President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Abuja said the military will be
\nre-professionalized and re-equipped to meet the growing exigencies of
\nsecurity in the country, assuring Nigerians that the promise of ending
\nterrorism would be realised.<\/p>\n
“We promise to re-professionalise and re-equip the Armed Forces and
\nsecurity agencies to effectively discharge their duties to our nation,”
\nthe President said at the commissioning of\u00a0 two Nigeria Air Force Agusta
\n109 Power Helicopters and\u00a0 Mi-17 E Helicopters at the Eagle Square.
\nPresident Buhari said: “professionalism, capacity building and
\nadequately equipping the Armed Forces and other security agencies are a
\nmajor policy thrust of the Administration.”<\/p>\n
The President urged the Nigeria Air force to ensure discipline in their
\noperations, and a strong maintenance culture that will enable the nation
\nderive maximum benefits from the newly acquired helicopters.<\/p>\n
“I have no doubt that the deployment of these Agusta 109P gunships and
\nthe M-17IE helicopter would add impetus to the combat efficiency of the
\nAir Force in combating our contemporary security challenges,” he added.<\/p>\n
President Buhari noted that two earlier commissioned Agusta 109 Power
\nhelicopter gunships, which were procured from Italy over a year ago, had
\nmade impact on the war against terrorism.<\/p>\n
President Buhari commended the support of the Governments of Italy and
\nthe Russian Federation, and efforts of the Italian and Russian
\nAmbassador to Nigeria, at sustaining the strategic partnership which
\nfacilitated this acquisition.<\/p>\n
“I want to, once again, salute the resolve of our Armed Forces and the
\ninvaluable contributions of all security agencies for their efforts
\ntowards the decimation of Boko Haram.<\/p>\n
“Your contributions in internal security, peace keeping and humanitarian
\noperations in places like The Gambia, Guinea Conakry, Mozambique,
\nLiberia, Sierra Leone, Mali, Guinea Bissau and Cameroon have not only
\nbeen a source of pride to us as a nation, but has also projected us as a
\nreliable regional power.,” he said.<\/p>\n
According to him, “I promised to put an end to Boko Haram insurgency,
\nkidnapping and other forms of criminalities that have bedeviled our
\ncountry during my inaugural speech as President.<\/p>\n
“You will all agree with me that the successes we have achieved so far
\nhave restored our pride and honour the world over. Consequently, I want
\nto sincerely thank Nigerians for believing in our government inspite
\noccasional outrages, coming together as a nation, irrespective of
\npolitical, religious and ethnic affiliations, in our strive to bring
\nthis menace to an end.”
\nPresident Buhari appreciated Nigerians for their support of the military
\nand other security agencies against terrorism, banditry and kidnapping,
\nadding that the security challenges would be collectively won.<\/p>\n
In his remarks, the Minister of Defence, Bashir Salihi Magashi, said the
\npurchase of the helicopters further demonstrate the administration’s
\ncommitment to bringing the security challenges in the country under
\ncontrol.<\/p>\n
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, said the visionary
\napproval to purchase more aircraft for the Air force since 2015 had
\nimpacted positively on the fight against terrorism and other crimes.<\/p>\n
“Your Excellency’s government has so far procured and inducted 22
\naircraft. And the service is expecting 17 additional platforms including
\n12 x Super Tulcanos from the United States.” He said.<\/p>\n
President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Abuja said the military will be re-professionalized and re-equipped to meet the growing exigencies of security in the country, assuring Nigerians that the promise of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":71640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n