Television Nigerian

The Nigerian Army’s inaugural Inter-Division Combat Platoon Orienteering and Adventure tournament was held in Ibadan, Oyo State, and was hosted by Headquarters 2 Division Nigerian Army.

The competition, which featured the Army Headquarters Garrison, Abuja; 1 Division, Kaduna; 2 Division, Ibadan; 3 Division, Jos; 6 Division, Portharcourt; 81 Division, Lagos; and 82 Division, Enugu, was conducted at the Old Oyo National Park, Igbeti, Oyo State, from Friday, November 26, 2021.

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The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Farouk Yahaya, who was represented by the Corps Commander of Inter Formations Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Dickson Ehirobo, said the program was aimed at giving participants challenges similar to what the troops were currently facing in various operational areas across the country in his remarks at the opening ceremony of the five-day event on Saturday.

“We must thus use this championship to train all personnel to increase their fitness, perseverance, and mental resolve in order to tackle the primary challenges while also anticipating the emerging ones,” Yahaya said. Let me repeat that the focus of this competition is on training and the value it provides.”

He charged the various formations to motivate their officers and soldiers to give a good performance by instilling a positive competitive spirit in them and adhering to the championship’s rules of conduct, emphasizing that achieving the exercise’s training objectives was far more important than winning trophies.

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“I look forward to a fierce rivalry among participants in this championship,” the COAS said, “in order to ensure the achievement of the twin objectives of sports participation and improved combat efficiency.” As we prepare to project for the training year 2022, this will go a long way toward ensuring that we focus our examination of training achievement in the training year 2021.”

In his welcome address, Maj. Gen. Gold Chibuisi, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2 Division Nigerian Army, said the importance of the competition could not be overstated, given the critical roles of junior leadership in the fight against insurgency and other myriad security challenges confronting the country.

Chibuisi said the exercise, which aimed to improve troops’ operational readiness in a competitive environment, would help the army reposition itself for professional defeat of all adversaries and contribute to the COAS’ vision of a “professional Nigerian Army ready to accomplish assigned missions within a joint environment in defense of Nigeria.”

“The competition’s scope, no doubt, will boost esprit de corps in many capacities such as physical fitness, map reading, navigation, field administration, and minor tactics, among others,” he said. I thus implore all officials, judges, and umpires to ensure that all competing formations participate on a level playing field in conformity with the established standards, rules, and regulations.”

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Chibuisi thanked the COAS for allowing the 2 Division Nigerian Army to organize the inaugural edition of the competition and for providing the necessary logistical and other resources.

The 10 kilometer Road Run with 12.5kg Dead Load, which was completed by the participants and witnessed by a representative of the COAS, was one of the highlights of the event’s opening ceremony.

Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has stated that ongoing dialogue between the regulator and its various licensees is critical to finding long-term solutions to issues affecting licensee compliance with existing regulations and posing a challenge to the telecoms industry’s growth.

Danbatta mentioned this during the NCC’s 2021 Talk to The Regulator (TTTR) session, which was held over the weekend at the Four Points by Sheraton in Lagos.

The discussion’s theme is “Improving Stakeholder Satisfaction.”

The program’s Lagos iteration came after a successful holding of a similar dialogue in Kano on October 16, 2021.

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The goal of the event is to gather direct input from licensees on how the Commission is achieving their expectations as a regulator.

The initiative was also created to identify areas for regulatory reform, highlight areas where licensees are defaulting, and address major industry obstacles that are impeding the full realization of the established goals for consolidating telecoms sector benefits.

According to Danbatta, who was represented at the forum by NCC Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Adeleke Adewolu, the forum is organized in accordance with the Commission’s commitment to continuously ensure regulator-licensee interactions in order to develop collaborative solutions and implementation programs to the telecom ecosystem’s challenges.

“The Nigerian Communications Act (NCA, 2003) gives the NCC with the authority and responsibility to regulate both technical and market-related aspects of Nigeria’s telecoms infrastructure and services. Because NCC views consultation to be the lifeblood of regulation, we see our position as regulator as critical to ensuring industry sustainability,” the EVC stated.

“We have constantly utilized stakeholder engagement mechanisms like public inquiries, private investigations, written information requests, one-on-one dialogues like the ones we’re conducting now, and varied consumer engagement platforms,” the EVC added.

“We can use these techniques to ensure that our interventions are well-founded and that our judgments are based on a thorough grasp of the perspectives of stakeholders.”

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Regulatory Excellence, Promotion of Universal Broadband Access, Development of the Digital Economy, Facilitation of Market Development, and Strategic Partnering are among the five pillars of the Commission’s Strategic Management Plan (2020-2024), according to Danbatta.

