The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj-Gen. Chinedu Nnebeife, has said that tacking Nigeria’s security challenges requires more than physical strength and courage.
Speaking at the opening of the 2025 training for Operations Planning Cadre for Officers of 2 Division, Nigerian Army, on Monday in Ibadan, Nnebeife said that the challenges facing the country required application of intellectual expertise and unparallel leadership abilities.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training, organised for middle cadre officers of the Nigerian Army was aimed at enhancing their career growth and development.
The GOC said the success of every military operations was deeply rooted in foresight, careful planning and deliberate execution by staff and field commanders, especially at the tactical levels of operations, which the middle cadre officers belonged to.
Nnebeife said that leadership in this 21st Century military wasn’t just about commanding troops, but about making informed decisions in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environments.
He added that the combination of both physical and knowledge-based qualities were achievable through constant training and interrogation of the dynamics of the unpredictable and ever-changing battlespace.
“The contemporary security challenges bedevilling Nigeria today demands not just physical strength accentuated by courage, but the application of intellectual expertise matched with unparalleled leadership abilities.
“Accordingly, the middle-level career officers gathered here today, represent the critical link between the strategic leaders and the tactical levels where directives are implemented,” Nnebeife said.
The GOC also said that the operation plans drafted or formulated by the officers had a direct correlation with the end-state of every mission objective.
According to him, the success or otherwise of any operation depends largely on the officers’ ability to read the battlefield environment and apply the strategic plans adequately.
The GOC said that the training was designed for the officers not only to refresh their knowledge of operational planning principles, but to as well equip them with modern analytical skills.
He said that the training would offer the participants a shared understanding of multi-dimensional battlespace today, being operated by the Nigerian Army.
“The nature of modern-day operations ranges from kinetic and non-kinetic engagements, such as counter insurgency, counter-terrorism, anti-banditry, and other civil-military cooperation engagements as well as peacekeeping mission,” Nnebeife said.
According to him, the success of these multi-dimensional operations require sound planning adequate situational awareness and foresightedness.
He said that participants at the training would be engaged in series of planning exercises, doctrinal reviews, and scenario-based simulations, among others.
Nnebeife said that the division had assembled resource persons from various Nigerian Army training institutions, Nigerian Air Force and Department of State Services so as to deliver the best to the participants.
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