Peacekeeping: Nigerian Army to deploy 19 officers, 211 soldiers to Liberia

Nineteen officers and 211 soldiers from the Nigerian Army are going to Liberia for peacekeeping operations.
Also, the Nigerian Army Peacekeeping Centre, Jaji has been renamed Martin Luther Agwai International Leadership and Peacekeeping Centre, in recognition of the commitment of General Martin Luther Agwai to peacekeeping efforts and excellent service when he was the Chief of Army Staff.
He later became Chief of Defence Staff before he retired.
The Nigerian Army is to deploy 230 personnel, including 19 officers and 211 soldiers to Liberia,
Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, who announced the deployment of the 230 personnel in Kaduna at the end of a four-week intensive training on leadership and peacekeeping, charged them to shun acts that could tarnish Nigeria’s image.
“You must observe human rights, and respect the cultural and religious sensitivities of Liberians,” he said.
Buratai said that since 1960, Nigeria has deployed over 20, 000 troops to 40 peacekeeping missions in Africa and across the world.
The centre named after Agwai was established in 2004 by the former officer as a Wing, when he was the Chief of Army Staff.
Agwai, former Deputy Force Commander, United Nations Peacekeeping Operation in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), Force Commander of African Union/United Nations Mission Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) was later Special Adviser to Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Speaking, Agwai noted that peacekeeping was gradually becoming an intra-country issue with the military at the centre stage, following internal conflicts such as ethnic, religious other crises.
He, however, noted that Nigeria has been involved in peacekeeping operations in Africa and world at large, but had not repeat the economic and diplomatic benefits of such venture.
Agwai called on government and private-owned organisations to partner the centre in leadership training on conflict prevention and management in the quest to achieve enduring peace.
He thanked current and past leadership of the army for the honour done him by naming the centre after him.