“The Nigerian Army of 1960 bequeathed to Nigeria by the colonial masters is not the same Nigerian Army of 2022″. This is the verdict of governor of Imo State, Eastern Nigeria, Senator Hope Uzodinma.
What are the prompting factors making the governor to to pass this verdict? We shall come to that but first here are some historical tit bits of the Nigerian Army. It is today 159 years old established in 1863 by a man called Lieutenant Glover. The naval officer of the Royal Navy had selected 18 northerners and named them “Glover Hausas” to protect British interests and provide security in the Lagos general areas. Police and military duties were their mandates. Its name was changed to Hausa Constabulary in 1865 and turned into a regular force, shortly it metamorphosed into “Lagos Constabulary“.
Military documents say “In 1889, Lord Fredrick Lugard had formed incipient body of what was to be known in 1890, as the West African Frontier Force (WAFF), in Jebba, northern Nigeria. The new unit expanded by absorbing the Northern Nigeria-based elements of the Royal Niger Company (NRC) Constabulary. By the end of 1901, it had incorporated all paramilitary units in the other British dependencies into its command, thus fully meriting its designation “WAFF”.
That is a brief history of the Nigerian army today tagged the “Pride of the Nation”.
So far, how has the journey fared with the Nigerian army, a body that had in the past wrongly ventured into politics?
The same army also fought a bloody was for close to 30 months.
On a yearly basis the army sets aside to take stock of its past history, its presence and its march towards the future, putting the army in the niche as seen by Governor Hope Uzodinma.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya During the 2022 Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL) described the civil war as an unfortunate part of the Nigerian history.
The history of the Nigerian Army is not imaginary but based on material or concrete objects to back it up. And this brings to the front burner what the Nigerian Army showcases through its research and development.
Nigerian Army Women’s Corps
The country’s army has participated in many peace keeping operations in Lebanon, Congo, Bosnia Herzegovina, Burma, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Darfour, among others, either as peace keeper or peace enforcer. They have always come out tops.
Now the army has found itself entangled in a fight that is not a low intensity conflict to be left for the police but a big war against terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and secessionists.
The war, a non-conventional one, but asymmetric one, has left citizens fighting against one another with very great losses of lives, people wounded and incapacitated for life and unquantifiable material and materiel losses. Unlike the civil war that lasted about 30 months the fight against terrorism is well over ten years now.
The sum of $2b had to be approved by President Muhammadu Buhari for the country’s armed forces…the army, navy and air force even though funds approvals are different from funds releases.
The army went into massive importation military hardware from America, Britain, Russia, China, South Korea, Australia, among others. Columns of some of these military equipment were on Parade at the Heroes’ Square Owerri, prompting the governor to confess that: “I want to congratulate the Chief of Army Staff for the display we watched this afternoon, the capability we have seen this afternoon, for the various equipment we have seen this afternoon, associated technologies we have seen this afternoon, that we have an army in Nigeria“.
It is not just for the Nigerian Army to keep on importing its fighting equipment after all some are really not suitable for the Nigerian environment in the various fights.
So the regimented organisation went into various scientific research and the results have been very rewarding.
Major General Victor Ezugwu has created effective Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles which he says “meets every international standards“. These MRAPs can withstand blasts from improvised Explosive Devices and other landmines.
When the general, a historian turned made this fighting equipment, the then Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai decided to name it after its founder, EZUGWU.
Maj Gen Victor Ezugwu stands by the side of the mines resistant vehicle he made
As expected, more of Ezugwu MRAPs have been produced and inducted into the war theatre.
The Army has also created drones and these Unmanned Aerial Vehicle are doing very well in the various counter insurgency fights in the country.
A drone made by the Nigerian Army
The Nigerian Army is really comprised of personnel who are resourceful and the Defence Industries Corporation where General Victor Ezugwu once served as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer now produces war weapons even as it also produces civilian materials like furniture.
Private Hussaini Tijani also had his sports car on display which he said took him four months to make his car he says he is proud to be in the Nigerian Army.
Private Hussaini Tjjani of the Nigerian Army and the sports car he made
Having gone round various pavilions erected by war weapon vendors and company agents round the globe who witnessed the occasion, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.Gen. Faruk Yahaya said: “the Nigerian Army under my watch has modestly lived up to its role as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Since taking over command, deliberate efforts have been made to reposition the Nigerian Army into a force ready to conduct all land operations within a joined environment in defence of our dear nation. I am pleased to report that as a result of our concerted efforts in conjunction with other services that the activities of terrorists, bandits, secessionist groups and other criminal elements have been greatly diminished”.
For effective impact, the army authorities created more military formations like the 7 Division in Sokoto, 6 Division in Port Harcourt. It also created the Nigerian Army Cyber Warfare Command. And for the first time, it created the Nigerian Army Women Corps in 2018 to among other things, “provide platform for women to contribute to national defence and security architecture of the nation“.
NADCEL 2022 was celebrated in all the 26 States of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Grand finale was held at the Heroes Square Owerri Imo State.
During such occasions army personnel engage in community service, feeder roads construction, free medical services to communities etc.
Welfare of troops is taken seriously as accommodation, education, kitting of troops remain paramount.
The grand finale witnessed the issuing of brand new Toyota Hilux vans to Senior Non Commissioned Officers by the Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi on behalf of President Muhammadu Bubari while children of fallen heroes were given various scholarships and widows given start-up funds to go into petty businesses to sustain their families.
This year’s theme of the Nigerian Army Day Celebration was “Repositioning the Nigerian Army in the Joint Operations Environment: A Panacea for Success In Addressing Contemporary Security Challenges“.
