Sola Ojo, Kaduna
The Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) on Wednesday told 306 Regimented Sergeant Majors (RSMs) who are currently attending a week-long convention in Kaduna to embrace information and communication technology (ICT) so they could be digital officers.
1 Division Nigerian Army is currently hosting this year’s RSMs’ convention schedule to run between 20 – 25 August with the theme: Professionalism Through Regimentation In The Nigerian Army.
Declaring the convention open, the COAS restated the readiness of the Nigerian Army in the discharge of its statutory responsibilities, hence, the need for all manners of capacity building trainings that could guarantee responsive and responsible army.
According to him, “over the years,  we have always discuss regimentation in different context. But today, we are discussing regimentation in modern terms. With the theme, Enhancing Professionalism Through Regimentation in The Nigerian Army, there is no much different in regimentation that we have in practice over the years.
“What I will like to tell you right now is that, things have changed and as such, as RSMs, you must also change with time. To change with time, you have information communication technology (ICT).
“You also have influence of social media which are key nowadays in our regimentation. So, you must embrace ICT. You must embrace the urge to be digital. I expect you all not to no longer be analog but digital.”
The army boss also added that, “Because of our involvement in internal security operations, we come into contact with our brothers and sisters from different parts of the country, we have introduced language learning to enhance and activate our language policy which has been in existence for a long time.
“We have not taken any bold step to ensure its implementation. We have so far ensure that, this language policy comes alive and we have trained up to 1,000 to learn two of the three Nigerian major languages and this is still ongoing,” he said.
Earlier, the General Officer Commanding, 1 Div, Major General Faruq Yahaya, thanked the COAS and President Muhammadu Buhari for his untiring support to Nigerian Army in its effort to tackle the security challenges across the country.
In a remark, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who spoke through his commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, used the opportunity to appreciate army for helping in tackling security challenges in the State.