•Dancing time as Army personnel, families celebrate

By Philip Nwosu and Nkiru Odinkemelu

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All over the formations of the Nigerian Army, it was undiluted fun and merriment recently, as all units of the force commemorated the Army’s annual end of the year celebration, commonly called WASA.
WASA is an acronym for West African Social Activities, an age-long tradition of the Nigerian Army. It is an event that brings all its personnel, including their families and friends, together to mark the end of the year in a social atmosphere.
From the 81 Division of the force to the Directorate of Chaplain Services, Nigerian Army (Protestants) and the Army Finance Corps, all units of the force within the country were excited at the celebration of 2017 WASA, the first after a five-year hiatus.
Since 2012, at the peak of the Boko Haram crisis, the Nigerian Army had halted the celebration, explaining that troops could not be celebrating while the country was under attack by insurgents.
However, for prosecuting the war against the Boko Haram insurgents and ensuring the fall of the dreaded Sambisa Forest, Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai directed a resuscitation of the West African Social Activities.
The various Army formations in Lagos have been organising the event, bringing its troops together to celebrate with one another.
At the 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Major General Ebenezer Oyefolu led troops to dance to the tunes from different cultural troupes brought to perform at the parade ground at Dodan Barracks.
General Oyefolu, before flagging off the ceremony, commended the effort of the military, particularly the foot soldiers, in the past year. He urged them to work in the line of the vision of the Chief of Army Staff so as to have a professionally responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai who was represented by the Chief of Training and Operations (CTOP), Major General David Ahmadu said the security challenges being faced by the country had made it impossible for the Army to hold WASA.
He said WASA remained a rich, age-long tradition of the military to round off activities for the year and usher in a new year. The event was introduced during the colonial era in the then West African Frontier Force to take officers and soldiers away from their routine regimental life to where they could wine and relax freely with one another as well as their civilian brothers and sisters. The Nigerian Army has since adopted the activity.
At the parade ground of the Nigerian Army Finance in Apapa, the story was the same, as the soldiers and their families arrived the area for their WASA celebration at the Army Finance Corps. Many of them came ahead of the scheduled time. The women and children were even more excited, as they discussed some of the events, including the anticipated tug of war between the soldiers’ wives and female soldiers.
The event commenced with a welcome address by the Acting Chief of Accounts and Budget, Brigadier-General Jehadi Jako.
The performances by various cultural groups representing the diverse nature of the military were the high point of the day. The Tiv Cultural Troupe exhibited the popular Swange Dance, followed by a short drama by the National Troupe.
At the Army Finance Corps, Lt. Gen. Buratai was represented by the General Officer Commanding, 81 Division. He explained the significance of WASA, explaining that it was to mark the revival of activities hitherto suspended by the military. He said the revival would go a long way in curbing criminality and other nefarious activities.
General Buratai said: “WASA is among the rich traditions of the Nigerian Army which promotes team spirit, esprit de corps and confidence within and outside the barracks community. It is also a forum for informal social interaction and an avenue for the barracks community to showcase the various rich and diversified cultural endowments of our great nation. This significant regimental activity is held annually to signify the successful completion of activities for the year and usher in a new year.
“The 2016 training year has been quite eventful in the Nigerian Army. All the training activities programmed for the year were successfully conducted as scheduled, and in addition, some important activities that were hitherto suspended due to commitment of troops in various internal and external operations were revived in 2016. Such activities include the Nigerian Army Sports Festival, which was held last year after a break of seven years, various field training exercises such as Python Dance, Crocodile Smile and others were also successfully conducted last year in various parts of the country. These exercises have significantly gone a long way in curbing criminality and other nefarious activities. The climax of these exercises was Operation Rescue Final in the North-East which led to the fall of Sambisa Forest at the end of 2016. “Therefore, we all have reasons to celebrate and also thank the Almighty God for these great achievements in year 2016,” the Army boss said.
He prayed for the repose of the soul of fallen heroes who paid the supreme price to keep the country safe and one, even as he asked God to grant the victims’ families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. He also urged officers and soldiers to remain committed to the discharge of their collective responsibilities of ensuring peace and stability across the country.
“We must remain focused, dedicated and resilient in order to consolidate on the achievements so far recorded,” he stressed.
Earlier, General Oyefolu had noted: “The word WASA, in the ordinary usage of the Hausa language, simply means to play, and that is what we are here to do today. It coincides with the acronym of what is being held as the West African Social Activities (WASA) by the Nigerian Army.
“This event was introduced during the colonial era. It was meant to take officers and soldiers away from their routine regimental life to an atmosphere where they could wine and relax freely with one another as well as their civilian brothers and sisters. Today gives us another opportunity to be together with our families and friends and give thanks to the Almighty for a successful 2016 and to showcase our various cultures within the barracks and the community.”
The Magajiya (wives of Army officers) group defeated the female soldiers in the tug of war, while awards of excellence were given to outstanding officers for their accomplishments in the year 2016.