Infantry Chief Charges Warrant Officers on Leadership, Management

The Commander, Infantry Corps, Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Godwin Mutkut, has urged warrant officers and senior Non-Commissioned Officers to uphold effective leadership and management in the discharge of their duties.

Mutkut gave the charge on Monday while declaring open the Leadership and Management Seminar Course 48/2028 at the Warrant Officers' Academy, Jaji, Kaduna State.

He said effective leadership and management remain crucial to the military profession, given the hierarchical structure of the Armed Forces and the responsibility of personnel to lead, train, and manage subordinates. According to the commander, leadership involves providing direction, exercising authority with humility, and influencing personnel toward achieving organisational objectives, while management involves coordinating people and resources through appropriate processes to achieve set goals.

Mutkut explained that the seminar was designed to expose participants to practical leadership and management principles, drawing on the first-hand experiences of serving and retired senior military officers. He urged participants to actively engage in lectures, interactive sessions, and discussions in order to gain practical knowledge that would enhance their leadership capabilities, noting that such knowledge would enable them to contribute more effectively to military operations and the attainment of national strategic objectives.

The commander added that the seminar would also prepare participants for their roles in managing subordinates and carrying out administrative and operational responsibilities, describing the programme as an important learning opportunity for officers and senior non-commissioned officers across the Nigerian Armed Forces. He urged participants to maintain positive attitudes, ask questions, and take full advantage of the experiences shared by the resource persons throughout the seminar.

Academy Aims to Bridge Leadership Gaps

Earlier, the Commandant of the Warrant Officers' Academy, Brig.-Gen. Anthony Wende, said the seminar forms part of the academy's broader training programmes aimed at bridging leadership and management gaps between commissioned officers and enlisted personnel. He noted that the programme provides participants with opportunities to share perspectives and experiences on contemporary leadership and management issues.

Wende described the Warrant Officers' Academy as the apex military training institution for warrant officers and senior non-commissioned officers within the Nigerian Armed Forces, playing a vital role in developing leadership, administrative, counselling, mentoring, and career-development skills across the cadre. He said the training packages were designed to address critical factors affecting effective junior leadership and personnel management during both peace and war.

According to Wende, the seminar aims to equip participants with the confidence, character, integrity, critical judgement, and sense of responsibility required in the discharge of their duties. He said the seminar's theme, "Adapting Leadership and Management for 21st Century Military Operations," was carefully chosen to prepare participants for contemporary leadership and managerial responsibilities.

The commandant disclosed that participants included personnel from the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, and allied students from the Republic of Liberia, describing the five-day seminar as timely given the changing nature of contemporary security challenges and military operations. He urged participants to pay close attention to the lectures and actively engage resource persons through questions and interactive sessions.

Wende noted that the resource persons comprised serving and retired senior military officers selected specifically to share their experiences and expertise with participants. He reaffirmed the academy's commitment to developing effective junior-level leadership capable of responding to contemporary and evolving security challenges.

He expressed appreciation to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Waidi Shaibu, for providing the resources and support that made the seminar possible, and commended the Chief of Training, Nigerian Army, the Commander of Infantry Corps, commandants, formation commanders, and unit commanders for their support toward the programme's success.