July 22, 2015 – Former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshall Alex Badeh today handed over mantle of leadership to his predecessor, Major General Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin at Defence Headquarters in Abuja.
In his brief remark, Badeh expressed appreciation to former President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for his appointment as the 15th Chief of Defence Staff and to President Muhammadu Buhari for the opportunity to work with him for a couple of months.
He congratulated the new Chief of Defence Staff and the Service Chiefs on their appointments, stressing that they came in at a critical time in the life of the country and Armed Forces.
“The task before you is tough but not insurmountable. I wish you the very best”, he said.
In his inaugural speech, Olonishakin identified Nigeria’s challenges as insurgency, terrorism, armed banditry, militancy, kidnapping and other threats but promised to adopt a coordinated effort of the Nigerian Armed Forces with other security stakeholders to achieve the desired end-state in the counter insurgency and other vices.
This, he promised to achieve through actionable intelligence gathering, logistics, communication and other critical equipment.
He enjoined members of the Nigerian Armed Forces to refocus and redouble their efforts towards winning the battles ahead. Olonishakin reiterated that the military must begin to look at issues more critically and increase its commitments to justify the confidence reposed in it by the government and people of Nigeria.
He commended his predecessor for his efforts at improving the operational efficiency of the Nigerian Armed Forces and pledged to consolidate on his monumental legacies.
The climax was the decoration of the new Chief of Defence Staff with Badges by the out going Chief of Defence Staff and the handing and taking over of the Defence Flag and other symbols of authority.
