Chiemelie Ezeobi
The Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Hon. Babajimi Benson, has commended the service chiefs for their resolve to work under the defence headquarters, especially in joint operations.
The service chiefs had agreed to carry out joint operations under the umbrella of the defence headquarters, thus restoring established command structure in the military.
With this structure, all ongoing joint operations and joint task forces are to be directly subordinated to the DHQ while their commanders’ report directly to the Chief of Defence State (CDS).
In a statement issued yesterday, the committee chairman said: “The news report that the Service Chiefs have agreed to work more jointly under the leadership of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor is a welcome development.
“As a nation, Nigeria’s lack of joined up and strategic cohesion amongst its many security outfits has been a major weakness in our security landscape.
“It is therefore gratifying to see a new resolve by the military services to work jointly together as the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
“This deep cooperation will strengthen command and control as well as effective leadership oversight of operations in the field.
“The House of Representatives’ Committee of Defence will continue to provide all the requisite legislative support needed by our gallant soldiers and their commanders to ensure successful operations and this unity of command posture is a step in the right direction.
“I commend the new service chiefs for their commitment to the nation’s security and I appreciate their determination to embrace global best practices to further strengthen our security architecture.
