The Nigerian Army Resource Centre has trained and equipped Sixty Senior Non-Commissioned Officers with relevant leadership skills, creativity, and critical thinking essentials to bridge the observed leadership gap.
The Director General of the Centre, Major General Garba Wahab (Rtd) made this known during the Graduation Ceremony of the Leadership Skills Development Course 11/24 in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
General Wahab said that “leadership development skill is about what we’re asking them to do, to think out of the box which is not business as usual as in the Army, for example, everybody is trained to be a leader, and people cannot be waiting for somebody to tell them what to do again.”
He noted that they need to take initiative as appointments and Leadership is about responsibility and decision-making.
According to him, it’s not just about acquiring knowledge, it’s about the application of the knowledge acquired.
He noted that the Centre gave some formats to the Department of Training, the Department of Administration, and the Department of Standards and Evaluation which they should look out for.
In his remark, the Acting Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede represented by the Chief of Training Army, Major General Sani Mohammed said that “the Leadership Development in the Nigerian Army is an important aspect of their training and that is why this course was deliberately programmed in this year’s training directive.”
According to him, it is one of the approaches that the Nigerian Army uses to equip the necessary skills to their various leaders and indeed commanders at the tactical level.
“You have reassured us that whatever you have gained here, you are going to go and apply it in the field, there is no option,” he added.
He urged them to inculcate what they have learned to their subordinates.
Course Objectives
One of the Resource Persons, Brigadier General Olaniko Yinusa who gave the highlights of the course said the specific objectives of the course are as follows.
- To increase creativity and critical thinking skills among participants for optimum performance.
- To introduce adaptive leadership for innovative and creative change.
- To develop participants’ emotional intelligence and sound decision-making.
- And to enable Senior Non-Commissioned Officers up to lieutenant colonels to understand the significance of coaching and mentoring for successful career development.
The breakdown is 25 officers by 35 soldiers drawn from formations and units of the Nigerian Army, including Army Air Corps departments.
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