Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya (rtd), has called for a comprehensive and uncompromising reform in recruitment, training, and performance evaluation to strengthen the Nigerian Army’s professionalism and combat effectiveness.
He made this call while delivering a lecture at the Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL) 2025, held at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Kaduna on Saturday.
He emphasized that courage, vigilance, and uncompromising standards must guide every stage of a soldier’s career—from recruitment and training to operational deployment.
“Recruitment and selection into the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) and Depot Nigerian Army must be thorough and uncompromising. There is no room for weakness or mediocrity. We must be courageous and firm in weeding out bad eggs at every stage,”; Yahaya stated.
He said the evolving modern threats and impacts on current training must include a change in training paradigms to reflect, not only conventional warfare, but also terrorism, asymmetric warfare, ideological extremism, and cyber threats.
He suggested a modification of military training. programs to include important strategic courses on emotional intelligence, military psychology, counter-terrorism tactics, and social media awareness.
“Effective training will help solidify the soldier-first concept in the minds of instructors and students. We must reflect modern threats in our training, not just conventional warfare,”; he said.
The retired Army chief also stressed the importance of enhancing simulation-based and hands-on training to match real-time battlefield conditions. He urged military institutions across the country to modernize their facilities to meet 21st-century demands.
Yahaya proposed increased collaboration with international military institutions in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, and Pakistan. He said such partnerships would help fast-track knowledge transfer and improve the technical competence of Nigerian personnel.
“We must scale up our engagements with allied nations on training programs. Our non-commissioned officers should have wider access to Junior Command, Regimentation, and Train-the-Trainer courses abroad to meet international standards,”; he added.
He stressed the need for capacity building for senior non-commissioned officers (SNCO) as a key target in modern military operations, primarily when operating below the level of battalion in a decentralized context, such as the North East and Lake Chad Basin.
“Modern security challenges can no longer be addressed solely through massed formations.
The Army must build a force capable of executing small-unit warfighting with speed, precision and initiative using a decentralized command structure grounded in the principle of mission command,”; Yahaya said.
He reiterated that providing tactical leadership skills to SNCOs will close the gap of officers especially in remote and high-risk theatres of operation.
Yahaya concluded by saying that any reform effort must be soldier-centric which ensures that soldier’s welfare; professionalism and operational capability are the focus.
“The future of our Army depends on the soldier—how well we train, equip, and support him. Let us define our vision clearly and pursue it with consistency and discipline,”; he said.
The guest lecture was part of a series of professional engagements, paving the way for NADCEL 2025, which saw a celebration of the 162nd year of the establishment of the Nigerian Army.
