The Federal Government has given the armed forces and other
security agencies the nod to embark on mass recruitment.
It was gathered in Abuja on Sunday that the
directive was to give fillip to the war against terrorism in the country.
It was also learnt that those who attended the expanded National
Security Council meeting in Abuja on Thursday emphasised the need for the
recruitment.
A highly placed military source said that
President Goodluck Jonathan issued the directive for more
recruitment into the army in March after the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen
Kenneth Minimah, had briefed him about the operations of the army.
The source, who did not want to be named because he was not
authorised to speak on the matter, said the army did
not begin the recruitment immediately because of the need to
expand training facilities in parts of the country.
It was learnt that the army would commence the recruitment
in May 2014.
“We have in the pipeline, the plan to recruit. We are
holding it because we want to upgrade our facilities said a source.
“The presidential directive to us to recruit was
given in March when the COAS briefed the President. But the
excercise would start next month (May)”
The source added that because of Boko Haram and other
security challenges, the recruitment would now
hold twice a year unlike in the past when it was done once.
Another source said, “It is true that recruitment has to be beefed up.
The Federal Government has granted that request but recruitment is not just the
number.
“You must note that you cannot produce a soldier in three days
or weeks; this is a serious business involving the requisite
facilities for training.
“If you want to raise your recruitment for instance, from 1,000 recruits
to 2, 000 per annum, you must increase the facilities for their training.
“And I can tell you that it takes time for you to increase such
facilities. You see, the issue is that the country has neglected the Army for
so long; several public commentators have questioned why public funds should be
spent to maintain a large army when there is no war.
“But is it wise for you to start screaming where are the soldiers
when you did not make arrangement for training just because there is a threat
now?
“For you to increase the number of those being recruited, you have
to increase the structures for recruitment because as you are recruiting, you
are training.
According to him, the structures on the ground can only
accommodate a particular number of recruits.
He said that the best the army did last year was to increase the
timing for recruitment.
“It used to be annual but it is now going to be twice
a year,” the source added.
He said that the recruitment issue was being taken
more seriously because the about 150,000 men and officers of
the army had come under stress due to the involvement of some of
them in internal security operations.
The source explained that the army had assumed some
traditional responsibilities of the Nigerian Police Force,
especially in the North –East where many police
facilities had been destroyed by insurgents.
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