The Chief of Administration (Army), Maj.-Gen. Okpe Ali, says the understanding of the major indigenous languages by the troops of the Nigerian Army will enhance their operations.
Ali said this during the inauguration of the Indigenous Languages Course 12/2023 organised by the Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC) on Thursday in Abuja.
He said the conduct of the previous 11 courses recorded tremendous success and informed the need to continue with the programme.
He said the 12th batch was being conducted for officers and soldiers of 2 Division, 81 Division and Army Headquarters’ departments and units within Abuja.
According to him, the aim of conducting the ILC is to ensure that army personnel are proficient in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
“As you are all aware, Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and multilingual society with the largest number of indigenous languages in the West African Sub-Region as well as the most populous nation on the African continent.
“Thus, our ethnic heterogeneity coupled with large population are drivers of conflicts posing serious challenges in the management of internal security as seen in the high and volatile level of ethno-religious conflicts and increase in the number of violent non-state actors and groups across the country.
“The threats posed by these groups and in fuelling conflicts have necessitated the deployment of troops in almost all the 36 states of the federation for internal security operations in aid of civil authorities.
“Thus, the importance and need for army personnel to understand the local languages, particularly in the areas where they operate will build trust and confidence in troops by the locals,” he said.
He added that the 2016 Order of Battle and its subsequent implementation had led to the establishment of new formations and units across the country where most of the residents spoke only their indigenous languages.
“This situation requires that all Nigerian army officers and soldiers have the basic knowledge of the three major languages that are widely spoken within the Nigerian operational environment.
“This will among others promote esprit-de-corps among personnel; afford troops the ability to effectively communicate with the locals and most importantly assist in gathering intelligence which is necessary in the execution of assigned tasks,” he said.
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