Introduction to Roles of Army Engineers

CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE NIGERIAN ARMY ENGINEERS TO NATION edifice CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS INTRODUCTION 1. Nations of the world set objectives which they continually strive to achieve. These objectives which are regarded to be of benefit to the citizens of the country are collectively known as internal bet. The extent to which a acres can achieve its domainal interest and indeed the influence it wields in the international community depends largely on its level of development. Nation mental synthesis literally connotes national development.In a present-day(a) society, the concept of national development is directly linked to the general benefit of a state and its people. National development or nation build is predicated on indices much(prenominal) as economic stability, peace and security of the state. The amount of any government therefore is to provide security and welfare for the hoi polloi to achieve stability and peace. Nation building is a continuous accomplish. It r epresents the process whereby changes are effected within any society to generate wealth, make water economic opportunities and bring about peace, stability and security. . Over the last half(prenominal) century, roughly advanced countries like the USA, China and Israel among others have implemented divers(a) plans towards development. One of such plans is the use of their armed services in national development. Historically, military involvement in nation building can be traced to collective countries like Russia, China, Cuba and Vietnam where the military was engaged in developmental activities such as agriculture and manufacturing.Later in the face of economic challenges, countries like Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Iraq also utilise their military in nation building through their military engineers for driveway construction and industrial development. This contributed to the development of their national economy. 3. A nation is be as a large body of people united by com mon descent, culture or language, inhabiting a loticular state or territory. On the other hand, building is the business or parturiency of constructing houses, factories, bridges and other large structures.Hence, nation building could be expound as a morphological transformation of all facets of national lives such as economic, political, social and technological endeavours in station to make a nation more viable for development. 4. Similarly,in developing countries like Nigeria, it has become authoritative that the military be actively involved in nation building to compliment the efforts of all other sectors involved in such activities. The NA through the Nigerian Army Engineers (NAE) has been in the forefront of this drive, in rundown to its role of the defence of the territorial integrity of Nigeria.The NA also has the duty of aiding cultured authority in disaster management or civil construction works which are normally carried out by NAE. However, the NAEhas the prima l role of helping the NA to live, move and fight. These include construction of roadstead and bridges, reconstruction and rehabilitation of facilities and water supply. For example, the NAE constructed the first road to Mambilla Plateau, of the then Union Region now Adamawa State, in the 1960s. The Corps was also involved in the construction of a bridge across River Rima and the reconstruction of Ayakoromo town in 2010.When the NAE plays these roles, it is inadvertently contribute to nation building. 5. It is pertinent to state that NAE evolved from the Royal western African Frontier Force (RWAFF) which dates back to the early Twentieth Century. The NAE were part of the Royal British Engineers which surveyed and fixed the boundaries of what is now known as Nigeria with the neighbouring cut and German colonies. In spite of the contributions of the NAE in nation building, the corps encountered some challenges while performing their functions.These challenges include dearth of equi pment, absence of legal setting and shortage of manpower among others. It is against this background that this motif seeks to examine these challenges in order to proffer viable solutions for the NA in supporting the NAE towards efficiently contributing to nation building. It is written for the Director Department of Land Warfare in partial fulfillment for the award of Pass Staff Course. 6. The purpose of this opus therefore is to examine the challenges and prospects of the contribution of NAE to nation building.The paper result discuss an overview of NAE and the contributions of NAE to nation building. It will further appraise the contributions of some other countries to nation building in order to draw lessons for NAE. Finally, it will examine the challenges and prospects of the NAEs contribution to nation building. This paper will however be check to NAEs contribution to nation building in terms of structural constructions and projects. The aspects of peace and security as part of nation building will not be discussed. It is assumed that the reader is conversant with the concept of nation building.This would therefore not be discussed in detail. AIM 7. The aim of this paper is to discuss the challenges and prospects of the contributions of NAE to nation building with a view to making recommendations. 1 . 1. Encarta Dictionary, 2012. 2 . 2. Robert B Schulz, The Dynamics of Development in the Engineering Nation, (capital of Australia, Canberra University Press, 2004). 3 . 3. Olaniyi AA, Maj Gen, Capability of the Nigerian Army Engineers in National Development, (Unpublished, may 2012). 4 . 4. Ibid. 5 . 5.Catherine S, Angus S, The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, Indian Edition, (New Delhi Oxford University Press Ltd, 2007), P. 952. 6 . 6. Op. cit. Encarta Dictionary. 7 . 7. Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. 8 . 8. NA, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Precis (Nigerian Army School of armed services Engineering, 1996), P. 11. 9 . 9. Abubakar, S, How Military Bridge Brought Succour to Sokoto, Daily Trust (Sokoto), 25 Oct 10, P. 3. 10 . 10. Olawuni, T, Hope Rises for Ayakoromo Community as Jonathan Orders Reconstruction, Business daylight (Lagos), 16 Dec 10, P. 5.