By Mike Kebonkwu
The change of Service Chiefs by Mr President was a masterstroke and could not have come at a better time. It came at the heels of palpable fear or apprehension of coup plot leading to the low keyed Independence Day celebration without the usual razzmatazz of military parade and display of splendour. The change of Service Chiefs was politically strategic, and operationally expedient to give valve and impetus to the fight against insecurity hopefully, and stabilize the polity. The appointments may have been viewed rather through political prism, but those appointed are eminently qualified as generals.
A general ordinarily should be an embodiment of military doctrine and professionalism where the system that produces them is rigorous. We may not know their antecedents but what we are given is what our system has produced; let them prove their mettles as hard core professionals in the face of the challenging security environment.
They have both Constitutional and statutory duties and their loyalty should be to the country. Mr President is conferred with the power to appoint service chiefs without permission.
Section 218(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2010 as amended provides thus: “The power conferred on the President by subsection (1) of this section shall include power to appoint the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Naval Staff, the Chief of Air Staff and Heads of any other branches of the armed forces of the Federation as may be established by an Act of the National Assembly”. Whatever motive anybody may impute, Mr President does not need any permission; it is within his prerogative.
Following the change of Service Chiefs, there have been flurries of activities within the military establishments. There have been postings and appointments to fill opened vacancies, while others have to call it a quit and continue with their lives outside the military; “soldier go, soldier come, barracks remain”.
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It was an electrifying atmosphere in the Mogadishu Military Cantonment in Asokoro, formerly Sani Abacha’s Barracks on October 31. There was a military ceremony and colourful parade, marking the Pulling-Out-Parade of the erstwhile Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), General Christopher Gwabin Musa. General CG Musa was a consummate soldier; like a meteoric star, rising from the rank of Second Lieutenant to a 4-Star General. He belonged to the Infantry Corps of the Nigerian Army that pride themselves as the Queens of Battle. He does not have the fearsome look of the tempestuous American General, Norman Schwarzkopf of the famed Operation Desert Storm, whose thunderous voice conversation will shake the telephone handset at the receiving end, even while talking to his Commander-in-Chief. General Musa did not seem to have the swagger and volcanic temper of a General Victor Malu and one of our celebrated military commanders, and a former Chief of Army Staff who was like a charging bull, fearless!
General Musa has a gentle mien but a steel heart; he is expressive without bothering to be politically correct and sometimes courting controversy. He is a militarist to boot that prefers to treat the enemies of state with a good dose of lethal force, as a soldier. His view on dealing with insecurity and criminal elements did not quite coincide with the political establishment. He was a little bit hawkish, without being brash! He was the last man standing from the Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Course 38. General Christopher Musa bowed out of Service in a grand style, just the same way he came by storm when he was picked by Mr President to be the CDS.
About a week ago, the news broke that Mr President had sacked the Chief of Defence Staff with immediate effect. Mr President did not sack the CDS, he changed the Service Chiefs. This does not call for linguistic analysis. It was time for him to go after 35 years of meritorious military service to the fatherland. Public office is not a permanent abode to deify people to stay glued as if on ancestral stool, like a Paul Biya of Cameroon. Change is the only constant thing in life and we should embrace it to meet the self-regulating order to rejuvenate the public system.
In the flux of life, there is a continuous movement from cradle to the grave. If an establishment cannot function without one person, then there is a system failure because succession plan is supposed to be inbuilt into any bureaucracy. Tenure elongation kills a bureaucracy!
General CG Musa was one of the finest the Armed Forces of Nigeria has produced lately. He is expressive and does not shy away from controversy, maintaining his view on professional standpoint whether it was popular or not. He was the closest to what the pristine soldiering and military tradition should be, treating enemies of the state not as victims to be issued olive branches, but to be served and given spicy sauce of lead, and bloody nose.
One only hopes that the change would serve to re-calibrate and reinvigorate the war against insurgency and insecurity which we have been fighting half-heartedly due to political considerations. What is true so far is that our security architecture has fared better in political battles more than fighting insecurity.
What is true is that appointment of military commanders should not be lost in politics as we are gradually doing or perceived to be doing. This is because it is going to rob off on our ability to protect our territorial integrity and security of lives and properties. We are up against very serious threat of insurgency and criminality that threaten our corporate existence. Those saddled with responsibility of running our security architecture favour appeasement and pacification of criminals who are daily building and expanding their armoury, and recruiting from the teaming army of unemployed and unemployable youths across the country into their ranks.
Gradually, we are creating private and regional armies which portend very grave danger and security risk. One can only see the equivalent and comparison of the Boko Haram insurgents, armed herdsmen, bandits, and the Eastern Security Network (ESN) of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) gravitating towards private regional armies just like Janjaweed militia in Darfur and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighting against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). They have destabilized the entire Sudan, turning it one theatre of operation and dislocation of the population. The states are building armed security outfits like the civilian joint task force (CJTF), Amotekun etc etc, militarizing the entire political space without offering protection and safety to the people. Kidnappers and bandits have taken over the entire road networks across the country and terrorising our local communities and even city centres.
I am persuaded that any modern global military doctrine that aligns with negotiation and rehabilitation of criminals as the government appears to prefer is an admission of failure of its security forces, and bowing to political pressure. That is where Christopher Musa appears to differ with some elements in the security architecture who favour rapprochement. Officers and soldiers know their commanders; not everyone can command men in battle.
General CG Musa was one of the finest in the crème la crème of the Nigerian Military lately; so long General! Welcome to the rank of veterans!
