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The Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Signals, Maj.-Gen. Nosakhare Ugbo, has said that military operations had become volatile and complex due to changes in the nature of threats and advancement in technology.
Ugbo said this at the Nigerian Army Leadership Development Seminar 2021 with the theme: “Strategic Management for Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage” which ended on Thursday.
The seminar, organised by the Nigerian Army School of Finance and Administration (NASFA), held from Nov. 16 to Nov.18 at Abdulkadir Hall, Headquarters Command Finance Office, Apapa, Lagos State.
“The seminar is in line with the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya’s vision, to have “a professional Nigerian Army ready to accomplish assigned mission within a joint environment in defence of Nigeria,” he said.
The Commandant said that the imperatives of today’s complex environment demanded greater leadership competence to enhance the capacity for management of men and materials.
“In view of this, the Nigerian Army continues to develop doctrines and upgrade equipment to enhance its responsiveness to the changing nature of warfare.
“Hence, the importance of leaders with requisite skills at various levels of command to effectively cope with the dynamics of their operating environment cannot be overemphasised.
“The battlespace cuts across different domains with the employment of appropriate platforms which are constantly being updated to ensure effectiveness and give personnel the competitive edge,” he said.
Ugbo said that a critical aspect of human capacity development was the development of competent and effective leadership capable of defeating its adversaries in all environments.
“Therefore, the seminar will help to sharpen the leadership potentials of officers and ensure they have the acumen to gain and sustain the competitive advantage in all operational environments,” he said.
The Commandant urged the participants from various military Divisons to embrace propensity for changes and adaptive leadership style as well as vision for organisational excellence to succeed in their various commands.
“The knowledge acquired in the course of this seminar will be an added advantage in your future leadership capacities.
“With this, you are expected to add value to the system and influence your troops to achieve expected acceptable results.
“It is therefore my belief that this seminar has equipped you with the right skills, values and orientation to make you effective leaders and enhance your managerial skills,” Ugbo said.
The guest speaker, retired Maj.-Gen. Abdullahi Muraina, urged leaders to strive to find the best way of allocating resources available to the defence sectors among different uses to enhance military efficiency.
“Defence planning mostly focuses on threat assessments but what is more critical is the assessment of resources, whether they are related to manpower, technology and equipment or money.
“Therefore, a realistic assessment of the security environment must therefore be undertaken in matching ends, ways, and means to logical resource allocation decisions,” he said.
Also speaking, the Registrar, Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Mr Tony Fadaka, said that the institution would continue to partner with the Nigerian Army to develop its personnel for effective military delivery services.
Fadaka urged participants of the seminar to become members of NIM in order to enjoy enormous benefits from the institution and turnout to be better professional managers in the army.
(NAN)
