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COAS CHARGES COMMANDERS TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE, PRIORITIZE TROOPS’ TRAINING, WELFARE

COAS CHARGES COMMANDERS TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE, PRIORITIZE TROOPS’ TRAINING, WELFARE
… As he presents Group Life Insurance Cheques, Hilux Vehicles to Army Warrant Officers
By: Our Reporter
In a bid to enhancepacross the theatres of operations across the country, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede has charged commanders at all level to demonstrate exemplary leadership, actively motivate the troops to tackle security challenges. He gave the charge on Monday, 16 December 2024, while declaring open the Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference 2024 at the Army Headquarters Command Officers’ Mess 1 Asokoro, Abuja.
The COAS directed the commanders to adopt decisive action, set good examples, and lead with determination, resilience, empathy, and unyielding commitment to the mission objectives of the Nigerian Army. Sharing his views on the current operations across the country, the Army chief noted that the year 2024 has been an eventful year for the NA, particularly on the operational front, adding that the NA has increased the tempo of its operations against terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and wanton killing of innocent citizens. The COAS also stressed the need to upscale both kinetic and non-kinetic efforts across all the theatres of operations to ensure the peace and security of citizens.

Lieutenant General Oluyede expressed gratitude to the executive and legislative arms of government for prioritizing the re-equipping drive of the NA and refurbishment of combat enablers which he noted, has impacted hugely on NA operational effectiveness. The COAS maintained, as contained in his Command Philosophy “To consolidate the transformation of the Nigerian Army towards bequeathing a well-motivated and combat-ready force that can effectively discharge its constitutional responsibilities within a joint and multi-agency environment,” that training drives operational success.

He reiterated his commitment to promoting realistic and focused training, prioritizing the “Soldier-First Culture” through enhanced welfare support schemes, including those for the Widows, Next-of-Kin of fallen heroes, as well as the personnel who have suffered disabilities in the line of duty. He stressed that the practice is essential for preserving the physical and mental well-being of troops, preventing fatigue, boosting morale across the force, and ultimately enhancing operational effectiveness.
Commending officers and soldiers for their inestimable sacrifices in ensuring that the NA fulfills its constitutional responsibilities, the COAS urged personnel to redouble their efforts in the coming year to surpass the NA’s accomplishments in 2024. The COAS, on behalf of officers and soldiers of the NA, expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his strategic guidance and unrelenting support to the NA.
He pledged the unalloyed loyalty and commitment of the NA to defend the Constitution and Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He also thanked members of the National Assembly, Minister of Defence, the Minister of State for Defence, and the Chief of Defence Staff for their commitment to ensuring the Nigerian Army’s budgetary and non-budgetary allocations are accorded due attention.

