COAS restates commitment to Education of personnel as NAEC holds conference in Kwara

The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General T.A Lagbaja has reiterated the need for education in empowering the forces as it navigates through the contemporary security challenges in the country.

Lagbaja, who was represented by General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 2 Division, Ibadan, Maj. Gen. Bamidele Alabi made the remark at the opening ceremony of the combined third and fourth quarters conference of the Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC) in Ilorin on Tuesday.

The 3-day conference which is being held at the Nigerian Army Institute of Science Education and Technology, Sobi cantonment, Ilorin is themed “Consolidating the NAEC Transformation process in support of the COAS Command Philosophy”.

The Army Chief stated that the conference offers a noble opportunity for the corps to review its activities for further projections.

He said that the ongoing transformation drive of the corps is a testament to its determination towards repositioning the corps for effective performance of its statutory role, adding that its approach aligns with the dynamic nature of the 21st century security environment.

He stressed that the current security challenges in the country required collective and concerted efforts and appreciated President Bola Tinubu for his support to the force.

“The NAEC with its rich legacy of impacting knowledge should aspire to be at the forefront of shaping the minds that will lead our army and the nation in general to a better future.

“We will not relent in supporting all Nigerian Army training schools, including those running civil courses administered by NAEC and command secondary schools, towards providing affordable and qualitative education for our personnel and their wards.

“In the same vein, the NAEC will be adequately supported in the performance of other statutory educational roles such as the provision of library, archival and museum services” Lagbaja said.

In his remark, the Corp Commander of NAEC, Maj. Gen. Bello Tsoho said that the conference is in line with the command policy of COAS as it seeks to critically assess the overall attainment vision of having a professionally transformed NAEC.

“We are here specially to review our activities with regards to my blueprint which we are steadily implementing.

“This conference will also serve us with an opportunity of an overview and give a progress report to my officers all geared towards consolidating all the transformation process going on in the Nigerian Army” Tsoho said.

Tsoho explained that among many other innovations of the NAEC under his leadership is the introduction of short courses on watch keeping in collaboration with NAS and NAIC and special courses like sign language from NAISET to ehanced the communication skills of the Army.

“The corps intends to see to the completion of the Book on the history of the Nigerian Army which got stalled along the way.

“Similarly, the production of another book on the history of NAEC is in the offing, just as the prodution of the chronology of NAEC officers was recently completed and distributed” He added.

Tsoho said the admission policy of the command schools has also been reviewed in line with the Army Headquarters directive for the 2023/2024 Academic session and the introduction of ‘Award of Academic Excellence’ under his ‘Reward and Sanction Policy’.

Highpoint of the event was the presentation of awards to outstanding officers who participated in different courses and some students of command schools across the country for their performance in the external examination.

The closing ceremony is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 8, with a series of interactive and panel sessions lined up for the benefit of the participants who are predominantly heads of army formations, units and command schools across the country.

Speaking to newsmen after receiving an award at the event, A student of the CSSS Saki, Felix Oyediran, who emerged as the overall best male student among public secondary schools in Nigeria in the 2022 WAEC examination thanked the Nigerian Army for the recognition.

He called on other students to remain steadfast in their academic pursuits and promised to continue to seek for excellence in all his endeavours.