The Nigerian Army has disclosed that it will begin a mass employment exercise in May in order to shore up its troops base in the face of internal crises within the nation.
President Goodluck Jonathan is said to have ordered the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Kenneth Minimah to carry out the exercise since March, however the army deemed it prudent to first expand training facilities before the intake of new recruits.
An army source said, “We have in the pipeline, the plan to recruit. We are holding it because we want to upgrade our facilities.
“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)”
Another source told Punch news, “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.”
The army also disclosed that the recruitment drive would now be bi-annual.