New Telegraph

GENERALS IKPONMWEN, ANYAMELECHI: SERVICE CHIEFS MUST BE LOYAL TO CONSTITUTION NOT INDIVIDUAL

…they must be bold enough to tell president the truth at all times
…millitary chiefs should hold regular discussions with troops
•New Service Chiefs assume duties, solicit support

As a way of setting an agenda for the newly appointed Service Chiefs, a security strategist and former Provost Marshall of the Nigeria Army, Brig Gen. Idada Ikponmwen (rtd) and the pioneer Commandant of the Nigerian Army (NA) School of Legal Studies, Brig Gen. Godwin Anyalemechi (rtd), has urged the new Service Chiefs, to ensure that they are loyal to the Nigerian constitution rather than individuals.

They argued that it is on the basis of this that Nigerians can repose their confidence in them and support them in redeeming the battered security image of the nation occasioned by the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents, bandits and kidnappers, among others. Recall that a new set of Service Chiefs was appointed last Tuesday by President Muhammadu Buhari.

They are: Maj-Gen. Lucky Irabor (Chief of Defence Staff); Maj-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru (Chief of Army Staff); Rear Admiral Awwal Gambo (Chief of Naval Staff), as well as Air Vice Marshal Isiaka Amao. Speaking exclusively to Saturday Telegraph yesterday, Ikponmwen charged the newly appointed Service Chiefs to take their current positions as an opportunity to serve their fatherland and rid Nigeria of insecurity.

He urged them to take up their jobs with increased tempo, a high sense of commitment and avoid the tendency to enrich themselves and shortchange their subordinates. Ikponmwen said: “They must be bold enough to tell the President the truth about the security situation in our country. Their loyalty must be to the Constitution of Nigeria and the Nigerian people and not to any individual.

“They must endeavour to avoid being enmeshed in the politics of the country. Loyalty is measured by the compliance of the military to the Constitution and the democratic principles and practices of our country.

It is wrong for the military to pledge loyalty to one man, especially when that man is not doing the right thing.” Ikponmwen also advised the new Service Chiefs not to allow themselves and the military to be drawn into partisan politics as that would be against the Armed Forces Act as well as the codes and ethics of the service.

He said: “All those demonstrations and show of force that the military partakes in before elections must be jettisoned. They must emulate the US system by adopting what happened in America recently during the transition of power.

“Immediately President Donald Trump started playing his rascality, the Service Chiefs in the US were on the alert and poised to ensure that the right things were done to safeguard democracy in their country.

“They made sure that the man who won the election was sworn into office in spite of the attempts to scuttle the smooth transition. If it were in Nigeria, they wouldn’t have sworn in anybody and Trump would have had his way. “The military leadership must know and observe the norms of the system. We are even lucky that we have a retired military man as President and it behoves on the Service Chiefs to always remind him that the military cannot be used to do certain things that could destroy the system.

The Service Chiefs should be able to tell the President that the military cannot be involved in elections because it will destroy the neutrality and reputation of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.” Ikponmwen, who once served as the Director of Legal Services of the Nigeria Army, charged them to imbibe the spirit of transparent leadership, professionalism and endeavour to instill proper discipline in the service.

He also expressed concern at the high corruption perception index in the military and urged the military authorities not to sweep allegations of corruption under the carpet. He added: “There have been a lot of allegations of corruption among the immediate past service chiefs and the new people should avoid these pitfalls.

“I also think there should be a probe of the activities of the service chiefs that just exited from the system. A lot of money was spent during their tenure that eventually yielded nothing.

Even the President said that they tried and has done their best but that their best was not good enough.” While Anyalemechi urged them, particularly the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Maj-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, to hold continuous “durbar” with the troops, saying the disposition will enable the soldiers bare their minds on operational issues. According to Anyalemechi, the era of issuing orders and commands to troops and expecting them to obey same without listening to their needs and concerns should be done with.

The retired general, who spoke against the backdrop of the protracted counter-insurgency war in the North East, the morale of fighting forces, which is said to be low, and the way forward, said the new officers should prove their worth. He said: “If I were them (Service Chiefs), I will give a directive to all GOCs (General Officers Commanding), to all unit commanders, to all operational commanders in the Nigerian Army to hold continuous Durbar with their troops.

“Three days continuous durbar. Durbar happens when soldiers come, discuss with you, relate with you informally and tell you what problems they have, how they think things will be done well. “Not just dishing out orders, telling them the traditional way.

No. Hold durbar with these boys, discuss with them, let them tell you what their problems are,” Anyalemechi said. He said being the ones at the frontline, the soldiers’ pulses needed to be felt, in a bid to achieve better results. He added further: “Let them make their own inputs; how they think this war can be fought and won. They are the operational people, they are the ones fighting.

“It is after they hold this durbar throughout the whole Nigerian Army units in the country that you now collect it and then bring it as intelligence. “This becomes the intelligence which you are going to process to work. By the time you collect it throughout the country you will discover that their views will be similar.

“Then, you now process that view and use it to do the job you want to do at the front, because the world has gone digital; don’t neglect the intelligence of any person, not even a private soldier,” he stated. Meanwhile, a former Director, Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Mike Ejiofor, described the recent change of the Service Chiefs as an action long overdue.

Ejiofor, whose comments came when he featured as a guest on Focus Nigeria, concurred with President Muhammadu Buhari on neither his position that Nigeria is in a state of emergency but observed that such admission was neither enough nor the best way to declare a state of emergency.

He said: “It is important to draw the attention of the Service Chiefs to the enormity of the challenges before them. I agree that we have a lot of challenges and they are coming at a time when the morale of the fighting troops and even among the senior officers is low.

“It is low because a lot of people have been sacrificed by the stagnation in their career progression. Many have left the services after years of stagnation which was not due to their own making. Everybody cannot be a service chief, but when some people are blocking your friend way and preventing you from attaining that height, nobody will be happy about it.

“So, the new Service Chiefs should work on the morale and welfare of the officers and men under their command before even approaching the challenges posed by insecurity. “They should sort out these internal challenges before going out to face the enemies of the state because no disgruntled soldier responds effectively to commands for action.

“It is very important that the service chiefs were changed but changing them and operating in the same environment and without adopting technological tools for intelligence gathering will make things difficult for them. So the government must approach this challenge of insecurity from a new perspective.

“I want to charge that these new Service Chiefs should concentrate on technology because that is the only way we can fight this war. If you like bring 500,000 or 1000,000 soldiers to the battle ground, we will not do well without the use of technology.”

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