The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, has charged Regimental Sergeant Majors (RSM) of the Nigerian Army to inspire their subordinates and build trust with the Nigerian society
Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, Director Army Public Relations, in a statement said the COAS gave the charge on Tuesday, while officially declaring open, the RSM Convention for the year 2024 at the Abbysynia Hall of Seventeen Hotel in Kaduna State.
General Lagbaja stated further that RSMs, as the embodiment of discipline and regimentation in the Nigerian Army, have a pivotal role to play in upholding the cherished traditions and ethical values of the Nigerian Army, especially in the face of the pervasive effects of globalization, driven by innovations in information and communication technology.
“It is in acknowledgement of the aforementioned critical roles played by our RSMs that the Army Headquarters had deemed it necessary to sustain the hosting of this all-important convention on a biennial basis to focus on selected themes,” he added.
Speaking on the theme of the convention, “Traditions, Customs and Ethics of the Nigerian Army as the Bedrock of a Well-Trained and Highly Motivated Force,” he said the theme was approved by the COAS to create a nexus with that of the last convention, which looked at “Leveraging Sound Administration for Highly Motivated Force and Operational Efficiency in the Nigerian Army.”
This, he pointed out, was to delve deeper into some critical specifics of issues that were considered at the last convention.
The Army Chief maintained that the convention is thus, designed to equip participating RSMs with the knowledge and skills to better play their roles as custodians of the traditions, customs, and ethics of the Nigerian Army within the context of the contemporary world.
He maintained that, in tandem with the sound administration pillar of his command philosophy, he will be undaunted in executing his master plan to the letter to promote the welfare, well-being, and wellness of Nigerian Army personnel.
General Lagbaja declared that his aspiration of having a well-trained and highly motivated force that can achieve its constitutional responsibilities in the unstructured and complex security environment cannot be realized without the commitment of the Regimental Sergeant Majors to maintaining the traditions, customs, and ethics of the Nigerian Army.
“The attitudinal credentials for professional and effective soldiering are all embedded in the rich Traditions, Customs, and Ethics of the Nigerian Army, which define the established and accepted ways of doing things as Army professionals”, he said