The chief of army staff, Waidi Shaibu, has charged the Nigerian Defence Academy to intensify cadet battle-hardened training with a view to bridging gaps in military operations.

Mr Shaibu gave the charge during a courtesy visit by the commandant of NDA, Oluyemi Olatoye, to the army headquarters in Abuja, according to a statement on Thursday.

The army chief said that cadet training at the NDA must be driven by purposeful leadership, discipline, character, courage and strategic thinking.

He stressed the need to strengthen research centres, particularly the NDA Department of Military Science, as a strategic step to boost the National Defence Industry and enhance indigenous capacity for military innovation and self-reliance.

Mr Shaibu underscored that a robust research framework would provide the intellectual backbone required for a modern, responsive and technologically advanced fighting force.

The army chief further advocated a curriculum overhaul that reflects contemporary security challenges, with an emphasis on night training, physical fitness, artificial intelligence, and other emerging warfare domains.

According to him, these measures would ensure that young officers are fully attuned to the realities of modern battlefields and equipped with the warrior ethos and battle-oriented leadership skills required to drive his command philosophy.

The army chief also pledged full support to the commandant in achieving those objectives.

He reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring that the NDA produces officers who are strategically sound, operationally competent and fully prepared to meet the evolving security demands of the nation.

Mr Olatoye expressed profound gratitude to the leadership of the military for the confidence reposed in him to lead the nation’s premier military training institution.

He described the NDA as the “training factory” for future officers of the Armed Forces.

The commandant assured that he would build on the legacies and structures established by his predecessors.

He solicited sustained support from the army chief to effectively realise the vision and mission of producing competent, disciplined and professional officers capable of safeguarding Nigeria’s security interests.

(NAN)