The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has disclosed that the Nigerian Army has trained over 223 of its officers in various military institutions in Bangladesh.
Buratai made this known while receiving the Bangladeshi High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Shameen Ashan, on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said that his training experience and requisite knowledge garnered in Bangladesh, had helped him to prosecute the war against insurgency and several other military operations in Nigeria.
Buratai sad that Nigerian army had a lot to gain from their Bangladesh counterpart, adding that the Army authorities would continue to train Nigerian soldiers and officers in such institutions.
“Bangladesh is a great country and it is moving very fast in term of development and the country had continued to progress in terms of infrastructure, economy and military.
“The armed forces of Bangladesh are doing very well and we are very happy to associate with you.
“The space is still very wide, we still have more to gain from Bangladesh armed forces and so far, the Nigerian armed forces has trained over 223 officers in the various schools and military institutions of Bangladesh.
“As a sort of exposing our officers to international military education, we shall continue to send our officers to Bangladesh to retrain in tactic, staff duties,’’ he said.
Buratai also called on the government of Bangladesh to take advantage of the numerous armed forces training institutions in Nigeria to send their officers aside the Nigerian National Defence Collage (NDC).
He disclosed that at the last NDC Course 27 graduation in Abuja, the participants from Bangladesh got the award of the Chief of Defence Staff and also came top among international participants.
“Bangladesh has been a great partner in terms of diplomacy and your effort here is quite commendable. We have a lot to gain from Bangladesh in terms of trade and commerce and military relations,’’ he said.
Earlier, Bangladeshi High Commissioner, Ashan, said that Nigeria and Bangladesh had maintained cordial bilateral relations in many areas, adding that the two countries shared a lot of similarities.
Ashan said that his visit to the army chief was part of his efforts geared towards strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries.
He said that Bangladesh was currently working in closer cooperation with Nigeria in the areas of agriculture, education and increased military cooperation.
“My meeting with the Chief of Army Staff today and interaction with the senior officers will mark a watershed in taking our relations in military cum military cooperation forward.
“You know that Nigeria has been hosting Bangladesh senior officers at the National Defence College and happy to announce that some of you may be allowed to attend some training in Bangladesh which is a big opportunity.
“I am working towards that to ensure that we explore more opportunities because apart from NDC, there are other institutes where Nigerians can have opportunity.
“Both Nigeria and Bangladesh strongly believe that they can contribute to global peace process beyond their borders in an era of growing violence, intolerance and conflicts,’’ he said.
