Show through example – Army Chief to Mid-Level Commanders

Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, the Nigerian Army’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS), has tasked mid-level commanders to set an example for their subordinates in the continuing endeavour to address the nation’s security issues.

Tuesday, Lagbaja addressed the Senior Course 46 students at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna, in a presentation titled, “Crafting My Command Philosophy As Chief of Army Staff, Nigerian Army Within Nigeria’s Contemporary And Emerging Security Environment.”

Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, director of army public relations, said this in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the COAS, modelling the attitude a leader wants to see in his team members is still the most effective method of leadership.

He asserts that when you lead by example, you actively display excellence rather than just encouraging it in your team members.

“My instruction My philosophy is a promise to never ask any of my commanders, Principal Staff Officers, or anybody else to do something that I am myself unable or unwilling to undertake.

“I equally do not expect my commanders to ask their subordinates to do anything that they are not willing or able to do,” he stated.

Lagbaja continued by saying that he expected commanders at all levels to set a good example and promote this culture throughout the Nigerian army. He also said that good leadership will have a positive effect on operational effectiveness in the ongoing operations.

He promised to stop at nothing to keep the Nigerian army under his command operationally effective in all its operations.

The Commandant of the College, AVM Hassan Alhaji, expressed gratitude to the COAS for practically taking the lead by giving the lecture in person and sharing his opinions to direct the officers on the way he is leading the army.

Alhaji asked the officers to adopt the COAS’s leadership philosophies in order to hone their command skills and successfully complete their assigned assignments.

The COAS praised the troops for effectively driving out insurgents from the Rigasa-Afaka axis of the state while paying a visit to the 198 Special Forces Battalion at Afaka in Kaduna state’s Igabi Local Government Area.

He exhorted them to maintain the pace of the existing operations in order to entirely remove the militants from their hiding places.

He promised the troops that under his direction, their welfare would take precedence.