When soldiers shed uniforms for games, culture

In January 2017, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai directed all corps and divisions in the Nigerian Army to make sure that the calendar events for the 2016 activities are completely brought to an end before the end of this month, by organising the annual West African Social Activities, popularly known as (WASA).

In order to meet this deadline all divisions and corps in the Nigerian Army fixed one Saturday or the other to have their own turn the Nigerian Army Finance Corps had to exhibit its own cultural display last weekend.

(WASA) is an age long Nigerian Army tradition which dated back to the colonial era of the Royal West African Frontier Forces (RWAFF). This activity is customarily observed to mark the end of each training year and usher in the new year.

The Nigerian Army has sustained the spirit of WASA over the years as a way of getting officers and soldiers away from their routine regimented life to a moment of leisure where they could relax and unwind in the spirit of togetherness and camaraderie.

As usual, the year 2016 Nigerian Army Finance Corps (NAFC) WASA, which was held with funfair at the main complex of NAFC headquarters, Arakan Barracks in Apapa, Lagos had many important personalities across the country with senior, retired and founding members of the corps in attendance.

This event also afforded many officers the opportunities of reunion after  having not met some senior retired officers for over 15 years.

The year 2016 training has been quite eventful because all the training activities programmed for the year were successfully conducted as scheduled.

Delivering his speech at the colourful event, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Buratai, described the annual event as a forum for informal social interaction and an avenue for the barracks community to showcase the various rich and diversified cultural endowments of the country.

He, therefore, said the climax of the exercise and operation was the Operation Rescue Finale in the North-East which led to the fall of Sambisa Forest and capture of Camp Zero at the end of 2016.

This feat, according to him, called for celebrations while appreciating God for the great achievements.

While paying tributes to the heros, who paid the supreme price to keep the country safe and one, Buratai urged other officers to remain committed in the discharge of their collective responsibilities of ensuring peace and stability across the country.

“We must remain focused, dedicated and resilient in order to consolidate on the achievements so far recorded,” he admonished.

He then assured the nation that the Army would continue to look into the welfare of army personnel and their families with the unshakable support of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“We will not relent in our current effort of providing decent accommodation and other social amenities to our personnel in the year 2017. We will also ensure that our troops are provided with logistics in all operational areas,” he assured.

In his welcome address, the acting Chief of Accounts and Budget (Army) for WASA, Brigadier General Je Jakko, appreciated officers and soldiers of the Finance Corps and their families for their selfless service, commitment, dedication and loyalty to the leadership of the corps in particular, and most importantly, the Nigerian Army.

He explained that the training was conducted in line with the COAS training directives, while also adopting the current, realities of the Federal Governments financial reforms.

Jakko announced that the institution has successfully been operating under the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the Government Integrated Financial and Management Information System (GIFMIS) regimes.

According to him, adequate steps have been taken to ensure prompt electronic payment of operations allowance directly to bank accounts of troops of Operations Lafiya Dole in line with COAS ditectives to ensure transparency and accountability.

He, therefore, thanked the COAS for approving resources as well as his commitment to training and the welfare of Nigerian Army personnel.