Diplomatic Channel Archives - Page 16 of 112

UK Deploys RAF Training Team For NAF [2017]

The British government has deployed a 66-person Short Term Training Team (STTT) from No 5 Royal Air Force (RAF) Lossiemouth to Nigeria for a six-week period to train the Nigerian Air Force Regiment.

The detachment, the third undertaken by 5 Force Protection Wing in a five-year programme, comes after a request by Nigeria’s Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar who stated that the request was necessary to forestall possible attacks on the country’s airbases, to assist in capacity building for the Nigerian Air Force Regiment.

Speaking on the development, Abubakar said,

“Given the importance of bases in the airpower delivery matrix, it is not inconceivable to expect our adversaries to target our airbases. As a matter of fact, we have had an attack on one of our airbases in the recent past, and current intelligence reports keep highlighting the possibility of attacks on our bases. All these reinforce the need to emplace a robust base defence concept that is capable of providing guidance for responding to a wide range of situations that may threaten our bases.”

Similarly, the Officer Commanding 5 Force Protection Wing, Wing, Commander John Rees expressed the British government’s readiness to support Nigeria. He stated:

“We are delighted to be here again and, as always, humbled by the warmth of the Nigerian welcome. We are proud of our Royal Air Force heritage and the opportunity to represent our service in the Defence Engagement arena. Having already delivered the Train the Trainer package to 50 non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers, a further 250 students will now begin the Foundation Phase, bringing a total of around 300 Nigerian personnel to be trained across a mixture of ranks.”

The STTT is expected to deliver a training package which enables students to operate effectively in the Complex Air Ground Environment by understanding their role to provide security and Force Protection operations both inside and outside an air base. This forms a key part of a layered defence system in deterring and defeating an enemy away from the airfield while also assuring the internal security of a base. In addition, the RAF will give Nigerian commissioned and non-commissioned officers the opportunity to enhance their tactical leadership and planning skills.

The Programme, which will end by mid-July, will feature a demanding final exercise at a live airfield to validate the understanding of all skills taught in a realistic environment prior to the graduating students deploying to their first operational assignment in the Nigerian Air Force.

172 African Soldiers Complete Intensive Military Training In Nigeria

A total of 172 African soldiers, have completed a 21-week intensive military training which began on January 4, 2017 in Kaduna, the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Captain Stephen T. Tarplah of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) was one of nine commanders of the rank of Captain and their equivalent from other countries outside Nigeria who graduated from the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC) of Nigeria in Jaji. The other eight military international students came from Botswana, Cameron, Republic of Congo, The Gambia, Ghana, Niger and Sierra Leone. They joined their Nigerian counterparts from both the Nigerian Navy and Nigerian Air Force.

The Nigerians, who numbered 163, comprised 91 Nigerian Army, 39 Nigerian Navy, 28 Nigerian Air Force, five non-military personnel from the Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA), Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA), Nigeria Prison Service (NPS), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Speaking at the graduation of Junior Course 83/2017, the guest of honour; Chief of Air Staff (CAS) who was represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans, Headquarters, NAF, Air Vice Marshal James Gbum said the objective of the course is to develop the professional knowledge and understanding of selected officers of the armed forces in order to prepare them for increasing responsibilities, urging them to brace up to the likely challenges and measure up to them with courage, conviction and in the mist professional manner.

In his words:

“For the past 21 weeks, you have been thoroughly subjected to various demanding tasks that exposed you to several presentations, lectures, discussions, exercises and even tours outside the college which have been carefully put together for you to imbibe what General Douglas MacAuthur, a former Chief of Staff of the United States Army called ‘The Cardinal Virtues of a Soldier. for members of the Nigerian armed forces, your sense of judgement in applying these skills would even be more apparent now that we are confronting a lot of internal security challenges in the country, mist especially the menace of Book Haram and the renewed militancy in the Nigerian Delta.”

The Commandant of the college, Air Vice Marshal Suleiman Dambo, said the course is aimed at developing the command, analytical and communication skills of the students in order to equip them to effectively operate during single a service, combined or joint and multi-agency operations, adding that there had not been a comprehensive review of the college curriculum since 2002, hence the college embarked on a comprehensive review from 2016 to January, 2017 which has since been completed and provisional approval has been granted by the Defense Headquarters.

He stated that it is envisaged that the new curricula will better equip future graduates of the college with requisite professional military knowledge as well as the command and staff sills to handle contemporary operational requirements not only in Nigeria, but anywhere in the world.

Anambra & UNIDO Sign Education Partnership Agreement [2017]

Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano has signed an Entrepreneurial Education trust fund agreement with the United Nations for Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

The partnership programme for the ‘Learning Initiative for Entrepreneurs’ Life Project’ is aimed at upgrading teachers, students in senior secondary schools, undergraduates, graduates, as well as those in technical and vocational institutions, toward creating small scale businesses and attaining financial freedom.

According to the governor, the initiative was at the heart of his administrative policy in human capital development, adding that it would reduce the challenges of youth restiveness in the state.

In his words:

“This UNIDO partnership with Anambra State government is at the heart of what this administration wants to do: to give lifelong skills to our youths that are in technical education and we have made it simpler because tuition is free and so we have gotten a very large enrollment and I’m comfortable that in less than two-three years, these youths will graduate and on their own they will start being very productive from day one instead of lying idle. That is one way to solve crime on a lasting and permanent basis. Today, Anambra is the safest state in Nigeria but we are planning to make sure we create an army of youths that are very gainfully employed. So by the time you employ 95 percent of youths, the stock where the criminals will come from would have diminished immensely.”

The Regional Director of UNIDO, Mr Jean Bakole who is also UNIDO representative to ECOWAS, lauded his efforts towards improving education in the state. He said that the project would consolidate a future of productivity and creativity for youths in the state, expressing hope that it would invariably uplift and stabilise Nigeria’s economic base, stressing that the initiative was a breakaway from traditional education to a new approach.

In his statements:

“We are with a new approach where youths and women can be creators. We are not here to use paste and copy, we are here to upgrade the skills of those people to be creators because this is the epicenter, this is the foundation of industry. Why are the other countries that rule the world moving ahead? When you see a country like Turkey, a country like Vietnam and Russia so squared, it is because those young people are trying to go beyond what they are learning. They are creators and we will like youths in Africa to do the same and in particular, when we come to Nigeria, this is one of the brilliant states, Anambra, which has contributed in terms of human capital to economic and to the leadership of the country.”