“Through regular interactions with our licensees, the Commission is able to gain valuable insights to improve our regulatory output, enabling us to drive excellence in accordance with the five pillars of our strategic vision for the industry as outlined in the Commission’s Strategic Vision Plan (SVP), 2021-2025,” he said.

The EVC also reaffirmed the Commission’s belief that Nigeria will only be able to achieve the national objectives and targets set out in the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020-2030, the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025, and other national policy instruments aimed at developing the country’s digital economy ecosystem if licensees perform optionally.

“As a result, we intend to use this forum to seek support for many initiatives that the commission has carefully developed in our quest to enhance market opportunities for all our licensees,” Danbatta said, emphasizing NCC’s belief in collaboration with stakeholders and its licensees to address any concerns that may obstruct the achievement of the relevant policy objectives.

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The NCC CEO further stated that the Commission will continue to implement forward-thinking and all-encompassing regulatory actions to ensure that all of its licensees have access to the market. Danbatta also stated that the NCC is committed to reviewing the licensing framework as well as key regulatory instruments on a regular basis in order to keep the Commission’s regulatory frameworks up to date and ensure better service delivery for consumers as well as efficient achievement of other national interest goals.

However, according to Danbatta, some licensees are not doing as much as they should. “Several licensees are having difficulty paying their employees, many are unable to meet basic license obligations, and several are defaulting on their Annual Operating Levies (AOL), while interconnect and other inter-licensee debt remains unacceptably large.”

As a result, we must guarantee that regulatory measures are in place to resolve issues, bottlenecks, and grievances that may occur among licensees,” he said.

The Director, Licensing and Authorisation at NCC, Mohammed Babajika, also spoke at the event, saying that the purpose of the forum was to foster a harmonious relationship with licensees, identify their challenges, and provide feedback on licensees’ compliance with their license obligations, as well as to re-emphasize the role of licensees in ensuring good quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) for consumers.

Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and its resulting challenges, Babajika said the Commission was taking steps to further liberalize the telecoms industry by finalizing the framework for Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) and reviewing existing licensing regulations, while informing licensees of some regulatory initiatives focused on licensing issues.

The Director also informed the licensees that the Commission was nearing completion on an Information Memorandum (IM) for the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) technology, which will promote emerging technology trends such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Over-The-Top (OTT) Services and Big Data Analytics, as well as Blockchain.

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At the event, the Commission’s management team presented presentations to licensees and others, who actively participated by listening, providing observations and comments, and asking explanations in order to improve the quality of the conversation and the intended outcomes.

Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), has ordered Nigerian Army forces to maintain aggressive offensives against terrorists and bandits who are causing insecurity in the country until they are decimated to the point of surrendering.

The COAS delivered the charge while on an operational visit to Yola’s 23 Brigade, where he was briefed by the Brigade’s Commander, Brig Gen Aminu Garba, on the security situation and the Brigade’s activities.

In a speech to the Brigade’s men, Gen Yahaya promised them that the problems raised by their commander would be given the attention they needed to allow them to accomplish their tasks to the best of their abilities.

According to Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, Director Army Public Relations, the COAS highlighted the need of the troops continuing to train and bringing their battle expertise to bear in effectively fighting the opponents.

The COAS commissioned two blocks of military housing during his tour, as part of his commitment to improve personnel welfare and boost unit morale. He asked them to keep the facilities in good working order and to put them to good use.

Visit with Courtesy

Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, the Chief of Army Staff, had earlier paid a courtesy visit to the Executive Governor of Adamawa State, Rt Hon Umaru Fintiri, at the Government House in Yola.

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The COAS thanked the Adamawa state government for providing financial assistance to the families of the fallen soldiers.

The Army Chief also praised the people of Adamawa State for their support of Nigerian Army forces, especially Governor Umaru Fintiri, who personally attended the funeral of Late Brig-Gen Zurkushu and seven other heroes.

Governor Fintiri responded by praising the troops’ efforts and the selfless sacrifices of the heroic officers and men of the Nigerian Army in sustaining peace and security in Adamawa State and the country at large, while asking the military to conduct their operations with professionalism.

The COAS also paid a courtesy call on the Lamido Adamawa Alhaji Barkindo Aliyu Mustapha at his palace, stating that he was there to pay his respects and express gratitude for the monarch’s unwavering support for the Nigerian Army.

General Yahaya also expressed gratitude for the traditional leader’s peace-building efforts in his domain, asking the monarch to continue preaching and promoting peaceful coexistence among people of various ethnic backgrounds.

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The COAS enlisted the help of traditional leaders to continue to encourage people to provide credible information to security authorities in order to improve ongoing operations.

In response, the Lamido prayed for the NA and other security agencies’ operational engagements to be successful in stemming the tide of insecurity and restoring peace in the country. He urged all stakeholders and members of the public to join the NA and other security agencies in their activities rather than remain silent.