The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa, has tasked members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria on purposeful leadership and innovation in the discharge of their constitutional responsibilities.
Musa stated this at the 4th Quarters Transformation and Innovation Seminar with the theme, “Repositioning the Armed Forces of Nigeria Through People-Oriented Leadership”, on Thursday in Abuja.
The CDS was represented by the Chief of Defence Logistics, Maj.-Gen. Gabriel Ochigbano.
He said that the responsibility of the military to defend the territorial integrity of the nation was increasingly becoming susceptible to the dangers of global strategic environment.
He said the theme was apt and timely due to the ongoing operational and administrative engagements of the armed forces across the country.
According to him, warfare has metamorphosed from the regular conventional warfare in three domains to irregular warfare in sometimes five or more complicated domains.
“It has become pertinent to adapt administrative and leadership patterns at different levels of command and also ensure its efficient utilisation in order to address the current and evolving security threats in Nigeria.
“The contemporary and emergent security challenges in the country have assumed appreciable level of sophistication and dimensions in recent years with its impact on low morale.
“The use of purposeful, goal-oriented and people-oriented leadership has become imperative to bolster the effectiveness of ongoing operations across the country,” he said.
Musa said that the use of good leadership would greatly assist the military in willful evolution towards intelligence gathering, battle space domain awareness, and target selection, acquisition and interdiction, among others.
Earlier, the Chief of Defence Transformation and Innovation, AVM Nkem Aguiyi, said the focus of the Chief of Defence Staff’s vision was to have a Nigerian armed forces that is completely embraced by the society.
Aguyi said the CDS also desire a military that was not being seen as a tool of oppression or repression, not a force that stands aloof while all manners of malfeasance, abuse and injustice were metted out on its people.
He added that the defence chief also envisaged a military that would not be passively or in active cahoots with the agents of destabilisation and plunderers of the people’s common patriarchy.
“Such an ominous perception, whether true or imagined, has greatly distanced the Nigerian public from the armed forces.
“To me, the ultimate goal of the CDS vision is to lead a force whose presence will inspire confidence and trust from the civil populace once again.
“It is in this light that the Department of Transformation and Innovation decided to search and invite a highly competent resource person to speak to us on how to reposition the military through people oriented leadership,” he said.
The Resource Person, Dr Linus Okorie, said the military had been a place where leadership strategies were tested, adding that it had contributed so much in raising the principle and value of leadership.
Okorie said that leadership had always been at the heart of the military’s effectiveness, urging the military to embed people-oriented leadership to stay ahead in the 21st century environment.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event featured the unveiling of three books written by a naval officer, Navy Capt. Aondowase Mnguve.
The books are ‘Effects of a Positive Mindset’; ‘Cantos of Wailing Bards’ and ‘The Deserted Homestead’.