Introduction to Roles of Army Engineers
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE NIGERIAN ARMY ENGINEERS TO NATION BUILDING: 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 national interest. The extent to which a nation can achieve its national interest and indeed the influence it wields in the international community depends largely on its level of development. Nation building literally connotes national development. In a contemporary society, the concept of national development is directly linked to the general well-being of a state and its people. National development or nation building is predicated on indices such as economic stability, peace and security of the state. The essence of any government therefore is to provide security and welfare for the citizenry to achieve stability and peace. Nation building is a continuous process. It represents the process whereby changes are effected within any society to generate wealth, create economic opportunities and bring about peace, stability and security.
2. Over the last half century, some advanced countries like the USA, China and Israel among others have implemented various plans towards development. One of such plans is the use of their military in national development. Historically, military involvement in nation building can be traced to socialist 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 used their military in nation building through their military engineers for road construction and industrial development.This contributed to the development of their national economy.
3. A nation is defined as ‘a large body of people united by common descent, culture or
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 national interest. The extent to which a nation can achieve its national interest and indeed the influence it wields in the international community depends largely on its level of development. Nation building literally connotes national development. In a contemporary society, the concept of national development is directly linked to the general well-being of a state and its people. National development or nation building is predicated on indices such as economic stability, peace and security of the state. The essence of any government therefore is to provide security and welfare for the citizenry to achieve stability and peace. Nation building is a continuous process. It represents the process whereby changes are effected within any society to generate wealth, create economic opportunities and bring about peace, stability and security.
2. Over the last half century, some advanced countries like the USA, China and Israel among others have implemented various plans towards development. One of such plans is the use of their military in national development. Historically, military involvement in nation building can be traced to socialist 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 used their military in nation building through their military engineers for road construction and industrial development.This contributed to the development of their national economy.
3. A nation is defined as ‘a large body of people united by common descent, culture or