By Matthew Eloyi

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, has called on officers and soldiers of the Nigerian army to remain non-partisan in the discharge of their duties during and after the 2023 general elections.

Yahaya gave the charge at a two-day Career Planning and Management Seminar for officers of the Nigerian Army organised by the Department of Military Secretary on Tuesday in Abuja.

The Army chief, who was represented by the Chief of Transformation and Innovation, Maj.-Gen. Charles Ofoche, said that military officers must be professional and above board in their conducts.

He said the seminar was part of efforts by the Nigerian army to ensure that its personnel remained professional in all their activities and operations across the country.

In his words, “I would like to use this forum to reiterate the need for all to remain nonpartisan as we approach the 2023 general elections.

“Efforts are in place to ensure that the conduct of officers and men before, during and after the election remain professional and above board.

“I, therefore, urge you all to display highest professional conduct during the electioneering process.”

The COAS said that involvement of the Nigerian army personnel in several operations across the country had brought to fore the need for efficient career planning to engender good leadership among officers.

According to him, it has become imperative to improve our approach to career planning, and human resource management to ensure a balanced and rewarding career path for officers.

He said the seminar would avail the participants the opportunity to understand the new carrier policy decisions, analysis of the Nigerian army and the role of officers in realising the objectives of the policy.

“As members of the armed forces, we should be mindful of the need to adequately prepare to operate in joint environment and deploy them to where they can efficiently develop novel plans, processes, and strategies to meet the changing nature of the battle space.

“Therefore, it is imperative that we maintain momentum while motivating our officers and men through an efficient and balanced career planning process,” he said.

The Military Secretary (Army), Maj.-Gen. Jamal Abdulsalam, said the seminar was in realisation that human resource management contributes in no small measure to the professional development of personnel for optimal performance in joint and single service operations.

Abdulsalam said the seminar was designed to facilitate the understanding of guidelines required to position the Nigerian army officers.

According to him, this is to enable them meet the global best practices and the demand for efficiently carrying out the responsibility of planning careers for army officers.

He said the need for understanding of career related issues had been compounded by the involvement of Nigerian army in a wide range of operations.

“The department has observed the insufficient understanding of career related issues among officers.

“This has been compounded by the involvement of the Nigerian army in a wide range of operations and an increase in the number of commissioned officers in recent past.

“These factors have significantly affected career planning and thus require a determined approach to military human resource management,” he said.

The military secretary said the theme for the seminar, “Career planning and Management, Prerequisite for a Professional Nigerian Army”, was unambiguously couched pursuant to COAS’ vision.

He said the Chief of Army Staff placed high premium on training and retraining of officers in line with his command philosophy which include professionalism, readiness and administration.