soldiers, infused with more experienced command and control elements.
He said that so far, the initiative. which started in July 2021 had trained 3,633 Nigerian Army personnel, including the 545 graduands.
The Army Chief implored the personnel to apply the skills and knowledge they gained in the exercise in the field and equally teach others who have yet to benefit from it.
Lagbaja charged, “You must understand that this training is a key investment towards attaining operational success by the Army.
”You must therefore be ready to justify this huge investment with outstanding effects across the theatres where you will be deployed.”
He thanked President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff for their relentless support to the Nigerian Army and efforts in building their capacity to deliver on their constitutional mandates.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the high points of the event was the display of battle readiness and demonstration of fire power.
The event followed the inauguration of a 600-seat dinning hall at the Nigerian Army School of Artillery.