The Nigerian Air Force on Friday, August 17, 2024, told Army Cadets of 71 Regular Course and Direct Short Service Course 28 that their loyalty to Nigeria must remain unquestionable.
This was made known to the cadets at their final outdoor training exercise in Kachia, Kaduna State by the Air Officer Commanding (AOC), Air Training Command (ATC), AVM Nanandi Ananaba.
At the exercise, themed: “Battle Inoculation of Exercise Camp Highland’, held at the Nigerian Army Table Hill, Mr Ananaba said compromised loyalty is unacceptable.
The event was organised by the leadership of the Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna.
His words, “There is no compromise on this. You should fall in line with the leadership concept of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa.
”Which is to nurture a professional Armed Forces of Nigeria that is people-centric, collaborative and capable of meeting constitutional responsibilities in a joint environment.
“Battle Inoculation Exercise is an exercise which once you have gone through it, you become immune to the sound of gunfire and immune to the sound of explosions and bullets flying over your head,” Ananaba said.
The AVM commended the NDA for maintaining this age-long tradition in its training system.
He told the cadets that they were in the final lap of their journey towards the grant of a ‘Presidential Commission’.
Ananaba said, ”You must know that commissioning, you automatically become leaders of men and women in the Nigerian Armed Forces, where much is expected of you.
“Our nation is still faced with numerous security threats ranging from terrorism, kidnapping, banditry to economic saboteurs, amongst others, which the Armed Forces and other security agencies are constitutionally mandated to combat.”
According to him, the NDA has provided the cadets with all the basic skills, character development and academic prowess that would enable them to fit into the system.
Also speaking, the Commandant of NDA, Major General John Ochai, said the cadets after commissioning, would add value to the armed forces of Nigeria.
Ochai said, ”Our adversaries need to hear this clearly. These cadets are some of the best-trained officers that we are going to commission.
”They are airborne qualified, they did amphibious training and some elements of special forces, they were also introduced into cyber warfare,” he said.
