Daniel Atori 
As part of efforts to transform the Nigerian Army into a well-trained, equipped, and highly motivated force towards achieving constitutional responsibilities, the Nigerian Army has declared a 4-day competition for training and retraining for soldiers to be well equipped.
While declaring the 2024 Warrant Officers’ and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers’ Competition in 1 Division Nigerian Army competition opened, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division, Major General Mayirenso Saraso said “the event could not have come at a better time than now that we are tackling heads-on, numerous security threats confronting our nation and we are succeeding, decisively.”
According to him “soldiers are the bedrock of a sub-unit and units; and it is a well-known fact that a chain is as strong as its weakest link.
“Therefore, it is expected that every soldier will possess skill sets of the highest quality. It is against this backdrop that we expect to witness an outing of the very high standard during this Warrant Officers’ and Senior Nob-Commissioned Officers competition.”
“You will agree with me that the only way to bleed less in wartime is to sweat more in peace time.
“It is for this reason that we continue to train and retrain in order not to be found wanting on the day of reckoning.
The GOC who was represented by the Commander, 31 Artillery Brigade, Brigadier General Hamidu Bobbo said the 4 days is a culmination of months of training in the areas of weapon handling, Combat Swimming, Map Reading and Obstacle Crossing”that will prepare the participants for battle scenarios in defense of our fatherland, as always”.
He declared that, the skills would be required by a soldier whether he or she is deployed in North East region, North West region, Niger Delta, The Gambia on peacekeeping mission or in any of the places where the Nigerian Army is actively engaged at the moment.
Furthermore, he disclosed that, as the Nigerian Army continues to professionalize, training has continued to assume greater emphasis, adding, “We have a Chief of Army Staff who has made training a key objective in his command philosophy.”
Accordingly, he said “the Chief of Army Staff has supported us fully by making available resources required for effective training in compliance with Army Headquarters Training Directive for the year 2024 and in furtherance of 1 Division training goals for this year.”
Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Commander, 31 Artillery Brigade said the objectives of the competition is to improve the senior cadre of soldiers’ physical fitness.
He further said that “the competition would enhance their leadership traits, organizational ability, use of initiative and promote esprit de corps amongst the troops”.
It should be noted that, all the formations and units in 1 Division are grouped into 3 to ensure maximum participation.
