Nigerian Army, STF: Of Non-kinetics And Medics
“As this year’s NADCEL progresses to a close, it is hoped that the Nigerian Army will consolidate in terms of military ethos and esprit de corp. This should bring about upholding the tradition of merit and excellence in routines such as training, promotion, deployment, and discipline”.
BY UKANDI ODEY
Oral treat, they say, is better than blows. The Nigerian army and the Special Task Force on Plateau and Environs crises, otherwise known as Operation Safe Haven, are innovating platitudes and paradigms beyond kinetic options in engaging stakeholders within their mandate areas.
There is no doubt that the faded culture of coup d’ tat and political adventurism have given way to new military elitism, scholarship, and exposure that are impacting on robust thinking that is manifesting refreshing trends in programmes, policies, and packages to boost civil military relations.
With non-kinetic approaches to the management of seemingly endemic crises flash points or communities within the mandate area, the OPSH, under the leadership of Major General Abdusallam Abubakar, has been proactive; and sometimes moves ahead of intelligence reports to foreground possible foment of trouble in most of these areas. Although there are pockets of cases when the Task Force non-kinetic initiatives fail and it has to move in, inevitably and understandably, with kinetic or animated zippy option, it must be stressed that the non-kinetic options, often bordering on the intellectual windows of dialogue, meetings, seminars, and workshops for stakeholders as participants and beneficiaries, keep the stakeholders quite constantly engaged and thinking more of the imperatives of peace and harmonious relations.
For instance, as the rains were set to intensify and signify full blown dawn of the farming season, the OPSH conceived, planned and held a seminar on the rather sobering and instructive topic: “the need for a secure and successful farming season in the year 2024”.
Declaring that seminar open, the GOC, 3 Division and Commander of Operation Safe Haven, Major General A.E. Abubakar noted that he was not “oblivious of the challenges faced during the farming season including farm destruction and attack on livestock with reprisals which sometimes degenerate into vicious cycle of violence”.
According to the GOC, the seminar was “organised to address these challenges towards ensuring a hitch-free and successful farming season this year and beyond. The fact that the agricultural sector is crucial to the overall development of any state or nation needs no emphasis”, making him to posit to the effect that “we must create an enabling environment for both farming and herding activities to be carried out without fear or conflict”.
Apart from the intellectual mix and scrutiny of ideas provided by the different resource persons who presented papers during the seminar, participants were drawn from Bauchi, Kaduna, and Plateau States for this non-kinetic interface and experience.
In what is about to go into history as the mother of all Army Day celebration, this year’s NADCEL events are reverberating with such momentous and tidal echo capable only of an exploding dynamo because of their human focus and humanitarian details for the welfare and dignity of man. Plateau State, particularly the state capital, Jos, which as host of the grand finale of the week-long celebration is the melting pot of this edition of NADCEL, has been colourful and boisterous since the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja arrived last Monday.
Rich in military-civil cum community relations contents, this year’s NADCEL has captured and demonstrated how much the Nigerian Army has raised the bar and stake of community relations as canonical to its overall public relations perception and outlook. In Plateau alone, during this year’s NADCEL, the Nigerian Army commissioned people-spirited projects in Wase, Mangu, and Bassa ranging from primary school buildings to multi-thousand litre capacity bore hole.
In Jos, to mark NADCEL 2024, the Nigerian Army is holding a free medical outreach at the University of Jos Primary school, Angwan Rogo, where comprehensive health care is being provided for the community and environs to access.
To declare the medical care extravaganza open, the Chief of Army Staff, General Lagbaja, who was special guest of honour, was represented by the Army Chief of Administration, Major General O.J. Akpor. In the remarks of the COAS, the Nigerian Army is a responsible institution with a great history and tradition of taking the welfare and security of Nigerians seriously.
The words of the Acting Commander of Corps of Medical, Brigadier General SO Okoigi, on the occasion of declaring the free medical exercise open were also instructive: “the Nigerian Army has a very long history of providing good medical care to the Nigerian populace both in peace time and times of conflict”.
He elucidated further that “our medical personnel have been instrumental in the successful resolution of various military operations and have played a crucial role in ensuring the wellbeing of troops and civilians in our operating environment”.
As this year’s NADCEL progresses to a close, it is hoped that the Nigerian Army will consolidate in terms of military ethos and esprit de corp. This should bring about upholding the tradition of merit and excellence in routines such as training, promotion, deployment, and discipline. In the face of growing threat from insurgents, bandits, kidnappers, and other criminals, improving on intelligence gathering and surveillance will be a worthwhile mileage that will boost the public perception, acceptability, and rating in global opinion polls.
