The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Lucky Irabor, has expressed the determination of the Nigerian Armed Forces to tap into the wealth of experience of retired senior military officers in the country, saying this is urgently needed to tackle security challenges facing the nation presently.

     The military chief, who gave the charge on Thursday, during an interactive session with retired senior military officers from the South-west zone, held at the 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Odogbo, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, stated that there is no other group in the country to engage at this time to end insecurity apart from the retired soldiers. The meeting had in attendance the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 2 Division Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Gold Chibuisi; the Chief of Defence Civil-Military Cooperation, Rear Admiral Fredrick Ogu; and retired senior military officers from the six states in the South-west region.

      Irabor, who praised the retired soldiers for playing their part to defend the country while in service, maintained that the country still needs their wealth of experience garnered to save it from the security challenges. According to him, “As members of the Nigerian Armed Forces, you know that our constitutional role is to protect the territorial sovereignty of the country which you have done. We face security challenges mostly from internal factors, these factors may have external input.

“From the wealth of your experience, there is no better group that can be engaged better than you. You are most qualified and knowledgeable. This is the reason we brought you here. So, let me thank you for honoring our invitation. We are here to rub minds together.” The GOC, in his welcome address, said the meeting became necessary because of the security challenges in the country, adding that this is the maiden interaction of the CDS with retired senior military officers in a way to find lasting solutions to the current security challenges in the country.

“Banditry, kidnapping, Boko Haram insurgency, armed robberies, these necessitated the need to address the trend,” he said.