The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Kenneth Minimah has said that Nigerian Army would continue to encourage its officers to publish books so as to promote reading culture.
The COAS who was represented by Commander, Corp of Education, Nigerian Army,Major General Sunday Adebayo stated this in Abuja at the launching of two books authored by Capt.Gbola Tijan of the Directorate of Army Legal Services .
The books were titled “I will Marry You When My Father Dies and Ejima (The Twins).
He said that the army was encouraging the officers and men to write books both for literature, sciences and other areas of endeavours .
“We are highly impressed by what the officer had done to author two books at the same time. This is one of the encouragements that the Chief of Army Staff is given to officers and soldiers, so that reading culture should be brought back into the service. And this was one of the things; we did during the book fair in Lagos
“I encourage officers and even the soldiers to write books and we will continue to encourage them when they have such ideas to put into paper to write.
One of the book reviewer, Major General Bolaji Koleoso, Director of Administration, Defence Headquarters who reviewed the book titled“ I will Marry You When My Father Dies commended the author for a job well done.
Kolesho called on anyone with a doubt about the traditions, air ticket, values and life time of military men to carefully read Act four in the 259 pages book with six Acts in 35 scenes.
He said that in presenting the army to the readers, the author went for the best, correcting wrong perceptions and laying facts on the ground on how military traditions actually runs.
He said the book also taught the lessons of patience focus and love for the country.
“I wish therefore to recommend the book for the reading pleasure of the public, the book has been well written in simple English. To serve the need of literature students especially in the senior secondary schools because it is very rich in moral lessons, it promotes culture, tradition and value systems which today youths require.
Earlier, the author of the books , Capt.Gbola Tijan said that one of the books “I will marry you when my father dies was a legal book in a dramatic form to prove a point that people can fight for their right.
Tijan said “Any nation that is starved of books will suffer intellectual malnutrition , so I am contributing my quota to make sure my nation does not suffer intellectual malnutrition.
