From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, has charged participants of Air War Course 10/2024 of the Air Force War College Nigeria (AFWCN) to build strategic leadership capacity and develop their subordinates.
Lagbaja has also charged the participants to expose themselves to adequate training and delegating responsibilities and tasks to their subordinates for the benefit of the system.
The army chief gave the charge in a paper he delivered titled, “Military Strategic Leadership: My Perspective”, at the AFWCN, Makurdi, Benue State.
Director, Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, made the disclosure in a statement issued in Abuja. He said General Lagbaja, while noting that military strategic leadership is the glue that holds the armed forces together as a subsystem within the national polity, said this is achieved by developing the vision or philosophy to guide the personnel and ensure that they operate within the boundaries set by the philosophy in the performance of assigned tasks, in line with national interest and security.
The COAS maintained that ‘the need for exposure to training, including Civil Military Relations (CMR), cannot be overemphasised, as the military strategic leadership relates with all segments of society, particularly the political class’.
This, he added, ‘will enhance sound administration of personnel and operational effectiveness of troops’ in tackling contemporary and emerging security challenges.
The COAS also told the participants that as strategic leaders in the making, they must have the moral courage to delegate responsibilities and task to their subordinates, to enable them develop requisite competences, even as they carry out their daily routine duties, describing it as ‘on the job training’ for the personnel.
He used the opportunity to enjoin the participants to ensure positive contribution to the implementation of the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) Act 2023. He disclosed that President Bola Tinubu has given a nod to the DICON Act 2023, with provisions for manufacturing of defence equipment in the country. This, he stressed, is important for the nation to minimise its over-reliance on foreign procurement of necessary materiel and equipment. He expressed appreciation to the president for the initiative and political will.
The course had participants from the Army, Navy, Air Force, civilians and some foreign participants.