By Philip Nwosu
Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Faruk Yahaya, yesterday, tasked troops of the Nigerian army to tackle ongoing security challenges headlong with the understanding that the enemy is not an external one.
Yahaya who gave the charge while addressing officers and men of the force in Lagos said: “The enemy we are facing in terms of security challenges, they are within, they interact with people of their community and that is why we must remain professional in what we do and work in synergy with other services and other agencies.”
He tasked soldiers to be vigilant as they carry out their duties and to share information with other agencies to ensure that the country is better protected.
“I urge you to continue to be professional soldiers working in harmony with other agencies and relating well with other law abiding citizens who are doing their jobs well,”he said.
Yahaya said all organisations, including the military have their area of challenges, but that the important thing was to identify the challenges and continue to work and improve on them.
He promised to look into areas of challenges for the army, such as improving welfare, renovating and building more accommodation for officers, providing generators and vehicles for logistics, among others.
The army boss challenged senior officers to step up their game because they have the responsibility of bringing up junior officers through good example and leadership.
He tasked troops in Lagos on the need to conform to the dictates of democracy and ensure loyalty to the government of the day.
General Yahaya arrived Lagos on Sunday from Ekiti where he had interacted with officers and soldiers under the 2 Division of the force in Ibadan. In Lagos, he met with officers and members of the traditional council of Epe.
He also commissioned multimillion naira projects and opened up a new barrack for the force at the Epe area of Lagos.