Prioritizing Troops Welfare: Chief Of Defence Staff Lists His Leadership Concepts

Prioritizing Troops Welfare: Chief Of Defence Staff Lists His Leadership Concepts

INTRODUCTION

I have the honour to thank the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, for appointing me the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). The appointment is a clear manifestation of the confidence reposed in me to direct the efforts of the AFN to fulfil its constitutional roles in order to address evolving security dynamics across the country. The realization of this critical responsibility elicits a clear leadership concept which will serve as the roadmap supporting the implementation of relevant guiding principles by the AFN. The significance of this roadmap is to foster a highly disciplined, cohesive and inspired AFN ready to achieve its constitutional roles, facilitate national security and enhance sustainable socio-economic development in the country. In this regards, the broad outline of my leadership concept shall be “To Nurture a Professional Armed Forces of Nigeria that is People – Centric, Collaborative and Capable of Meeting its Constitutional Responsibilities in a Joint Environment”. Accordingly, my leadership concept will be hinged on 3 pillars which include being people-centric, prioritizing troops’ welfare while deepening jointness and interagency collaboration.

PEOPLE-CENTRIC AFN

I recognize the significance of leading the thousands of devoted and distinguished service men and women to provide a secure and peaceful environment for the Nigerian people to freely engage in their legitimate enterprise in line with the constitutional mandate of the AFN. In this regard, the AFN under my leadership will be people-centric by prioritizing and safeguarding our people and their legitimate way of life as prescribed by the Nigerian Constitution. Accordingly, the AFN will apply the lens of people-centricity to key components of activities to truly put the Nigerian people at the centre of its actions geared towards promoting and safeguarding a secure environment for all. To achieve this, the AFN will proactively defend our territorial integrity and democracy as well as safeguard internal security and unity to achieve the stability required to guarantee sustainable national development.

PRIORITIZING TROOPS WELFARE

Troops’ welfare and sound administration will provide the required atmosphere for the AFN to deliver on its constitutional responsibilities. Thus, the AFN will continue to seek ways and means to improve the welfare of its personnel under my watch. In this regard, service men and women of the AFN should be reassured of my commitment to their welfare, provision of relevant operational equipment as well as infrastructural development within available resources to enable them to succeed in assigned constitutional roles. The goal will be to promote targeted and specific capacity building, sound administration and efficient resource management amongst others to enhance both individual and collective welfare of AFN personnel. I shall also promote international military cooperation/collaboration to further expose and provide capacity building to AFN personnel in joint and combined operations outside the shores of Nigeria. This measure is required to consolidate on AFN welfare priorities in order to effectively deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars by providing ready, prompt and sustained land, sea and air dominance by the AFN across traditional as well as asymmetric conflict settings as part of a joint force.

DEEPENING JOINTNESS IN THE AFN

Joint operation which is designed to exploit unity of efforts to seize, retain and maintain the initiative in order to achieve a clearly defined military objective is crucial to the realization of the AFN constitutional duties. I shall, therefore, deepen jointness and prioritize decision-making through a shared process of active contribution and consultation across a wide spectrum of our security architecture. This is geared towards ensuring that the AFN is capable of promptly identifying and addressing emerging operational challenges with appropriate methods and capabilities in a timely and efficient manner. In this regard, I shall promote trust, initiative, judgment and creativity among the various services and maintain a channel for proactive engagement in all our interactions. With regard, to other security forces, I shall build bridges by revitalizing communication channels while deepening synergy in the planning and execution of operations within a well- coordinated, joint and multi-agency environment.

CONCLUSION

The myriads of security challenges which has currently bedeviled our dear nation calls for a more succinct approach towards mitigating the issues. In view of this, I am committed towards ensuring a conducive and secure environment for the protection of lives and properties for socio-economic activities to thrive. To ensure this, the AFN is poised to fulfil its constitutional roles in order to address evolving security dynamics across the country.