The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, on Saturday 20 June 2024 joined 12 other chiefs of national armies across Africa at the symposium on “Peace, Security and the Commitment of the Youth”, organized and hosted by the French Army Chief of Staff, General Schill Pierre at the Golf de Cicé-Blossac in Rennes, France.

Speaking at the opening of the event, General Schill disclosed that the symposium aims at enabling the French Army change its mode of engagement with foreign partners, particularly in Africa, with a view to transiting from solely military, to an all-encompassing, mutually beneficial approach to relationship cum
engagement.

While presenting his perspective at the symposium, Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff Gen Taoreed Lagbaja set the tone for an interesting and highly engaging panel discussion on the topic, “Armies and the Protection of their National Territory: Legal Framework, Issues and Challenges.” Expatiating on the issues and challenges armies contend with in protecting their national territory, the Army Chief spotlighted applicability of local and international laws and conventions in the face of the harrowing struggle against non-state actors and states, who chose to either ignore or treat them with levity and further exacerbated by the existence of cultural affinities across international boundaries orchestrated by arbitrary boundary delineation. He espoused broad-spectrum collaborative efforts beyond the Armed Forces as an imperative for addressing contentious issues of how armies can better protect their national territory. Interestingly, the COAS and his Ivorian counterpart were the only foreign delegates that were granted the honor of presenting papers at the symposium.

The COAS accompanied by the Commandant Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Maj Gen John Ochai and other members of his delegation later attended the commissioning ceremony of cadets into the French Army at the Saint-Cyr Military Academy, Coetquida. The NDA Commandant also initiated bilateral engagements on cadets training on the sideline of the symposium.

ONYEMA NWACHUKWU
Major General
Director Army Public Relations
21 July 2024