Army Chief urges soldiers to update knowledge

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen.

Buratai spoke with newsmen at Kachia after he fired some shots in a mock war as one of the concluding exercises for graduating cadets.

``They must be up to date, not necessarily getting the basic military training only, they must be up to date in terms of current affairs and in terms of global trend.

``They must be current in Information Communication Technology and I am sure they will go places,’’ Buratai said.

He said the exercise, otherwise known as ``Battle Inoculation’’, was good for the cadets as it would make them have war experience, especially what troops were facing in the North-East.

On his participation in the mock war, Buratai described it as great and recalled that he engaged in such exercise more than 33 years ago, while graduating from the Nigeria Defence Academy.

``The standard is still being maintained and I give kudos to the commandant, instructors and administrators of the NDA.

``I am happy that the standard is still being maintained and we will continue to improve on that,’’ he said.

Earlier, when he addressed the 60 cadets of the 63rd Regular Course of the NDA, Buratai commended them for showing discipline required of soldiers in war situation.

``This is the culmination of the totality of your experiences that you have gained from the various military books.

``What you have put into practice here today is fundamental to winning battles. You are as good as battle tested,’’ he said.

In a welcome address, Brig.-Gen. Okwudili Azinta, the Director of Army Training, said the exercise was for cadets of the Army in their final year at the NDA.

``It is designed to test the cadets understanding of operational, administrative and logistical concepts which they have been taught throughout their stay in the academy.

``It will also enable the commandant to access their suitability for commission into the Nigerian Army,’’ Azinta said.

According to him, at inception, the cadets were 84, consisting of 76 males and eight females.

``However, out of this number, five cadets were at various times sent to military academies in U.S, UK and Brazil to complete their training.

``Currently, they are 60; 24 are either been relegated or withdrawn,’’ he said, adding that all the eight female pioneer cadets admitted to the academy were concluding their course.