Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Faruk Yahaya has disclosed that the Nigerian Army is focused on attaining the marching order of President Muhamnadu Buhari to improve the security situation in the country so that he (Buhari) can hand over a better nation to his successor
Speaking at the graduation ceremony of 231 trainees of the 2nd batch of NAOWA Youth Development Project in Abuja,, the COAS said, “Now our security situation is improving and we are not relenting. The marching order, of Mr President, is for us to improve the security situation so that he can hand over a nation better secured.
“That is why we are marching on along with other security agencies. You can see the results and there will be no letdown. All hands are on deck.
“Coupled with the equipment and other enabled weaponry provided by Mr President, and the commitment of the Nigerian army in particular which I command, the cooperation of other security agencies and also the cooperation of the good people of Nigeria who are now keying in and giving valid information, which is key in our operation’s, these security challenges will soon be a thing of the past
Gen Yahaya pointed out that “with the support of all good and well-meaning Nigerians, we will even improve on the security situation and set the stage for the conduct of a peaceful 2023 general elections adding, “We are almost there”.
On the youth project, he said, “From NAOWA perspective, you’ve given a lot of investments to these people. First and foremost, it will help the Barrack community and beyond the barrack community.
“Already the training programme is helping the Barrack community because by engaging them, you are keeping them of crime. You are keeping them off being idols. You are engaging the youth. And once they’re engaged, what you have is a crime-free Barrack.
Now, the priority for me, is what should other well-meaning organizations, and individuals learn from this? What they should learn is that we must all invest in our youths. They are the future. They are the leaders of tomorrow.
“And as such, it is mandatory that we invest in them. It is mandatory that we develop them. There is nothing as important as human capital development and that is what NAOWA is doing”.
Earlier in her address, the President of NAOWA, Mrs Salamatu Yahaya, said the empowerment of the second batch of trainees would reduce crime in the barracks and the society at large.
She disclosed that she felt proud of herself and the NAOWA over the empowerment noting that would go a long way in engaging the youths in the barracks thereby taking them off idleness and criminality.
Mrs Yahaya called on other well-meaning Nigerians and organisations to invest in the youth who she said were the leaders of tomorrow saying, “There is nothing like human capital development and what we are doing is human capital development.
Her words “The NAOWA Youth development project was initiated to positively engage youths in the barracks by committing them to positive learning activities in the areas of information and communications technology and entrepreneurial skills that would enhance their career and academic pursuits as well as their productivity in various spheres of life.
“At commencement, this programme was designed for undergraduate youths of public universities who were at home at that period due to the industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Union of Nigerian Universities.
“However, based on the number of youths who showed interest in the programme, it was expanded to accommodate Secondary School Certificate holders who are yet to secure admission into higher institutions of learning.
She said the training programme for the barracks youth was key to the development of the barracks community, with the NAOWA being central to the actualization of that dream.
“What we have just witnessed today is the graduation of our youths in the barracks with 231 of them trained in various skills by NAOWA.
“These are males and females who have graduated from secondary schools. Instead of leaving them idle, we decided to empower them so that they become useful to themselves and society. You know an idle mind is the devil’s workshop”
“We pray that other associations, as well as well-meaning Nigerians will key into the NAOWA vision as well as our program.
“Last time we graduated those who were in universities and tertiary institutions who were at home with ASUU strike, instead of leaving them doing nothing and idle mind is devil workshop. We trained them and many of them did extremely well.
“These are people who are secondary school leavers or secondary school certificate holders …m. Instead of living and doing nothing, also they are empowered.
“When you empower youth, now you have empowered society, they will find something doing, they will be useful to their certain society and now they are not available to be employed by bad elements and they will also develop what they have presented within this period of time.
“So skill and competencies are here in this youth and when they are handed and developed they will improve in our development and that’s what Naowa is doing and that’s why we are here to support them. And now other agencies and other institutions are also called upon to also key into this program.
“So training and development of the youth is key for the development of our various communities and NAOW is central to that and that’s why we have to support them.”