Insurgency: COAS solicits more funding for operations efficiency, soldiers’ welfare

From Molly Kilete, Abuja

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, has solicited adequate funding for the Nigeria Army to boost its operational efficiency and take the welfare of its officers and soldiers.

Gen. Oluyede said this has become necessary as a result of the security challenges bedevilling the country and the growing demands of the Nigerian Army participation in internal security operations to curb the menace.

Oluyede made the appeal, when he received members of the Senate Committee on Army, at the Army Headquarters in Abuja. The COAS, who commended the committee members for its oversight functions and on-going support to the Army, lamented that the current funding mechanisms, particularly the envelope budgeting system, were inadequate to meet the needs of Nigerians.

He said: “As we speak, the Army is still challenged in terms of operational efficiency. This year alone, we are expecting about 13,000 new personnel, but there are no corresponding resources to provide accommodation for them. We still have soldiers not being accommodated, and that number will continue to grow.”

Gen Oluyede, urged the committee to consider creating special funding provisions for the Army outside the envelope budgeting structure, to enable it provide the required combat support and welfare infrastructure. He said: “We are not only looking at maybe insecurity within, but what if someday we are challenged from outside. So, I want to pray that, please look at that, and at the same time, look at how we can get special funds for us to provide accommodation for our soldiers. It’s very critical”.

Earlier in his address, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, Senator Abdulaziz Yar’Adua, while acknowledging the constraints of the funds facing the Army, especially with the security challenges reaffirmed the committee’s commitment to advocating for improved budgetary allocations.