…DECLARES NAFC BIENNIAL CONFERENCE OPENS IN LAGOS
By Okosun Dennis
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt Gen Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja has re-emphasized the importance and inevitability of adequate budgeting and funding to enhance military capability in modern-day warfare.
He observed that without it, every military operation would be “tantamount to erecting a castle in the air.”
Declaring a five-day Nigerian Army Finance Corps Officers’ 14th Biennial Training Conference 2024 opened on Tuesday, 3rd September 2024 at the Nigerian Army School of Finance and Administration (NASFA) Auditorium, Arakan Barracks, Apapa-Lagos, he explained that achieving the concepts of his Command Philosophy would be meaningless or unattainable without a robust financial support plan.
General Lagbaja, who was the Special Guest of Honour (SGOH), further explained that “The fiscal and monetary policies of the current administration have further made it incumbent on every Chief Executive Officer or Manager worth his/her salt to think outside the box in terms of surviving in an environment where business is no longer as we usually know it.”
While stressing that the NAFC Biennial Training Conference was very significant to the Nigerian Army leadership strengthening its financial responsibilities and repositioning the corps for optimal results, reiterated that he has to be physically present to declare the biennial training conference opened.
According to the Army Chief, “As the Corps that offers specialist services to the Nigerian Army on the issues of budgeting, accounting, financial management, and digital economy, amongst others, the NAFC cannot but be on top of its game: otherwise, the NA would be left behind in the ongoing transformation in the National and global financial sectors.
Adumbrating further on the theme of the conference: “Proficient Delivery of Financial Services in the NAFC: A Panacea for Sound Administration in the Nigerian Army,” Gen Lagbaja acknowledged the crucial role played by NAFC in the day-to-day operationalization of the Nigerian Army, adding that those who coined the saying “combat arm of final decision” recognized the key role played by the NAFC in our operational, administrative, training, and logistics endeavours.
Noting that the conference’s theme focuses on the Sound Administration beam of his Command Philosophy, which rests on three pillars: Welfare, Support for the Homefront, and Sanctions and Reward System, emphasized the criticality of Sound Administration to building and strengthening the moral component of fighting power, which centres on getting soldiers to operate and fight effectively.
To Gen Lagbaja, “Sound Administration helps to build morale and promotes moral cohesion and motivation within a force, stressing that sound Administration is an assurance to fighting troops that the welfare of their family is secured.
Besides, “Sound Administration requires good government funding, which depends on the success of prevailing fiscal and monetary policies as part of the government’s overarching economic policy.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Chief of Accounts and Budget (Army), Major General Adetokunbo Fayemiwo commended the COAS for his invaluable support of the Corps’ mandates noting that the conference provides a unique opportunity to share ideas and emerge as a better corps as well as improve professional skills.
On the importance attached to the Biennial Training Conference with an assemblage of past Chiefs of Budget (Army), Directors, and retired officers of the corps, the CAB(A) said it allows carrying out self-appraisal and serving as a forum for human capacity building and human resource development cum management.
Highpoint of the opening ceremony was a guided tour of the NAFC Hall of Fame by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja, and other invited dignitaries, Captains of industry, and Chief Executive Officers in the Financial sectors.
Two lectures delivered by distinguished personalities included: “Digital Transformation and Innovation for Enhanced Delivery of Financial Services to the Nigerian Army in the Next Decade: Strategic Roadmap for NAFC” by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Remita Payment Services Limited and “Countering Terrorism Financing: Imperatives for the NAFC,” delivered by Dr Biola Shotunde, President International Institute for African Defence, Security and Governance Washington DC, United States of America.
Present at the Biennial Training Conference included the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 81 Division, Nigerian Army, Major General Farouk Umar Mijinyawa, Air Officer Commanding, Logistics Command, Flag Officer Commanding, Naval Training Command and Naval Doctrine Command, Chief Executive Officers Zenith and Eco Banks plc; House of Reps Committee on Army.
Others were the Corp Commander, Nigerian Army Engineers, Maj Gen Philip Eromosele, 9 Brigade Commander, Ikeja Cantonment, Brig Gen OM Oyekola, the Host, Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Finance and Administration (NASFA), Maj Gen Osifo and other Corps Commanders.
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