Earlier, the Chief of Policy and Plans (Army), Major General Abdulsalami Abubakar, while welcoming participants to the conference noted that the event also serves as a tribute to the legacies of the late COAS, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja and reaffirmed the commitment of the NA to the values he championed. He noted that the conference was critical to assess NA’s operations and other activities with a view to boosting its overall performance.
In fulfilling part of the welfare schemes for NA personnel, the COAS presented Group Life Insurance Cheques to the next of kins of fallen heroes and 12 Hilux vehicles to Army Warrant Officers of the NA. The event also featured display of the newly produced Vanquisher Light Armoured Vehicle.
COAS CHARGES COMMANDERS TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE, PRIORITIZE TROOPS’ TRAINING, WELFARE
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Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised
By: Zagazola Makama
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), under the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), conducted a successful Air Interdiction (AI) mission at a terrorists’ hideout in the Southern Tumbuns general area in the Lake Chad of Borno, killing scores of the terrorists.
Intelligent sources told Zagazola Makama that the precision air strike, which took place at about 2100 hours on 5 May 2025, targeted a major terrorists’ concentration camp located in the Tumbuma Baba axis of Lake Chad.
The sources said that the offensive was in continuation of a decisive Operation KALACHEN WUTA II, aimed at denying terrorists the freedom to execute large-scale attacks during the Eid el-Kabir period.
The sources said that Intelligence and Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) reports confirmed that several terrorists were neutralised during the strike, and key logistics under heavy foliage were destroyed.
The sources said that the strikes followed credible intelligence on planned coordinated attacks by the insurgents before, during, and after the Eid festivities. The mission was meticulously planned and executed to forestall such threats and sustain pressure on terrorist elements operating in the Lake Chad fringes.
“We observed significant secondary explosions, indicating the presence of arms and fuel storage. Multiple terrorists were seen fleeing the area, while several others were eliminated during the strike,” the source said.
The sources said efforts are ongoing to gather further feedback, as well as to assess the operational impact of the interdiction.
He added that preliminary signs suggest a high level of disarray and panic within the terrorists’ ranks, with reports of attempted regrouping under surveillance.
Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised
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Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani
By: Zagazola Makama
The Nigerian Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai have executed a coordinated strike on a major terrorist enclave located at Maisani in the Timbuktu Triangle general area of Borno State, killing several ISWAP terrorists.
Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the air interdiction mission conducted on May 4, 2025, at approximately 1800 hours, was informed by credible intelligence and sustained surveillance, targeted terrorists’ structures cleverly concealed and camouflaged under thick shrubs in the area.
The sources said that using advanced platforms, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) conducted a focused Air Interdiction (AI) mission, resulting in the destruction of the identified enemy hideouts and the neutralisation of an unconfirmed number of insurgent fighters.
According to the sources, Post-strike Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) obtained from our Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms confirmed that the airstrike achieved its intended objectives, dealing a significant blow to terrorists.
Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani
News
Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting
By: Michael Mike
As the world marks the 2025 Environment Day, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has appealed to the World Bank for support on capacity building, data and in addressing the challenges poised by Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) in the country.
Head of Department, National Accounts Energy and Environment at the NBS, Dr. Baba Madu made the appeal at the 2025 Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) Conference on Thursday in Abuja with support from the World Bank in. collaboration with the NBS and the Federal Ministry of Environment.
Madu while noting that the NCA was a new area Nigeria must exploit to further boost the nation’s economy, said for Nigeria to grow and be at par with other developed nations, there was need to account for her natural resources.
He said: “NCA has been tasked with the crucial role of integrating natural capital into economic measurement. It is impossible to measure the economy accurately without accounting for natural resources. Issues such as environmental degradation, afforestation, desertification, and climate change all directly impact productivity.
“Productivity in turn, influences output—one of the core components of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These environmental factors must be reflected across all economic activity sectors to present a more accurate picture of national output.”
While stating that Nigeria currently has data on NCA in Nigeria, the NBS official however raised concerns over the huge data gap from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the environment sector.
He said: “We are not doing badly but we need to improve on what we are doing. In terms of data sources, I can tell you there’s a big gap because these are new areas needed to be exploited.”
Programme Leader on Sustainable Development at the World Bank, Vina Vutukuru, said there was need to jointly
explore the vital role of national accounting in national development plans and to brainstorm on how Nigeria could institutionalize it.
He said: “Establishing the national capital accounting as part of the national account system will allow us to measure the economic value of ecosystem services such as clean air, water and biodiversity which are essential for our well-being and economic prosperity.”
Vutukuru commended Nigeria for having “very bold ambitions” as far as responding to climate change was concerned saying, “That shows the commitment of the policy makers here towards the issue of climate.
“But I think to back up that aspiration and the aggressive goals that Nigeria has set for itself, the foundational thing for those goals to materialize those objectives to come true is a very strong natural account system.”
Head of Media, National Council on Climate Change Secretariat (NCCCS), Chioma Azie who represented her Director General, Dr. Nkiruka Maduekwe at the event, described Nigeria as a very ambitious country, stressing that natural resources was instrumental to achieving all the objective of climate action.
She said: “Technology, policy reforms, behavioral changes has a role to play but natural resources is very key because they’re underpinning the mitigation and adaptation for climate action.
“If you look at Nigeria’s NDC, the NCA is an avenue to provide raw materials that we could use to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies.
“If you look at what we have done in terms of this NDC in 2020.which is the second leg of the NDC, we identified a lot of mitigation activities within this mentioned sectors of ours. In agricultural sector we talked about smart agriculture. What is smart agriculture without natural resources?
“We talked about biomass, what is biomass without natural resources? We also spoke about land use changes and that is natural resources, we talk about natural solutions and we talked about also afforestation, reafforestation. Those are mitigation potentials of our NDC. So, we cannot achieve our NDC without SEEA.
“What you cannot be able to account for is recorded as if it is not done so if we know what is existing in terms of the reservoirs we have for natural resources, it can inform the scope of the mitigation activities we’re going to be imputing in the NDC 3.0,” she said.
Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting
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