The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya on Saturday told candidates for the 84 Regular Recruits Intake into the Nigerian Army that to join the army is a call to defend Nigeria rather than employment opportunity.

COAS said this while addressing the intending soldiers shortly before flagging off a10Km endurance run for the applicants undergoing screening at the Nigerian Army Battle Fitness Centre (NABFC) in Falgore forest, Kano state.

It is part of the test to qualify for soldiering.

The army boss who said that recruitment into the Nigerian Army should not be perceived as employment opportunity, as is the case in other conventional endeavours of life, pointed out, that "unlike other professions, recruitment into the NA is a national call to defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Nigeria and therefore requires citizens who are not only physically and medically fit, but also mentally and emotionally stable".

"He noted that it is not a job opportunity, but a call to national service, as it requires selflessness and if need be, the supreme sacrifice, stressing, it is not an all comers' affair", Onyema Nwachukwu, said in a statement.

Nwachukwu, a Brigadier General and Director Army Public, went on, "He advised the candidates to take the screening seriously, as only the best will emerge in the final enlistment. Gen Yahaya also admonished personnel conducting the screening exercise to protect their integrity by avoiding any form of compromise".

"The COAS later embarked on a tour of the facility and paid a visit to candidates who were receiving attention at the medical centre.

"The COAS was accompanied during the tour by Principal Staff Officers from the Army Headquarters, GOC 1 Division, Commandant Depot NA and Commander 3 Brigade", the statement added.

Also speaking on the ongoing screening exercise the Chief of Administration (Army), Maj Gen Wilson Ali, who briefed the COAS, stated that the progressive provision of infrastructure, such as electricity, portable water, upgrade of medical centre, dormitories and lavatories in the centre, enabled a conducive environment to effectively conduct the exercise.

He assured the COAS of a hitch free screening exercise.