The Minister of Defence, Mansur Mohammed Dan-Ali, has charged the 67 graduates of Army War College Nigeria (AWCN) to remain apolitical and loyal to constituted civil authorities in the course of their duty to the nation.

The charge was given during the graduation ceremony of the AWCN Course 2/2018 held at the college’s complex at WU Bassey Barracks Asokoro, Abuja. The Defence Minister who was represented by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, urged the participants to put all they have learnt into use wherever they find themselves in order to justify the enormous resources deployed to give them such a world class training. He said the training at the college will ultimately translate to having a highly professional and proficient Nigeria Army which will defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Nigeria in fulfillment of its constitutional role. The Minister said the Federal Government and indeed the Ministry of Defence will continue to support the Nigerian Army in its quest to continue to professionalise its service and operations.

Reiterating the importance of quality training in the Nigerian Army, the Minister said AWCN is now playing critical roles in educating, motivating and professionalising operational level officers thereby turning them into effective and efficient operational level leaders.

According to him, the college has also been very useful in the development of senior officers of other security agencies such as the Nigeria Police, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) as well as the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) amongst others who form the nucleus at the operational level of their various agencies.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Commandant of AWCN, Maj Gen EJ Enenche, noted that the successful conduct of AWCN Course 2/2018 was centred on the vision, determination and decisiveness of the untiring Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen TY Buratai, who placed premium on the success of the course.

He said the remarkable effort of the COAS has inspired learning in the College. The Commandant said the participants have been found worthy both in character and learning.

Highlight of the graduation ceremony included the presentation of the Best College Paper Award, Overall Best Inter-Agency Participant Award and the Overall Merit Awards.

Colonel Moyo Akin-Ojo emerged the overall Merit Award, carting away the COAS Golden prize, while Colonel Olakunle Nafiu and Colonel Momanie Edide emerged the second and third in order of merit respectively. Col Akin-Ojo also won the best paper award while ACP Kene Onwuemelie won the over-all Best Inter-Agency Participant award.

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