Minister of Defense, Brigadier General Mansur M. Dan-Ali (rtd) has said the Nigerian Armed Forces under President Muhammadu Buhari has been strengthened with the recruitment of more than 20,000 personnel into Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Army and Nigerian Air Force (NAF).
The minister, who was the review officer at the Passing out Parade (PoP) of Direct Short Service Course (DSSC) 27/2017 in Kaduna yesterday where 195 new cadets were added to NAF also reiterated that, the recently approved $1billion by President Buhari would be used to purchase arms and ammunition to fight insecurity which he described as emergency situation.
He said “When you improve the professionalism of the armed forces of the country, you are making it stronger and reliable. Here we are in a country where this type of recruitment was not done regularly, but within the past three years, we have recruited more than 20,000 across armed forces.
“By so doing, we have given employment to young Nigerians and we have strengthened the capacity and facility of our armed forces. If I am to put it in statistics, there was a time armed forced was downsized to 50,000 but within the past three years, we have been able to recruit more than 20,000 unemployed Nigerians and that number has ripple effect on the unemployed.”
He said “We have not been able to acquire arms since 1982. All we have been doing is replacements. But now, we are going for massive purchase of arms and ammunition because the current security is in emergency situation. It has to be addressed squarely by having the right equipment and that is why the amount was approved.”
Commenting on the passing out, Dan Ali charged the 195 cadets, who had successfully undergone six months intensive training to place national integrity, self-discipline and hard work above personal interest in discharge of their constitutional responsibility.
He added “You are passing out at a time when our dear country is grappling with insecurity and economic challenges. While government has done so much to degrade Boko Haram terrorists by limiting their capacity to launch coordinated massive attacks, there are other emerging national security threats such as herdsmen/farmers clashes and armed banditry which need to be decisively dealt with.
“You must subordinate yourself to civil authorities and protect our fledgling democracy. You must know the limits of your freedom of association and expression which must be matched with responsibility to maintain national security.”
He however urged them to maintain good civil-military relations because that was the key to unlocking solutions to the national security challenges.
DSSC is a basic military training of Military Training Schools developed for universities and polytechnics graduates usually drawn from disciplines such as Medicine, engineering, pharmacy, piloting, law, accounting an d education among others, covering both military and general service subjects.
