Army frowns at unprofessional use of social media by officers

The Nigerian Army has expressed displeasure over the attitude of some its officers, who use the social media to disclose classified information, as well as air their grievances.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, expressed the displeasure when he declared open a 3-day workshop on “Office Management and Document Security’’ for Nigerian army officers in Abuja on Monday.

Represented by Maj.-Gen. Chris Jemitola, the Chief of Policy and Plans, Buratai described officers who engaged in such act as “misguided.’’
To check that, he disclosed that he had initiated a process that could lead to the establishment of a directorate to focus solely on the management of the social media in the service.

“The social media has brought additional challenges to information security which are being used by misguided personnel contrary to our service rules.

“The Nigerian army has extant policy on the use of the social media which prohibits among others, the use of the social media to discuss or disclose service matters.

“It is indeed very unfortunate and unprofessional for service personnel to resort to the social media to disclose classified information or express grievances when the Nigerian army has well established channels for addressing complaints’’, Buratai said.

According to him, the workshop is meant to draw the officers’ attention to the importance of securing service documents in a manner that will not jeopardise army operations and administration.

“The ultimate objective of this forum is to build your capacity to effectively support my vision which is to have a professionally responsive Nigerian army in the discharge of its constitutional roles’’, he said.

He explained that the workshop targeted officers because of the important roles they played in handling and management of service documents.
Buratai noted that some of those documents were highly classified to the extent that their disclosure could be injurious to national security.

“You know that as officers, it is your responsibility to ensure that messages are properly drafted and released in conformity with the rules and convention of service writing.

“You also approve the security classifications, message instructions, distribution lists and enclosures where necessary.

“This role extends to finally signing or authorising these documents for release, these are pivotal responsibilities that must not be taken lightly.’’

The army chief charged the officers to be up to date on how to preserve the sanctity of service documents.

“There is no gainsaying that our operations involve the lives of our colleagues and comrades, who rely on the output from your work to take operational action.

“You, therefore, cannot afford to take your responsibility lightly as the consequences of your inaction will also be felt well beyond the comfort of the offices where most of you work’’, he said.

Maj.-Gen. Idris Alkali, the Chief of Administration, Nigerian Army, said the security of documents was one of the cardinal requirements for effective operation and administration in the army.

“This is even so now that the Nigerian army is involved in numerous operations both within the country and globally.

“It is, therefore, essential that officers, who involved in the generation of these documents that convey the intentions of commanders are versed in the contemporary challenges that could jeopardise document security’’, Alkali said.