Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike IhejirikaChief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, has said that it is a compulsory task for the Nigerian Army to keep the country united.Ihejirika charged the personnel of the Nigerian Army to be focused in the fight against elements bent on destabilising the country.The Army Chief spoke at a decoration ceremony of 16 newly promoted Brigadier-Generals of the Nigerian Army in Abuja on Tuesday, stressing that the Army was ready to fight to the very last in the effort to keep the country together.He said, “There is no two-way about it. Whatever they say in the papers, Nigerian Army officers should remain focused, the Nigerian Army would fight to the last to ensure the unity and defend the territorial integrity of this country.”Ihejirika advised officers eligible for promotion but who were not elevated because of the issue of limited vacancies, to be steadfast in their dedication, commitment and loyalty to work and wait for the next promotion exercise.It was said that while a total of 177 senior officers were presented for promotion only 75 were promoted.The Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence and the Army, Senator Thompson Sekibo, said that the Nigerian Army represented the last hope of the citizenry in the fight against forces of disintegration and destabilisation.He urged the Army to be resolute in the fight to preserve the unity of the country and eliminate those engrossed in divisive acts against the nation’s territorial integrity.“I am not going to say the Armed Forces, I want to say that our last hope is in the Army; if the Army says today that they are going to be on a retreat for two days, those of us who are in the National Assembly will pack and go to our respective communities until the Army is ready to fight again.“The Army should be ready to eliminate all the agents of destabilisation. The national assembly is there to give you the requisite support,” he said.
Those decorated with the rank of Brigadier-General are Adamu Jalingo, Augustine Anyalechi, Baba Ibrahim, Anthony Folorunsho, Saidi abdulhameed and Olusegun Olatunde.Others are Samuel adebayo, Adeyinka Famadewa, Mutiu Yekini, Musa Yusuf, Anthony Omozoje, Stevenson Olabanji, James Fayehun, L. Hassan, A. Aliyu, and A. Onibasa.
by Fidelis Soriwei – PUNCH
