Headquarters 9 Brigade Nigerian Army (NA) held its Maiden Training Day for the Year 2025, with the topic,” Policy on the Use of Social Media for the Nigerian Army”. The event which took place on September 24, 2025 at the Calf Officers Mess drew participants of all ranks from units under 9 Brigade, Institute of Army Education, Nigerian Army School of Islamic Affairs, NA Archives, Directorate of Command Secondary Schools and other units domiciled within the Cantonment.

In his remarks, Commander 9 Brigade NA, Brigadier General Olawale Matthew Oyekola, said, the Policy on the Use of Social Media is not by any way designed to gag personel but ensuring the sanctity, discipline, and regimentation known to NA/AFN are upheld, and also ensuring maximum operational security of impending tasks without comprising troops’ saftety in operations. He further commended a soldier who requested his interview, which was ably granted to avert resolve to social media handles for malicious messaging. He then admonished other participants to channel their complains to appropriate quotas rather than engaging in actions that would earn them unwarranted sanctions under the notion of being frustrated.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Chief of Staff Headquarters 9 Brigade, Colonel Ibrahim Bunu Sheriff, said, the choice of the topic for the Training Day was prompted by recent invitation of some soldiers by higher authority over social media posts. He urged the participants to open their minds and learn from these policies and educate other soldiers on the use of social media when they returned to their units in order to avoid further disciplinary action.

In his keynote lecture, the resource person, Major HA Yussuph, highlighted the history of social media, guidelines on the use of social media for Armed Forces of Nigeria personnel, security measures, and social media offences among others.

Additional to the keynote lecture, a brief lecture was given by Group Managing Director Corporate Security TGI Group, Brigadier General Anthony Onibasa (Retired) on the topic ” From Khaki to Kaftan: Transitioning from Military to Civil Life”. The retired senior officer reiterated that what kills military personnel after active service is not the lack of what to eat but redundancy. He gave guides on areas that perticipants could develop themselves and remain highly sought-after for employment after service, therefore re-engage in known routine that would keep them busy and active.

The Training Day was climaxed by presentation of sourvenirs to resource persons, group photographs, and a luncheon.

count | 35

9 Brigade Training Day 2025: Participants Urged to Comply with Nigerian Army Social Media Policy