The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.- Gen. Faruk Yahaya, says the Nigerian Army will set the stage for the conduct of a peaceful general elections in 2023.
Yahaya gave the assurance while speaking with newsmen at the graduation of the Second Batch Trainees of the Nigerian Army Officers Wives Association (NAOWA) Youth Development Project for barracks youths on Thursday in Abuja.
He said the nation’s security situation had continued to improve, adding that the military and other security agencies were not relenting in their efforts to sustain the feat.
“ The matching order by Mr president to improve the security situation so that he can hand over a secured nation is what we are carrying out in collaboration with the Nigerian Air force, Navy and other security agencies.
“Now, all hands are on deck, couple with equipment and other support provided by Mr president and commitment by the Nigerian Army under my command and other services and the cooperation of the Nigerian people who are providing information which is key in our operations.
“God’s willing, we shall continue to improve the situation and set the stage for the conduct of 2023 elections,” he said.
Yahaya said the training of the barracks youth was key to the development of barracks community, saying the NAOWA was central to the actualisation of that dream.
“What we have just witnessed today is the graduation of our youths in the barracks. 231 of them were trained on 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 the society. You know an idle mind is the devil’s workshop,” he said.
Also speaking, the president of NAOWA, Mrs Salamatu Yahaya, said the empowerment would reduce crime in the barracks and the society at large.
She said that she felt proud and pleased with herself and the NAOWA, saying the empowerment would go a long way in reducing crime in the barracks and the society in general.
According to her, by engaging them you are taking crime off barracks.
NAOWA president urged other well meaning Nigerians and organisations to invest in the youth who she said were the leaders of tomorrow.
“There is nothing like human capital development and what we are doing is human capital development.
“We encourage other well meaning Nigerians and organisations to key into NAOWA’s mission,” she said.