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From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
The Corps of Artillery remains the backbone of the Nigerian Army and there is no alternative to it, Guest Lecturer at exercise Vulcan Glow IX 2023 lecture/study period in Kachia, Kaduna State, Lieutenant General Chikadibia Isaac Obiakor (rtd) said on Tuesday.
He, therefore noted that to be ready and able to address conventional and unconditional warfare as well as military operations other than war, the Nigerian Army Corps of Artillery (NACA) tasked the Corps with improved research and development and local repairs.
Speaking on the lecture titled “Enhancing NACA’s capacity through research and development and local repair efforts for improved firepower in support of Nigerian Army operations”, the retired but not tired military man believed that, research and development and local repair would help the military to be self-reliant, especially in the face of limited resources.
“I can comfortably say that it has been a very rewarding exercise indicating that the Corps is doing what it is supposed to do particularly at this time when we have a lot of security threats in virtually all parts of Nigeria.
“As you may have known, the Corps Artillery is one of the major corps without which the other arms of the Nigerian Armed Forces particularly the Army will not be able to achieve its mandate. I’m happy that I’ve participated in it.
“Research and development are terms used not by the armed forces alone. For everything we do, we must determine to improve on it and the only way to do that is to continue researching.
“We have systems. We have objectives set for us and we must do things that will help us to meet the requirements set before us the Corps has been aggressive toward research and development and we don’t want to slow down particularly now that we have the desire to meet the security threats of Nigeria.
“We must ensure that we use what we have to the best of our ability to get that done”, the former Corps Commander said.
On his part, the Commander of NACA, Major General Markus Kangye said “the exercise is an annual Nigerian Army Corps of Artillery field training exercise that is designed to practice all Artillery formations and units on the employment of artillery really sources in conventional and unconventional welfare as well as military operations other than war.
“Our Country Nigeria is passing through some security challenges arising from activities of insurgents in the Northeast, banditry in the Northwest, activities of ESN/IPOB in the Southeast and economic saboteurs in the Southeast.
“To set the state for the exercise and to put the men and officers into the right frame of mind, we introduce a study period where season artillery officer and a former corps commander came and deliver a lecture on how to improve artillery processes and procedures through research and development as well as local repair efforts so that the Corps can improve and enhance its operational readiness and provide more needed fire support for Nigerian Army operations in line with the Chief of Army Staff command philosophy”, he added.
NACA is currently running a field exercise Vulcan Glow IX from Friday, October 20 – Friday, November 2, 2023 at the Military Training Range, Kachia, Kaduna State.
