The Nigerian Army last night said as the fourth-best military in global peacekeeping operation, ithas no difficulties moving to Mali to restore peacethere.In a reaction to a news story by The Guardian of London newspaper, Director of Public Relations and Information, Nigerian Army, Col. Mohammed Yerima, told THISDAY that the story was intendedby the newspaper to diminish “the successes recorded by Nigeria in peacekeeping operations.”The Guardian had alleged that the state of the Nigerian Army has delayed plans for a military intervention in Mali.It also claimed that the country’s army lacks the capability to fight on the frontline.But Yerima said the story was a complete underestimation of the strength of the Nigerian Armed Forces and what the service could do.He said: “I read the story. At first, I was to issue anofficial reaction. But I dropped the idea, because the news story was foolish. The newspaper deliberately turned truth on its head.”He further said: “There is no force on the West African sub-region that can match Nigeria’s capability. We restored peace in both Liberia and Sierra-Leone. We are at the moment maintaining peace in parts of the country.“Our training programmes are going on as scheduled and we also have modern equipment, as an army,” Yerima added.He advised foreign media organisations to seek clarification about Nigeria’s military capability to avoid misleading the world.He also reiterated Nigeria’s standpoint on global peace and added that the country’s armed forces are ready and capable of effective peace operations in any part of the sub-region.The newspaper had reported thatNigerian army’s Mali mission had been stalled following doubts of its operational capability.According to the story, “A senior source in Mali told The Guardian that a lack of training and discipline among Nigerian troops – who are beingheavily relied on by regional bloc Ecowas to oust Islamists in control of northern Mali – is becomingincreasingly apparent.“The Nigerian army is in a shocking state. In reality there is no way they are capable of forward operations in Mali – their role is more likely to be limited to manning checkpoints and loading trucks.“The Nigerian forces lack training and kit, so they simply don’t have the capability to carry out even basic military manoeuvres. They have poor discipline and support. They are more likely to play a behind-the-scenes role in logistics and providing security.”


http://www.thisdayonline.com/

Front page pls..meanwhile, first to comment...

Charity should begin @ home. There is no peace in Nigeria!

Forth in the world, don't u mean africa bro. I think the topic should more like "Nigeria ranked # one in africa?

Boko-haram is running amok in Nigeria,but that is not an excuse not to intervene in mali.

Interesting...i even think they have taken over the Job of the police in Naija sef

@AVRS, bro, true we have major problems in the north, but I tell you brother, an unstable mali spells doom for nigeria. It will not only be in the north, but across nigeria. It is imperative, infact as a matter of urgency that nigeria intervenes militarily in mali. It is not a matter of' let's think about it first'. Besides intelligence report have shown that members of boko haram escaping the crackdown in the north of our country flee to mali. An unstable sahel region spells doom for us in nigeria, we saw how the fall of ghaddafi regime in libya affected us massively in nigeria. President GEJ cannot / is not in his best interest or the nations best interest not to intervene in mali.

Henry120: @AVRS, bro, true we have major problems in the north, but I tell you brother, an unstable mali spells doom for nigeria. With not only be in the north, but across nigeria. It is imperative, infact as a matter of urgency that nigeria intervenes militarily in mali. It is not a matter of' let's think about it first'. Besides intelligence report have shown that members of boko haram escaping the crackdown in the north of our country flee to mali. An unstable sahel region spells doom for us in nigeria, we saw how the faul of ghaddafi regime in libya affected us massively in nigeria. President GEJ cannot / is not in his best interest or the nations best interest not to intervene in mali.

I totally agree wit u. Not intervening now will be a serious blunder as already we're experiencing the fallout of the crisis dre n also d risk of a spillover is quite high. The proliferation of arms been seen in d north can also b traced to the crisis there. The argument about capability can only be settled from their actions there i.m.o

BTW,wats all dis '1st t comment' bullshit really annoying..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/05/nigerian-army-mali-mission-delayed?INTCMP=SRCH

See the article that prompted the Army's reaction:

The "shocking" state of the Nigerian army has delayed plans for a military intervention in Mali, amid reports that it lacks the capability to fight on the frontline.

A senior source in Mali told the Guardian that a lack of training and discipline among Nigerian troops – who are being heavily relied on by regional bloc Ecowas to oust Islamists in control of northern Mali – is becoming increasingly apparent.

"The Nigerian army is in a shocking state," said the source, who has seen recent assessments of Ecowas's military capability. "In reality there is no way they are capable of forward operations in Mali – their role is more likely to be limited to manning checkpoints and loading trucks."

"The Nigerian forces lack training and kit, so they simply don't have the capability to carry out even basic military manoeuvres," the source added. "They have poor discipline and support. They are more likely to play a behind-the-scenes role in logistics and providing security."

The FG has to explain why the Army is in such a state despite obscenely high defence budgets. My perception is that more than 90 percent of the budget goes towards personnel costs, i.e. paying wages. Very little goes into training and equipment. This obviously calls for a reduction in staff, particularly non-military workers. Lord knows how much is wasted by corruption.

May be we should ask Uk gaurdian about what UK ARMY that is well trained has contributed to the world peace.

We are doing it again in Mali...