COAS,Lt Gen AB Dambazau addressing the senior officers during the conference

The Nigerian Army remains an indivisible organization that cannot be affected by religion or ethnicity.

          The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, stated this in Abuja recently while addressing the closing session of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) First Quarterly Conference 2010.

          General Dambazau maintained that the leadership of the Army would not allow anything to bring a division within the system, saying, “nothing comes between us; we are one, and we must remain so.”

          He charged his audience, consisting of the Principal Staff Officers of the Army Headquarters, General Officers Commanding and Corps Commanders among others, to pay particular attention to the issue of security generally, pointing out that the Nigerian Army has done very well in its recent assignments.

          The COAS stressed the need for the senior officers to remain focused while averting any distractions that might come their way.

          General Dambazau noted however, that there were a lot of challenges ahead of the army, and expressed the hope that some of the projects being put in place to tackle the challenges would be accomplished soon.

          He expressed satisfaction at the quality of discussions and contributions at the conference, saying it was an indication that they all knew the direction they were going.

          Earlier in his opening address, the COAS had pointed out that the conference was a very important one as it would afford the Army hierarchy the opportunity to chart their way through the rest of the year.

          General Dambazau indicated that the one-day event would dwell more on examining the security challenges and the efforts confronting the Army leadership, as well as the efforts they had been making in terms of physical development.

          In an apparent reference to the negative comments in some quarters about the performance of the Nigerian Army in some recent Internal Security operations, he told the senior officers not to get bothered “about the attempts to drag” them into any political discourse.

          The COAS emphasized the need for stringent security measures on the issue of arms and ammunition as well as barracks security, noting that recent measures at enhancing sanity in the operations of the mammy markets were necessary as illicit activities there would leave the soldiers and their families vulnerable.

          The conference featured, among other things, the presentation of briefs by some of the principal staff officers and the GOsC on the activities of their respective departments and formations as well as major ongoing direct labour projects in the Nigerian Army.