The Role of Staff Colleges in preparing Officers to meet Emerging Security Challenges

The 6th African Conference of Commandants (ACoC) was held from 5 to 7 November 2012. The Abuja conference was the fifth coverage of the event since the nomination of the ISS as the Secretariat of the Commandants of Command and Staff Colleges who attended the Accra conference in October 2008. The conference is held once a year at which many issues in the realm of military education are discussed. The aim of ACoC is to enhance military professionalism in Africa through education, training and the development of officers in African staff colleges. The Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC) of Nigeria hosted the 2012 conference, the theme of which was The Role of Staff Colleges in preparing Officers to meet Emerging Security Challenges.

Apart from members of the AFCSC, Nigeria, the conference was also attended by delegates from Benin Staff College; Botswana Command and Staff College; Cote d’Ivoire Staff College; Egyptian Command and Staff College; Ethiopia Command and Staff College; Kenya Defence Staff College; Libya Command and Staff College; Namibia Military School; Namibia Staff College; South African National War College; Uganda Senior Command and Staff College; and Zambia Defence Services Command and Staff College.

Other institutions represented were the NATO Defence College; US Africa Command (AFRICOM); the International Peace Support Training Centre, Nairobi; the British Peace Support Team South Africa; Army Command and Staff College, Nanjing, China; Army Command and Staff College, Brazil; and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, UK. Retired army chiefs from Nigeria, defence attachés and Ministry of Defence officials also attended.

The conference was opened by the Minister of Defence, the Honourable Erelu Olusola Obada and closed by the Chief of Defence Staff, Nigerian Armed Forces, Vice-Admiral Ola Ibrahim. The conference was widely covered by the local press and media networks.