Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai, said on Monday that the Nigerian Army had evolved over the years and was no longer for school dropouts and never-do-wells.

Buratai spoke in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, during the sensitisation and enlightenment campaign for candidates who want to enlist into the Nigerian Army.

The Chief of Army Staff, who was represented by the Director, Army Recruitment, Resettlement and Reserves, Brig-Gen Emmanuel Akpan, was received by the Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Mr Seun Fakorede, on behalf of Governor Seyi Makinde.

In his address at an interactive session with some youths in the state, Buratai said:

“I envision an army where every soldier will be able to think and fight, fight and think, have the capacity and the cognitive ability to think critically, be very creative, take rational decisions, with or without any supervision and without any problem whatsoever.”

He said the Directorate of Recruitment, Resettlement and Reserves of the Nigerian Army had conducted a similar exercise in Enugu, Abia, Imo, Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Lagos states as a part of a nationwide sensitisation and enlightenment campaign tour of the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

Buratai said:

“The Nigerian Army has evolved tremendously over the years. It is no longer an organisation that is considered for dropouts, never-do-well in life and dumbheads, especially under the watch of the current Chief of Army Staff.

“You are expected to have four credits at two sittings, including English Language and Mathematics. The age limit for non-tradesmen is 18 to 22 years, and for tradesmen, it is 22 to 26 years. Every citizen of this country is given the opportunity to enrol into the Nigerian Army under the watch of Chief of Army Staff.

“Five per cent of every recruitment conducted in the state is given to the female gender. The training is not the same. We appreciate all of that and we give them different criteria, which they must pass through if they are coming for recruitment into the Nigerian Army.”

Buratai said the tour was aimed at preparing the minds of candidates on what to expect during training, stressing that

“The Special Forces Concept is a highly demanding training that requires men and women, who must not only be physically and medically fit but mentally very robust, to be able to undertake such training.

“We are also here to solicit greater government support in the area of dissemination of information and solicit support for state recruitment office so that the office will be able to serve the state better.”

Meanwhile, the Oyo State Government has urged the Army to provide a level playing field devoid of ethnic and religious sentiment in the exercise in ensuring that qualified youths in the state were enlisted into the Special Force Unit.

The state Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Seun Fakorede, who represented Governor Seyi Makinde on the occasion, expressed the government’s readiness to support the Nigerian Army for the success of the exercise.