The Acting Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, has promised to make the country peaceful if confirmed by the National Assembly. The Army Chief, who was appointed in an acting capacity following the recent death of Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, made the pledge when he appeared on Wednesday before the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Defence and Army at the National Assembly Complex. He called for partnerships and cooperation with neighbouring countries to address insecurity and make the countries safer for habitation. He said, “I am honoured this evening (Wednesday) to be considered worthy to play a part in these efforts, and I look forward to contributing my utmost best by working with the National Assembly and other stakeholders in bringing lasting peace to the length and breadth of our dear country, Nigeria. “I humbly appear before you today to be confirmed as the 24th Chief of Army Staff of the Nigerian Army simply because tragedy befell our Army and Armed Force when the 23rd Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, passed after a brief illness. “Although before his passing, I had been appointed by Mr President, His Excellency Bola Tinubu to act in his place pending his expected full recovery and resumption of duty as the Chief of Army Staff then. “After Lieutenant General Lagbaja’s demise and state funeral on November 15, 2024, Mr President, in his wisdom, found me worthy to fully continue the excellent job the Army has been doing here and get confirmed by the National Assembly.” Taking a trip down memory lane, the army boss recalled his journey in the military profession. “I have served this great nation as an officer of the Nigerian Army for over 30 years. My exposure to national security issues at the junior, middle, and senior cadres of the military profession has prepared me adequately for the assignment I am being screened for here today. “In the past five years or thereabout, I have operated at the senior operational and management levels of the Nigerian Army, and I have been somewhat involved in running the service in its entirety. Related News Senate screens acting COAS behind closed doors Reps summon CBN gov, banks’ CEOs over unverified POS operators Reps pass 2025-2027 MTEF/FSP ahead of 2025 budget presentation “Thus, I cannot completely distance myself from the successes or setbacks of our great army in the past couple of years. However, I see my nomination as the Chief of Army Staff as a privileged opportunity to be in the driver’s seat and bring about more positive changes to the Nigerian Army to enable it to fulfil its constitutional responsibilities. “Thus, if confirmed by this joint committee and given the common mandate to lead the Nigerian Army during this period, I promise to do my best to justify the confidence imposed in me by the appointing authority, which is His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the confirming authority which is you members of the National Assembly and the generality of Nigerians.” To combat the challenges of insecurity, the Nigerian Army, he said, requires aircraft for its operations. The Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, said Nigeria has what it takes to address her sundry security challenges. “The current dynamics of global security demand innovative and adaptive strategies. Threats are no longer confined to traditional battlefields; they now extend to cyberspace, economic domains and even the socio-political fabric of nations. “In light of this, we must prioritise a forward-looking approach to national defence, ensuring that our military is well-equipped and adequately trained to address both conventional and emerging threats,” he said. Benson said the House will continue to provide the necessary legal frameworks and champion adequate funding of the armed forces to enhance its operations. He charged Oluyede to make professionalism his watchword, stressing that his assignment carries a deep and heavy responsibility. “If confirmed, you will be expected to foster synergy among security agencies, prioritise the welfare of troops and uphold the trust of Nigerians. This committee will ask questions that reflect the concerns of our constituents and the nation as a whole,” he added.Your Secret Weapon This Holiday Shopping Season Could Be... ChatGPT?
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SEOUL, Nov 22 — If you’ve ever binge-watched an entire season of a K-drama like “Squid Game” or “Crash Landing On You”, one Korean-American expert has good news: it’s likely improved your mental health. High production values, top-notch acting and attractive stars have helped propel South Korean TV shows to the top of global viewership charts, but therapist Jeanie Chang, says there are deeper reasons so many people are hooked. With soap-like plotlines that tackle everything from earth-shattering grief to the joy of new love, watching K-dramas can help people reconnect with their own emotions or process trauma, she says, giving the shows a healing power that transcends their cultural context. “We all have family pressures and expectations, conflict, trauma, hope,” she said, adding that watching heavy topics being successfully managed on screen can change people’s ability to navigate real-world challenges. For Chang, who was born in Seoul but raised in the United States, K-drama was particularly helpful in allowing her to reconnect with her roots—which she rejected as a child desperate to assimilate. But “the messages in Korean dramas are universal,” Chang said. “Mental health is how you’re feeling, how you relate to others, psychologically, how your brain has been impacted by things. That’s mental health. We see that in a Korean drama.” ‘Soften my heart’ Global K-drama viewership has exploded in the last few years, industry data shows, with many overseas viewers, especially in major markets like the United States, turning to Korean content during the pandemic. Between 2019 and 2022, viewership of Korean television and movies increased six-fold on Netflix, its data showed, and Korean series are now the most watched non-English content on the platform. American schoolteacher Jeanie Barry discovered K-drama via a family funeral, when a friend recommended a series — 2020’s “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay”—she thought could help her after a difficult time. “There was something about it, the way that this culture deal with trauma, mental depression, just really struck a chord for me,” Barry, who had travelled to South Korea as part of a K-drama tour organised by therapist Chang, told AFP. “I started to grieve when I had not been. It was a lot of tears during that drama, but it also made me see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. Immediately hooked, Barry said she had watched 114 K-dramas since discovering the genre, and effectively given up watching English-language television. “They let me soften my heart,” she said. Fellow tour member and American Erin McCoy said she had struggled with depression since she was a teenager, but K-drama helped her manage her symptoms. With depression, “when you live with it that long, you’re just numb and so you don’t really feel bad necessarily but you don’t ever feel good either,” she said. “You just don’t feel anything,” she said, adding that K-drama allowed her to experience emotions again. “There’re so many highs and lows in every one of them, and as I felt the characters’ emotions, it just helped me relate to my own more,” she said. “I feel like I was able to express and experience emotion again.” Art therapy? The idea that a K-drama binge can help with mental health may seem far-fetched, but it chimes with decades-old psychotherapy ideas, one expert said. “Watching Korean dramas can be beneficial for anxiety and depression from the viewpoint of art therapy,” Im Su-geun, head of a psychiatry clinic in Seoul, told AFP. First used in the 1940s, art therapy initially involved patients drawing, but evolved to incorporate other artistic activities. “Visual media like Korean dramas have significant strengths that align well with psychotherapy,” he said. K-drama—or television and cinema generally—can help viewers “gain insights into situations from a new perspective, fostering healthy values and providing solutions to their issues,” he said. It is unlikely to be prescribed by a doctor, he said, but if a therapist were to recommend a specific drama that related to the patient’s case, it could be helpful. For example, it can provide a roadmap for patients “facing specific situations, such as breakups or loss,” he said. — AFP