COAS Says Army Must Improve In One More ‘Combat’ Area

The Nigerian Army must leverage on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in order to degrade enemies’ propaganda and radicalisation and not focus only on combat operations.

The Chief of Army Staff, Maj-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru,stated this on Tuesday, at the start of a week-long workshop on “Office Management and Document Security,” organised by 1 Division Nigerian Army, Kaduna.

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COAS who was represented by the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division, Maj-Gen. Usman Muhammad, said that the Nigerian Army would deploy relevant skills in safeguarding operational plans and orders, as part of strategies to ensure success in ongoing operations.

“The nation is at a critical point with regards to the state of security, and Nigerians are looking up to the Nigerian Army and other security agencies to end the carnage and restore normalcy.

“Capacity building has over time been disproportionately focused on honing our skills in combat; this has been at the expense of administrative competence that is often accorded less than desired attention.

“Our contemporary threat is one that is adaptive and traverses the full spectrum of operations; the adversary is increasingly leveraging ICT to bolster capability; and vigorously employing the social media for its propaganda and radicalisation,’’ he said.

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He explained that the Nigerian Army had not been sufficiently aggressive in exploiting the platforms in confronting the threat.

“I, therefore, consider it essential that while we continue to improve on our combat skills and capabilities; it is also important for us to bring in to focus the skills required; to efficiently manage our offices and safeguard our information and information infrastructure.

“After all, before the shot is fired in battle, the operational plans are crafted, rolled out, and transmitted in our operations room and clerical pools,’’ he said.

According to him, safeguarding operational plans and orders from compromise were as crucial as protecting the fighting force in the field.

“The need to groom our clerks on office management and the security of our documents should therefore not take the back row,” he said.

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Attahiru added that the Nigerian Army must keep pace with trends in technology; and efficiently employ ICT as a force multiplier.

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