The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt Gen Tukur Yusuf Buratai has said that the Indigenous Languages Proficiency Course has recorded tremendous successes and that informed the need to continue with the training package by the Nigerian Army. He stated this during the inauguration ceremony of the Indigenous Languages Proficiency Course 7\19 on Monday 25 November 2019 at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC) Conference Hall A, Abuja.
The representative of the COAS, and the Chief of Administration (Army), Maj Gen MS Yusuf in his remarks posited that, the Indigenous Languages Proficiency Course is an initiative of Lieutenant General TY Buratai to make officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army (NA) proficient in two indigenous languages other than their mother tongue. Hence, the course was designed to adequately equip NA troops to operate seamlessly in the domestic security environment, thereby making them effective and efficient. He said that, the aim of the course was to break the communication barriers imposed by the multi-lingual nature of Nigeria.
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He further, admonished the participants to see the certification as a learning process, so that overtime, they would progressively improve on it. He enjoined them to continue to recertify themselves adequately, because failure to recertify will result in decertification and loss of benefits derived from the language proficiency.
The Director General of NARC, Major General GA Wahab (rtd) in his welcome address expressed his profound gratitude to the COAS for his exemplary leadership. He explained that the Languages Course was conceived to key into the COAS’ vision to make officers and soldiers of the NA proficient in foreign and indigenous languages.
General Wahab said, the cardinal objectives of the Language Course was to position the NARC based on exigencies confronting the NA and the emphasis was heightened by the plethora of threats, necessitating the empowerment of officers and soldiers to communicate in indigenous languages for easy penetration and accessibility in operational areas.
