By Joy Odor Reportcircle News | Abuja
The Chief of Army Staff, Waidi Shaibu, has declared that battlefield success rests not on rhetoric but on rigorous training and mastery of core warfighting skills, as he inaugurated Course 10/2026 at the Army War College Nigeria (AWCN).
Speaking on Friday in Abuja, Lieutenant General Shaibu described the War College as the Nigerian Army’s premier operational-level institution, the bridge between tactical execution in the field and strategic decision-making at the highest command levels.
“There is no magic trick for effective performance other than excellent training and the acquisition of vital military skills,” he said, echoing the words of former Head of State, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.
Course 10/2026 brings together 85 senior officers of the Nigerian Army, alongside two officers each from the Nigerian Navy and Nigerian Air Force, as well as participants from Botswana, Chad, Guinea, Liberia, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Ghana and South Africa.
The multinational composition underscores Nigeria’s growing influence in regional military education and its leadership role in continental security cooperation.
Defence analysts note that the inclusion of officers from eight African countries reinforces Abuja’s strategic soft power in West and Central Africa.
Established in 2017, the AWCN was conceived to close the operational gap between field command and national strategy.
Since then, it has evolved into a centre of excellence in operational art, military strategy and national security studies.
Gen Shaibu said the College equips carefully selected officers with the capacity to translate national objectives into synchronised operational plans particularly within joint and multi-agency environments where coordination is critical.
He pointed to advances in curriculum development, research, innovation and infrastructure as evidence of institutional maturation.
Against the backdrop of evolving security threats from insurgency to transnational crime the Army Chief stressed the urgency of adaptive leadership and operational preparedness.
He urged participants to challenge conventional thinking, broaden their strategic outlook and deepen their grasp of modern warfare dynamics.
“The nation will rely on you for innovative and actionable solutions,” he told the officers.
The training, he added, aligns with his command philosophy of transforming the Nigerian Army into a more professional, adaptable and combat-ready force capable of decisive action within joint and multi-agency theatres.
The ceremony featured an inaugural lecture titled “Harnessing Indigenous Technological Innovations for Enhanced National Defence,” delivered by former Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin (Rtd).
The lecture spotlighted the role of home-grown technology and defence innovation in strengthening Nigeria’s strategic autonomy, a theme increasingly central to modern military doctrine.
Earlier, the Commandant of the College, Major General Umaru Alkali, described the inauguration as a defining milestone in the officers’ professional journey, saying the course is designed to produce agile and decisive leaders equipped for volatile security landscapes.
For Nigeria’s military hierarchy, the message from Abuja was clear: operational success is engineered in classrooms long before it is tested in combat zones.
With 89 senior officers now entering an intensive operational curriculum, the Army is betting that disciplined training not chance will determine outcomes in Nigeria’s complex security theatres.
In the calculus of modern warfare, Shaibu’s doctrine is unambiguous: excellence in training today equals dominance on the battlefield tomorrow.
