The Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Air Training Command (ATC), AVM Nnamdi Ananaba, has said that soldiers who are physically and mentally fit are a huge guarantee for a safe and secured nation.
Ananaba said this on Saturday while addressing newsmen after a 10-km walk/jog exercise by personnel of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) in Kaduna.
The walk/jog exercise is a yearly event organized by NAF across all its commands, in which all its personnel participate.
Ananaba noted “if the soldiers are not fit, security of any nation cannot be guaranteed.”
He added that the NAF was poised to ensure that its personnel are able to discharge their duties and secure the nation as required of them.
The AOC, therefore, noted that the 10-km annual walk/jog event was to test the fitness of its personnel.
He added that throughout a year, the NAF conducts various forms of exercises which included weekly games, Wednesday’s exercise and other physical fitness programmes.
“The 10-km walk/jog exercise is just a general way of testing the fitness of our personnel. This is why it is always scheduled towards the end of the year.
“Sometimes, we hold it twice a year. This year it has brought all the NAF personnel within Kaduna state together,” the AOC said.
Earlier, the Commandant of Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), AVM Sani Rabe, said the personnel who participated in the exercise were fit.
“They all went and came back. That showed they are good to go. The essence of the walk/jog exercise is to ensure fitness, and we have seen that in them,” he said.
The Special Guest of Honour, Rabe urged the personnel to maintain their fitness, noting that the fitter they are, the better they would be able to carry out assigned tasks.
The high-point of the event was the session at which awards were presented to officers, soldiers, wives of officers and soldiers and youths corps members who won on merit.
