Nigerians In Diaspora Knock Senate Over Resolution On Security Chiefs
Nigerians in the Diaspora
under the auspices of Nigerians in Diasporas Monitoring Group, NDMG,
have stated that the recent call by the Senate for President Muhammadu
Buhari to sack the nation’s service chiefs is in furtherance of their
ploy to separate the President from his appointees who are diligent.
PIC.1. FROM LEFT: CHIEF OF THE AIR STAFF, AIR-MARSHAL SADIQUE ABUBARKAR;
CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF, GEN. ABAYOMI GABRIEL OLONISAKIN; VICE
PRESIDENT YEMI OSINBAJO; PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI; CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF,
LT-GEN. TUKUR BURATAI AND CHIEF OF NAVAL STAFF, VICE-ADMIRAL IBOK ETE
EKWE IBAS, AT THE DECORATION OF SERVICE CHIEFS AT THE PRESIDENTIAL VILLA IN ABUJA ON THURSDAY (13/8/15).
5926/13/8/2015/ICE/CH/NANPIC.1. FROM LEFT: CHIEF OF THE AIR STAFF, AIR-MARSHAL SADIQUE ABUBARKAR;
CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF, GEN. ABAYOMI GABRIEL OLONISAKIN; VICE
PRESIDENT YEMI OSINBAJO; PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI; CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF,
LT-GEN. TUKUR BURATAI AND CHIEF OF NAVAL STAFF, VICE-ADMIRAL IBOK ETE
EKWE IBAS, AT THE DECORATION OF SERVICE CHIEFS AT THE PRESIDENTIAL VILLA IN ABUJA ON THURSDAY (13/8/15).
5926/13/8/2015/ICE/CH/NANPIC.1. FROM LEFT: CHIEF OF THE AIR STAFF, AIR-MARSHAL SADIQUE ABUBARKAR;
CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF, GEN. ABAYOMI GABRIEL OLONISAKIN; VICE
PRESIDENT YEMI OSINBAJO; PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI; CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF,
LT-GEN. TUKUR BURATAI AND CHIEF OF NAVAL STAFF, VICE-ADMIRAL IBOK ETE
EKWE IBAS, AT THE DECORATION OF SERVICE CHIEFS AT THE PRESIDENTIAL VILLA IN ABUJA ON THURSDAY (13/8/15).
5926/13/8/2015/ICE/CH/NAN
The Nigerians living abroad
dismissed the state of insecurity on which the lawmakers predicated
their call as a smokescreen, stressing that security breaches that would
have been insignificant in the past are now being highlighted for
public attention owing to the dearth of more devastating news.
NDMG, which reacted in a statement issued on Thursday and
signed by its Secretary-General, Uchenna D. Okereke, stated that the
disposition of the senators can demoralise troops in the battle front
and give Boko Haram terrorists an upper hand.
The group maintained that
the demand being made by the senators on Buhari is politically motivated
and an integral part of manoeuvring for the 2019 general elections,
stressing that the senators do not have the capacity to assess the
ongoing war against terrorism, and that hiring of experts is not enough
to educate lawmakers on the enormity of what the military contend with
in the theatre of war.
The statement reads in full…
The Nigerians in Diasporas
Monitoring Group [NDMG] is dismayed by the demand from the Senate of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria asking that the military service chiefs be
changed. The security situation in the country, which Senators cited as
their reason, is nothing but a smokescreen given their history of
continually trying to isolate President Muhammadu Buhari from the
performing ones among his appointees.
NDMG is saddened that the
demand by the lawmakers is premised on anecdotal evidences and not the
subject of statistical analyses that would have showed that there has
been improvement in the responsiveness to security breaches on the part
of the Armed Forces. The reality is that incidences that would have been
insignificant in the past are now highlighted for public attention for
lack of more devastating news; interpreting this as bad has the tendency
to demoralize troops and hand the initiative to terrorists.
Coming from lawmakers, who
are statutorily expected to use their position to promote peace and
stability in the country, we find the demand disconcerting and
worrisome. This is especially so when information emanating from certain
quarters confirm that the demand is politically motivated and an
integral part of the 2019 General Elections manoeuvring.
We invite the Senators to
take cognisance of their place as politicians who may not have the
requisite competences to assess the counter-insurgency war; this is also
not a field where consultants can bring the lawmakers up to speed since
it takes those in the war theatre to fully appreciate the enormity of
what the military contend with on a minute by minute basis.
The safety and security of
Nigerians is more important than the political gains derivable from
maligning the military. We therefore align with the individuals and
organizations that had challenged the Senate to come up with legislative
interventions aimed at bolstering the military’s capacity to combat the
evolving threats facing the country instead of searching for
scapegoats. In this, we recommend that the federal lawmakers understudy
their contemporaries around the world to understand the kind of support
the military requires to combat terrorism.
We further challenge the
lawmakers to be decisive in charting a course for the future of policing
in Nigeria so that the military services can re-focus on their
constitutional mandates without the distraction of cleaning up
situations that do not require military deployments in other climes.
This must concomitantly be backed with realistic budgeting, which a
simple comparative analysis with other country will show is totally
lacking when what they spend on their armies is considered.
While we advise the Senate
to walk back its poorly thought out position, we use this opportunity
to appeal to the military chiefs and the troops under their commands not
to be discouraged by the demand from the lawmakers. They should see the
call as a minor skirmish in the psychological component of the ongoing
counter-insurgency operation. Nigerians, the electorates who these
lawmakers represent, greatly appreciate what the service chiefs have
done so far.
Nigeria shall prevail
against every primordial interest or sentiment by its traducers and
become great again for all her citizens in the nearest future. Let us
continue to believe and support the performing ones like the current
crop of Service Chiefs in our country.
Uchenna D. Okereke
Secretary- General
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