Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, has said that the Nigerian Military will continue to recruit and develop sportsmen who will go on to win more laurels and medals for the country.
The CDS said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday where he discussed the ongoing 2nd edition of the African Military Games (AMGA), which is being held in Abuja.
Nigeria is currently in the lead of this year’s event, having so far amassed 85 gold, 46 silver and 38, totalling 169 medals to top the medal table.
In response to this, the elated Defence Chief said, “We have won a number of laurels because we have prepared well. We knew this was coming, and we started early enough. We had inter-service competitions where we selected our team and they went into camp, and it was straight from camp that they came. And so, you see the results we’re getting. So yes, we’re doing well, yes, we’re going to continue to do that. We will develop more sportsmen for Nigeria so that they will continue to win more laurels for Nigeria.”
Speaking on the role of the military in Nigeria’s sporting sector, Musa said, “The armed forces over time have always contributed to the sporting world in Nigeria in the past. But I think somehow, probably because of the challenges of security that the armed forces gradually stopped representing Nigeria, but we are in it. As we speak, we have a lot of Nigerian wrestlers that have been taking part in the- even the all Africa games, they’ve won laurels for Nigeria in boxing, combat arms particularly in other events. Remember in the past, we used to have Abbas Mohammed, Abbas Mohammed used to be the marathon runner. We were doing that, and that’s what we want to restore. It’s been 22 years since the first edition, now it’s the second, and we are hopeful that the next country will take it up.
“As it is, we’re going to do specialist recruitment so that we go round the country, pick sportsmen that don’t have opportunity and present platforms for them to present themselves. And you know, with the organisation and the discipline in the military, I’m sure they will do better. If you have probably watched any of the events live, you will see that the standards are extremely very high. And we did not do it alone, we relied on the standards of the sports commission of the federation.”
He further said, “Everything we do is about the morale of our troops. As long as our troops are happy, they will give you the best. Now as we are conducting these sports and winning laurels, those of them in the trenches, those of them in the jungles listen to news and see this, and it heightens their morale and they want to do more because they’ve seen their athletes doing well.”
General Musa then emphasised the non-kinetic role of sports in fostering unity and strengthening peace efforts as he explained, “We have always said that the non-kinetic aspect has a major role to play in the peace efforts in the fight against insurgency and terrorism. The significance of these games is one, to foster unity among Nigerians, among Africans, among all militaries in Africa. We know that we’re facing similar challenges all over the country. The challenges we’re facing in Nigeria is not only peculiar to Nigeria but to all other nations.
“This is also part of the soft power we are projecting to show that Nigeria is still the giant of Africa in all aspects- economy, security, into sports and all other aspects. So, it is very important that we get it right. And we are so happy that over 20 countries are here- including Mali, Burkina Faso, Libya. These are countries that people feel they’ve left ECOWAS and they have nothing to do with Nigeria, but to show that sports transcends all this. And the importance is that we are showcasing Nigeria as a peaceful, well organised country that is ready and always there to host Africa and other nations.”
As the games are set to conclude on Saturday, 30th November, General Musa called on Nigerians to support the military’s sporting initiatives. “I want to call on Nigerians to cooperate, to continue to support the armed forces- not only military but into our sports. Tomorrow is the last day, we are rounding up tomorrow, and it’s going to start sometime around 3 o’clock, 1500 hours. We are calling on all Nigerians to come around, come and partner with us. Come, we are going to share our flag so that we will fly the Nigerian flag and show that unity that we are all known for,” he said.
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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