Commandant Tasks Military On Evolving Security Challenges

The commandant, Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Maj.-Gen. John Ochai, says adaptive leadership and critical thinking are imperative in overcoming the evolving and dynamic security situation in the country.

Ochai stated this at the graduation of participants of the Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC) Leadership Skills Development Course 7/2023 in Abuja yesterday.

“Adaptive leadership is critical to military operation considering the fact that the world is evolving.

“Military operations are very dynamic and so we need leaders who can think on their own standing and who can equally be very flexible to changing environment within the operational area.

“If they are not able to think critically, they won’t be able to adapt and they won’t be able to achieve the objectives of the strategic level thinking,” he said.

Ochai said it was in realisation of this that the NDA sent 14 commanding officers, chief instructors, academy adjutants and other key officers for the course.

According to him, a few of them may be posted out of the academy, but a good number of them will remain to impart the knowledge to cadets, as part of changes to the training content of the institution.

“Those changes are necessary to adapt to the current realities of the society and the world to produce leaders that can hold their head high anywhere they find themselves.

“We want to produce leaders that are adaptive to our society, that will move the country forward and for the benefit of the entire human race; that is why we are beginning with this set of officers.”

Ochai commended the centre for introducing the programme and urged the participants to implement everything they learnt to make their organisations, the society and entire nation better.

The director general of NARC, retired Maj.-Gen. Garba Wahab, said critical thinking was important to virtually all segments of human life, including the home.

He said it was imperative to adopt critical thinking in planning and execution of operations, taking into cognizance the available information, environment and how to achieve set objectives.

According to him, it is about the ability to look at all issues involved in taking decisions, because the essence is not just about decision making, but taking sound decision.

“Artificial intelligence is even more important if the resources are available, even though resources can never be enough anywhere.

“We have in the military what is called the estimate process. When you want to plan for anything, you do your estimate, and look at the various factors, that is part of the critical thinking aspect,” he added.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the participants were drawn from the military, paramilitary and strategic ministries, departments and agencies in the country. (NAN)