The personnel of the Nigerian Army have been tasked to enhance their fighting efficiency to conduct operations optimally, especially in riverine and amphibious terrains towards fulfilling the Army’s constitutional mandate.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya tasked participants when he flagged off the Nigerian Army (NA) Inter Formation Combat Platoon Swimming Championship, at the National Stadium, Surulere in Lagos.
The COAS who was represented by the Commander, Corps of Nigerian Army Engineers, Major General Kamil Kadiri, reiterated that the Nigerian Army places high premium on the qualitative training of its personnel across board, in furtherance of the vision of the COAS which states, to have “A professional Nigerian Army Ready to Accomplish Assigned Missions within a Joint Environment in Defence of Nigeria”.
The Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, urged the participants to strive to bring out their best in the championship, as their efforts and preparation for the competition will translate to a relative ease in the conduct of ongoing and future operations.
The Army Chief commended 81 Division for selecting the National Stadium Surulere and Badagry for the Championship, as both locations will provide realistic and ideal standards, with all requisite features for training of this nature.
The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division NA, Major General Obinna Ajunwa in an address, reiterated the emphasis placed on training by the NA while expressing optimism that the championship would strengthen the swimming skill of NA personnel.
The championship is a five day competition that will be conducted in two phases; The first phase will be the conventional swimming phase at the National Stadium, Surulere, while the second phase is the combat swimming at the brown water in Slave Village, Badagry.
The participants were drawn from eight Divisions across NA formations in the country, including 1,2, 3, 6, 8, 81and 82 Divisions, as well as Army Headquarters Garrison to keenly compete for laurels in different categories of swimming exercises.
Olusola Akintonde
