The Chief of Army Staff, COAS Lt. General Farouk Yahaya has tasked 280 Armed Forces Command and Staff College’s graduands of junior course 93 to uphold the Armed Forces Acts.
He charged them to uphold the standard operating procedures and rules of engagement in discharging their constitutional duties.
Addressing the graduands in Jaji, Kaduna state, the COAS said upholding the tenets is of utmost importance especially in the current electioneering season which is often characterized by controversies and must be avoided at all costs.
He said the junior course was structured to lay solid foundation and prepare the officers for tactical level field and staff work.
He explained that the course curriculum is constantly being reviewed to enable mid-career officers cope with the ever changing nature of warfare which has recently witnessed manifestation such as insurgency, terrorism, militancy and banditry amongst others.
Yahaya further stated that the cyber space has become a formidable operational domain in which the Armed Forces must dominate to avert cyber terrorism and invasion of our national data bases.
“In similar vein, the media has become a veritable platform used by dissident groups to propagate secessionist agenda and promote discord”.
“We must therefore apply the skills acquired to effectively counter false narratives, propaganda and fake news especially on social media”, he stressed.
Yahaya urged them to apply the skills and knowledge acquired from packages such as estimate process, counter terrorism and counter insurgency operations, peace support operations, media awareness and disaster management for efficient service delivery.
He advised them to apply the skills obtained from practices in planning and execution of joint as well as combined operations at the tactical level which culminated in all their exercises in all operational tasks.
Earlier, the Commandant, Armed Forces Command and Staff College Olurotimi Tuwase said the course was characterised with intense field training and academic activities designed to develop the Command, analytical and communication skills of junior officers.
He mentioned that the essence was to equip them to efficiently operate during single service, joint, multi-agency and combined operations towards the accomplishment of their constitutional roles.
He tasked them on building on the knowledge they gained, through practice, self-development, perseverance, tact and intuition to further reposition themselves for the tasks ahead.
The officers who were from the rank of Captains and equivalent comprised of the Nigerian Armed Forces, armed forces of African nations as well as officers from paramilitary organizations, ministries, department and agencies.
They comprised 129 from the Nigerian Army, 59 from the Navy, 75 from the Nigerian Air Force and eight international students from African countries which includes Benin Republic, Cameroon, Chad, Togo, Liberia, Ruwanda, Sierra Leone and Cote d’ Ivoire.
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