The new commander of the Nigerian Army Ordinance Corps, Abalti Barracks, Ojuelegba, Surelere, Lagos State, Major General Jonathan O. Ugwuoke, has promised to do his utmost best to take the corps to the next level and charged officers to braze up for the task ahead.

He maintained that the Nigerian army ordinance corps under his leadership would provide focus capacity development, accountability, cooperation, and mentorship towards the attainment of efficient and high-quality service delivery in support of the Nigerian army in the discharge of its constitutional responsibilities within the joint environment, adding that his philosophy would be anchored on four pillars, namely: capacity development, accountability, mentorship, and teamwork.

Speaking during the handing and taking over ceremony at the Barracks on Tuesday, Maj. Gen. Ugwuoke expressed gratitude to God for making it possible and the Chief of Army Staff, Major General T. A. Lagbaja who deemed him fit to steer the ship of the Nigerian Army Ordinance Corps at this time, pledged to do his utmost best to take the Corps to the next level.

In his words, “I Thank God for making the day a reality because He is the only one that knows the beginning from the end; I also want to thank Major General Alabi for a seamless handover. I have been in touch with him even before I arrived and on arrival, warm reception all the way and that is what is expected of us as ordinance one big family.

“Secondly, I’m very grateful to the Chief of Army Staff, Major General T. A. Lagbaja who deemed me fit to steer the ship of the Nigerian Army Ordinance Corps at this time. I pledge to do my utmost best to take the Nigerian Army Ordinance Corps to the next level.

“The Nigerian Army Ordinance Corps, as we all know is one of the major combat service support corps that plays an important role in supporting the Nigerian army both in times of peace and war. Hence the Nigerian Army ordinance corps, we are to key into the command’s philosophy of the Chief of Army Staff, Major General T.A. Lagbaja, which is to transform the Nigerian Army into a well-trained, equipped, and highly motivated force towards achieving our constitutional responsibilities within a joint environment.”

He added that this philosophy is anchored on training, equipment procurement, recruitment of additional manpower, administration, and cooperation to boost the fighting power within a joint environment.

“Consequently, the Nigerian army ordinance corps under my leadership is to provide focus capacity development, accountability, cooperation, and mentorship towards the attainment of efficient and high-quality service delivery in support of the Nigerian army in the discharge of our constitutional responsibilities within the joint environment.

This philosophy is anchored on four pillars, namely:

capacity development,

Accountability,

Mentorship,

and teamwork,” he stated.

Maj. Gen. Ugwuoke, enjoined the officers to key into the philosophy which he described as the vehicle of the Nigerian army ordinance corps impute into achieving the Chief of Army staff command philosophy, maintaining that it would also take the corps to the next level.

He charged all officers to ensure that all hands are to be on deck as the proper management of men and materials are of priority concern. He further stated that acts of indiscipline would be promptly and adequately treated with fairness.

“Together, we all will move the corps forward from where Major General Alabi stopped. Our numerous predecessors, the army high commands and the Nigerian state will be proud of the corps.

Speaking further “Once again, I thank the Chief of Army Staff, Major General T.A. Lagbaja for the confidence reposed in me to command the corps.

I pledge the unalloyed loyalty and dedication to duty of all officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army Ordinance Corps to the Chief of Army Staff and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he stated.

Earlier in his address, Major General A.M Alabi (Retd.) charges officers and men of the command to work closely with the new commander and be open and sincere with him.

In his words, “So, I want to charge all of you to work closely with the incoming commander. The incoming commander is an experienced and versatile logistician who is coming from the Army headquarters and so he has more knowledge about the corps than me.

So please support him, be open, sincere with him, be serious, and determined to project the name of the corps. Don’t be stubborn, be open to correction. Don’t forget that he will come with his own philosophy. “Learn teamwork, there’s no individual trophy. To that end, I can say that my strength is teamwork, success mentality, personal development, turn adversity into opportunity. Don’t lose hope.

“Moreover, the importance of command philosophy, your experience will help you to develop command philosophy and I have been saying it, anticipation, monitoring, promptness and fitness are very important as a logistician and as an army officer, to succeed in life.

“Do not expect so much from any person, everybody is a human being, we are all mortals and can make mistakes. If you can make mistakes, therefore you should expect mistakes from others. If somebody makes a mistake, correct him or her but if he repeats the mistake, it then becomes stubbornness. It is the stubbornness that will now be sanctioned. That’s why I said teamwork which can correct individual mistakes so that we can arrive at the goal of the corps.

“Then the last one is the importance of transformational leadership; General Buranti, General Yahaya, and General Akintade, all contributed to transforming the corps.
“So I want to thank God for giving me the opportunity to contribute my quota to the Nigerian army both as an instructor at the command level and operational level in Liberia and in the Northeast. I thank God for protection.

“I also want to thank the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Faruq Yahaya for the privilege he gave me to command the Corps despite the fact that I was not the most senior among my coursemates who could have been made the head but God used him to actualize that purpose in my life.”

He thanked all staff Officers, the Directors at the headquarters of the Nigerian Ordinance, and all the commanders for their untiring support to see that the corps delivered on its assigned tasks.

He also added, “Without you, the headquarters would not have been where it is today. So, I want to beg you to do your best to see that the name of the corps is not brought to disrepute rather it is gaining more grounds, and more respect. I also want to thank our civilian staff and the media who usually come to cover our events and project the name of the corps,”

Thereafter, there was handing over notes and a new flag was presented to him after which he was decorated with the corps insignia which was followed by the inspection of ongoing projects and other facilities within the Barracks.

The important part of the event was the signing and receiving of the handover documents observed by other senior officers.

The second segment was the reception where the officers, family and friends were gathered  in the hall.

 

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