KIGALI - A senior Nigerian military officer has commended the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) for its professionalism saying that African militaries should draw lessons from the Rwandan army.

Air Vice Marshal, Ahmed Tijjani Mu'azu, made the remarks after paying a courtesy call on President Paul Kagame yesterday at Urugwiro Village.

 Mu'azu who is the Commandant of Nigeria's Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), was accompanied by a delegation of 30 students from the college.
 
"Our visit to Rwanda was part of the study package in the geo-political studies of the students. The theme of the visit is ‘Challenges of disaster management to the military of contemporary African societies’.

The students have gone around the country, seen challenges and gotten military preparations lessons,” said Mu'azu, adding that his students had drawn a number of lessons from the visit.
 
He noted that the Nigerian army and RDF have a long-standing partnership, whereby RDF officers have been training in Nigeria while the Nigerian army had also learnt a lot from Rwanda.
 
"Rwanda has first grade officers who are a real reflection of the kind of leadership RDF has and we want to associate with them every time. We specifically acknowledge the efforts of RDF in national integration and rebuilding.

All African countries have something to learn from Rwanda.”
The Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. Charles Kayonga, said that since 2000, RDF had been sending its officers to Nigeria’s Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), and that Rwanda also intends to open a similar college soon.

"Some of these officers where here slightly before the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, others where part of the observers mission of the African Union by then, and they were eager to know how Kagame effectively managed to drive the country to where it is now,” said Gen. Kayonga.

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