From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, has said that the Nigerian Army would do everything in its power to clamp down on subversive elements and other enemies of the state to deny them freedom of action, with a view to guaranteeing peaceful coexistence and economic prosperity.
He has therefore called on Nigerians to play their part in the collective desire for a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria.
Gen. Oluyede made this known while declaring open the Directorate of Army Public Relations/Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information Media Workshop 2024, with the theme, “Leveraging Digital/Social Media Influence For Effective Military Operations Within a Joint Environment”.
Represented by the Chief of Civil-Military Affairs (Army), Major General Nosakhare Ugbo, at the ceremony, Oluyede maintained that the attainment of peace, as we know, is the collective responsibility of all citizens.
The COAS, while assuring that the Nigerian Army remains highly committed to its constitutional role of defending the nation and ensuring its democratic stability, said, “We are readily available to fully support the civil authority in whatever capacity that guarantees the protection of lives and property of our citizens, which is considered the only panacea for development and progress in the country.
“We remain resolute in doing everything at our disposal and within the ambit of the law to ensure that elements of subversion and adversaries of the state do not succeed in destabilising our great nation.”
In achieving this, he said the Nigerian Army is always ready to continually collaborate and cooperate with the media, stating that “we will, among other aspects of human development, continue to build the capacity of our personnel through training of this kind both at home and abroad”.
In his address, the Director, Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, while noting that the contemporary security challenges confronted by the Nigerian Army and the Armed Forces of Nigeria require galvanising public support and understanding as force multipliers in the ongoing efforts to address these challenges, said the lukewarm attitude towards the military by some sections of the media in recent times is generating a lot of public concern and debate, not only within the military but in various parts and sectors of the polity.
Nwachukwu said that “The ability of some social media influencers to deliberately spread hoax or distorted information with the aim of intentionally disinforming, misinforming and misleading members of the public on the activities of the military, thereby causing palpable fear and anxiety to promote other sinister motives, has become a potential threat to our national security and a menace to the global information space”.
Also speaking, the Commandant of the Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information, Lieutenant Colonel Adamu Ngulde, while noting the pivotal role of the media in any successful military operation in modern warfare, said this is because the media space has become the ultimate decider of who wins or loses a war.
He said the need to always collaborate with the media for a successful military operation has become paramount for promoting the right narratives and messaging.
According to him, the engagement of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies in internal security operations has exposed them to operational challenges arising from the day-to-day process of carrying out their duty.