CORPORATE PROFILE
The Nigerian Army in 1984 started establishing welfare schemes and ventures to cater for areas of need where available facilities and services could not adequately meet the demands of its personnel. Along The line however, management problems experienced by the ventures especially in terms of high labor turnover began to undermine the realization of the full financial potentials of the entities. It was also observed that the inherent potentials for synergy was not being explored or maximized, as each of the schemes operated independently. These observations were prominent among other concerns raised in a paper on Army Welfare Assets presented during the COAS Quarterly Conference of March 2006 under the then COAS Lt. Gen. ML Agwai.
Consequently, a 16 Member Committee was formed and tasked among other things to streamline the schemes under one central organization. In all, the team was given 13 issues to resolve as term of reference. This measure also provided an avenue for comprehensive appraisal of the existing welfare schemes in the NA. Working on the premise that all the shames have the primary goal of meeting the diverse needs of officers and soldiers, each of the entity was x-rayed to determine the level of attention required to revitalize them.
One remarkable outcome of the initiative to evaluate and tackle the problem of inadequate benefits from Army Welfare Ventures borders on the emphasis placed on the need to form an umbrella organization. Some form of control subsisted before the exercise, as each of the scheme had either a Board of Directors or a Board of Trustees directing and controlling its management team, with the COA (A) serving of Chairman of all the Boards. Nevertheless, it was believed that a more businesslike or Corporate arrangement had become essential if the ventures are to be salvaged.
Eventually, the Preference was for a new structure in the form of a group, a holding. According to the Committee, the outfit envisaged will “provide strategic policy direction, coordination and control over the management of the existing welfare schemes so that NA could experience substantial improvement in the performance of these ventures with accompanying benefits to NA personnel”. The essence is for a body that can eventually generate substantial income for the continuous improvement of the NA personnel’s welfare as a whole.
Eventually, the Army Welfare Holdings (AWHL) emerged with a mandate to realize the forgoing resolve of the Army. According to Lt Gen. LN Yusuf, past COAS(2007-2008) in his guidelines for the composition of the Board of AWHL and its subsidiary companies, the need has come as part of the efforts to consolidate the on-going transformation of the army, all NA welfare entities are being repositioned for better performance through central coordination under the newly established Army Welfare Holdings Limited (AWHL). AWHL is conceived as a holding company.
The companies within AWHL holding portfolio are as listed below
All the subsidiary companies have been formally incorporated with CAC the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and their respective Board of Directors have all been inaugurated. PHL has initiated the process of working out the relevant requirements for conforming with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulations. Granted that these companies have varied history, background and vision, AWHL has since the inauguration of its interim board in November 2007 served as the umbrella body for the entities. Under the leadership of the present COAS Lt. Gen Dambazzau AWHL, has taken up the challenge of charting the appropriate direction for the ventures in line with vision of the leadership of the Nigerian Army.
