The Nigerian Chief of the Army Staff, COAS, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede has emphasised that indigenous languages are key to relate with communities for intelligence gathering
The Army Chief made this known during the Graduation Ceremony of Indigenous Languages Course 18/25 at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Represented by the Chief of Administration, Army, Major General Lawerence Fejokwu, General Oluyede congratulates all the graduanants as he charged them to out to the field and practice what they have learned.
The Army Chief said that “they are to use the new language that they have learned to interact with those communities where you find themselves”.
“Use the new language that you have learned for intelligence gathering. Learning a second language is a thing of importance”, he added.
The COAS stressed the important of knowing any second language that they should hold it dear, continue to practice it and rehearse it.
He praised the organisation for its strict adherence to timings, the discipline and the orderliness as a result of hard work.
The Director General, Nigerian Army Resource Centre, Major General Garba Wahab, (Retired) said that the army has a language policy, and the idea of running the indigenous language is to have soldiers who can speak to people around the area of the operation where they are serving.
He noted that Information is the basis which would turn to intelligence for the military to be proactive rather than reactive.
According to Wahab, the centre have trained over 2,000 people, 2,000 officers and soldiers, and the advice is on those who are in the field, so that at least they can speak outside and be able to communicate easily with the communities where they are serving.
He stressed that the idea of trust building between the troops or military personnel and the various host communities is vital in order to be able to give solid feedback which had been positive.
According to the Army Veteran, looking at the playlets, one is not just learning, but passing messages across to communities to be taken seriously which is also one of the reasons why the language discourse is so good.
“So yes, if I speak to you in your language, you trust me, you believe more in me than somebody who comes around and speaks English or another language.So it’s a way of cultivating trust, a way of cultivating confidence amongst and within people. And that’s the essence. Even amongst soldiers serving in a particular area, the ability to speak in another language becomes very handy, and that’s the essence why we’re being emphasised on the importance of it”, he said.
The Deputy Director, NARC, Brigadier General A. Haruna gave the course highlights.
According to him, the overall objectives of the course is aimed at bridging the communication barriers between personnel and the local populace while conducting internal security amongst others.
The playlets were conducted in Ibo, Hausa and Yoruba on how the indigenous language could be used in Civil -Military relations among the locals and in changing negative narratives against the military.
Certificates were given to the participants.
Comments are closed.