The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar has said physical exercise through sporting activities is a necessary training feature for military personnel in the fight against terrorism and other security challenges in Nigeria.
The Air Force Chief made this known during the closing ceremony of the Army Headquarters and Guards Brigade Garrison Sports Competition at the Aguiyi Ironsi cantonment, Abuja. The championship was organized to select athletes that will represent the Army Headquarters, during the Nigerian Army Sports Festival holding in October 2016 in Abuja.
Abubakar, who was the Special Guest of Honour said sports oil the machinery of the armed forces all over the world as it promotes physical fitness, engenders team spirit and the espirit de corps among troops and improves productivity.
He said: “Sports enables the military man to build endurance, withstand stress and it engenders good health and total well being. It remains one of the essential ingredients of building combat ready personnel. The philosophy of building friendship through sports is even more relevant to the armed forces giving its key role in the promotion of the espirit de corps.
“This clearly explains why sports championships are a recurring feature for training activities for all the services. I am particularly happy to be part of today’s occasion which attests to the Nigerian army professional thrust to cope with the existing security challenges in our country.”
The Air Marshall said the importance of sporting activities among service men cannot be downplayed giving the security challenges facing the country.” I want to commend the Chief Of Army Staff (COAS) for organizing this competition, which is a prelude to a bigger sporting event in October, the kind of challenges we face today requires personnel that have a sound mind in a sound body, so what we are having here is a demonstration of how healthy and able our personnel are to deal with some of the challenges we are facing in Nigeria,” he said.
On his part, the COAS, Lt. Gen. Tukur Burutai, praised the cooperation between the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Air Force promises that such cooperation will help not only in improving Nigerian security but also help defeat terrorism.
“This is a cooperation that has been going on for a long time between the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Air Force. One of the principles of war is cooperation, so while we cooperate in the field, we also come down to the sport environment to further get our troops physically fit to continue to fight and address any challenge we have in the theater or any other area in the country.
“So it is a cooperation we cherish and I appreciate the Chief Of Air Staff for coming here personally. We look forward to more of such cooperation not only in the informal way in sports arena, but we will continue to do that as we have been doing in the various theatres of operation,” Burutai said.
The Army chief also promised that sports competitions will not only serve to improve soldier’s fitness, but also as a channel to provide athletes that will represent Nigeria in continental and global competitions.
“Army sports are back, we recently won the boxing championship that was held in Cameroon, our troops were also in one of the eastern countries to participate in boxing and you know recently ,the Nigerian army football team, the Green Berets got the promoted to Division one in one of the leagues.
“So this is a beginning, a restart of what we used to do before. It is unfortunate that over the years, some of these basic activities were relegated, but today the army is back as a force, we are good in all spheres, since we have started, I want to assure you that by next year we will get more laurels and we will be participating in the National Sports Festival coming up later in the year.”
However, the Guards Brigade Garrison defeated the Army Headquarters Garrison winning 42 gold, 50 silver and 25 bronze medals while the Army Headquarters on 39 gold, 30 silver and 30 bronze medals. The three-day event witnessed competitions in Boxing, Judo, wrestling, taekwondo, swimming, volleyball, football, handball, tug of war, badminton, scrabble, chess, squash and table tennis. It also witnessed track and field events including combat relay.