be to State, not individual
Senior lawyers and security experts yesterday warned the new Service chiefs against partisanship. They said the commanders’ loyalty should be to the country and not to the President, or the ruling party.
Lagos lawyer Femi Falana, Mallam Yusuf Ali (both senior advocates) and Dr. Chima Nnaji bared their minds on the appointments of military commanders by President Muhammadu Buhari.
They all urged the Service chiefs to bring their experiences to bear and inject fresh ideas into the war against terror and urged them to strengthen the armed forces as a professional institution.
Falana recounted how the former National Security Adviser (NSA) Col Dasuki Sambo (rtd), usurped the functions of the former Defence Minister, Lt. Gen. Aliyu (rtd), a development the lawyer noted, brewed disaffected in the system.
He said: “The NSA usurped the functions of the defence minister. The office was linked with currency trafficking, hiring of mercenaries and purchase of unserviceable military hardware.
“Without arms and ammunitions, military officers and soldiers were forced to fight the well-armed terrorists. The encounter culminated in humiliating defeat for the nation’s armed forces.
“Hundreds of soldiers were massacred while those who refused to commit suicide were put on trial before court martial.”
In his remarks, Ali said: “My expectations are that they should be able to assist us to battle and extinguish, if possible, insurgency and terrorism; and position our armed forces as a professional fighting force that can be ranked as one of the very best if not in the world at least in Africa. They should ensure that they promote the ethics of subjugating the military to civilian authority.”
According to him, the military chiefs should feel obligated to the country and not the person who appointed them.
He said: “Our problem is that we don’t have strong institutions. Anybody who gets appointed to an office believes that he owes obligation and loyalty to the appointer, whereas it should be that anybody who is appointed into the public service in any capacity should have loyalty to Nigeria.
“We don’t have that in this country. We haven’t gotten it right at all. This is an area that quite a lot has to be done. That is what is missing in our national life. Until public officers believe that their first loyalty is to the nation itself, then the problem of partisanship will remain.”
Dr. Nnaji said the military chiefs must show passion for the tasks ahead and learn to deploy modern technology, urging President Buhari to always consider national interest first when exercising his prerogative to make such appointments, especially on the professional competence of those being appointed.
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