THE new Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Lucky Irabor, on Friday, took over Command of the Armed Forces of Nigeria as the 17 Chief of Defence Staff.
Irabor, at the event, stated that all hands must be on deck to tackle security challenges in the country.
“We are all aware of the security landscape and should join hands to take security to all the nooks of the country,” Irabor said.
Outgoing Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, while handing over to Irabor, urged the new CDS to ensure that “Nigeria remains one peaceful, indivisible country.
“I must state that while the Armed Forces of Nigeria, under my leadership, grappled with some operational and logistics challenges, the DHQ has made some modest achievements aimed at improving operational capacity, logistics and welfare needs of officers and men serving in the Defence Headquarters.
“In terms of organisation, some directorates of the DHQ were upgraded to departments to make them more impactful. Some of these are the former Directorate of Civil-Military Affairs, which have been upgraded to a Department to scale up our non-kinetic operation.
“I am confident that General Irabor will lead the Armed Forces of Nigeria to build on what we have been able to achieve in the past five and half years and take the Armed Forces of Nigeria to much greater heights.
“I urge you to continue to give your best to ensure that Nigeria remains one peaceful, indivisible country,” Olonisakin said.Irabor, who was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, succeeded General Gabriel Olonisakin, who served for five years and six months as the 16 Chief of Defence Staff.