The Guards Brigade’s season of competitions

In adherence to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai’s vision of having a professionally-responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional role, the elite Guards Brigade has embarked on a series of gruelling inter-unit competitions and training exercises for its troops. The Brigade is made up of five Battalions: the […]

In adherence to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai’s vision of having a professionally-responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional role, the elite Guards Brigade has embarked on a series of gruelling inter-unit competitions and training exercises for its troops.
The Brigade is made up of five Battalions: the 176 Special Forces Guards Brigade Battalion Gwagwalada; 177 Guards Brigade Battalion Keffi, 7 Guards Battalion Maitama, Guards Brigade Garrison Asokoro and 102 Guards Brigade Battalion Suleja. They are primarily responsible for protecting Abuja.
The Commander Guards Brigade, Brigadier General Musa Yusuf, introduced the selection of personnel to participate in the competitions, by randomly selecting names from the nominal roll of personnel from the battalions of the brigade.
In an interview in Abuja, General Yusuf told Daily Trust that the random selection of soldiers to represent their battalion in the competitions ensures an even playing field and avoids a situation where some pre-selected soldiers prepare regularly for a particular competition. He explained that all soldiers should master their craft and could be called upon at any time to show dexterity in their skills-at-arms, drill and marksmanship, noting that it should not be left for a select few.
The third quarter inter-unit competitions, spanning a period of five weeks, began with a variety of competitions, notably the obstacle-crossing competition, one of the most gruelling of them all.
This starts with a 15-kilometre run, after which there are long jumps, high fence-scaling, barb-wire crossing, tunnel-crossing and other obstacles, with the climax being the vertical and horizontal rope-crossing, which the troops must overcome before reaching the finish line.
The battalions compete in separate groups and are judged based on the speed at which participants from a battalion reach the finish point. The winner is also decided from the aggregate accuracy and speed of the battalion in crossing the obstacle. Team work is also a major factor, as well as the number of errors committed at different levels of the obstacle course.
The 176 Guards Battalion emerged winner of the obstacle-crossing competition held on August 9, at Lungi Barracks.
The 117 Guards Brigade Battalion won the skill-at-arms competition held on August 11, and also won the short-talk competition held on August 16, while the 176 Guards Battalion won the cross-country one held on August 19.
Recently, at the Officers Training Day Seminar, also part of the third quarter training activities for the Brigade, the Special Guest of Honour, Major General Adamu Abubakar, Chief of Administration, Nigerian Army, said in the face of contemporary security challenges, training and re-training of Nigerian Army personnel is required to develop counter-strategy to deal with the threat.
He said the asymmetric dimension of current security challenges has made it necessary to constantly re-train officers, particularly the junior and middle cadres. “You must at this crucial time unveil yourself and show commitment to the on-going training opportunities observed in your Brigade. The opportunity no doubt will enhance your proficiency and make you more responsive in the professional discharge of your duties.”
“I am therefore delighted that Guards Brigade is making efforts to re-train its personnel to meet up with the demands of security. There is no other time for this training than now as we confront various security challenges across the country.”
Also, in his remarks as Guest of Honour during the Brigade Obstacle Crossing Competition, Major General Hassan Umaru, Chief of Training and Operations (CTOPs) Nigerian Army, said training is an important aspect of every army and is the bedrock of every successful military campaign. He added that the Guards Brigade has been in the vanguard of high standards of training, and that the Obstacle Crossing Exercise is intended to enhance troop’s physical fitness, combat survival as well as confidence and team spirit.
The Special Guest of Honour during the Guards Brigade inter-unit skill-at-arms competition, Major General Abba Dikko, the Director Defence Affairs, Office of the National Security Adviser, said the training exercise intends to enhance the weapons-handling skills of participating units. He said it would further expose troops on the mechanism of small arms as well as mastery of their personal weapons. “I am aware that it has not been easy for many formations in the Nigerian Army to achieve the desired qualitative training and organize capacity building programmes of this nature as outlined in their training schedules. We must understand that the reward for constant training is success in operations and military activities,” Major General Dikko said.