The Nigerian Army will on Thursday in the United States be presented with an Accreditation Certificate of the United Nations in recognition of its peacekeeping centre as a centre of excellence for training in Peace Support Operations. The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, will be leading a delegation of senior officers of the Army to New York to receive the document at a function being put together by the United Nations Headquarters. The accreditation which represents a formal endorsement of the quality of training in the Nigerian Army Peacekeeping Centre (NAPKC) in Jaji, Kaduna, will qualify the Centre to manage the world body’s training activities and efforts in the promotion of peacekeeping all over the world. The NAPKC at present runs structured peacekeeping courses for Military Observers, Command and Staff Operations Skills, Train-the-Trainers, and Pre-deployment training for officers and soldiers as well as other courses. It is envisaged that the Centre will soon commence mission specific physical training of both the police and civilian peacekeeping elements. Nigeria stands to receive assistance in terms of logistics support for its training programmes. The NAPKC is now empowered by the UN to train potential peacekeepers at the expense of the requesting countries. Source: Thisdayonline.com