The frequent departure of Nigerian army generals after their successors have been appointed chief of the army has sparked debate about the potential impact on officers’ morale.Mr. Miss, wale igvintad write
A recent letter from the Defense Headquarters (DHQ) was prompt and clear. All senior officers of the Nigerian National Defense Academy (NDA) undergraduate level 39 and above in “senior positions” have been instructed to proceed to voluntary retirement immediately. The deployment follows the appointment of a new military chief by President Bola Tinub.
The letter of resignation, signed by Maj. Gen. Y. Yayaha on behalf of Maj. NDA) Regular course 39 allows you to submit an application for voluntary retirement immediately. ” Officers are required to submit their applications by Monday, July 3, 2023.
The appointment of the new military chief required the mandatory retirement of about 100 senior officers in the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force, including generals, brigadier generals, deputy marshals of the Air Force and admirals.
The new Chief of Defense Staff, Major General Christopher Musa, is a member of 38 regular courses. Army Chief of Staff Major General Talid Lagbaha. Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogara, Chief of Naval Staff. Air Force Chief of Staff and Deputy Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar is a member of the 39 regular courses.
This directive is not the first, and certainly not the last. Over the past decade, every military commander-in-chief’s appointment has resulted in a massive purge of generals from his three branches of the military.
More than 100 generals, deputy marshals and admirals of the Nigerian Army, Air Force and Navy have been affected by the immediate order, according to reports today.
Upon taking office, the president announced the retirement of General Lucky Irabar, the chief of defense staff. Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya. Navy Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Awal Gambo. and Air Force Chief of Staff, Air Marshal Ordayo Amao. He replaced them with new military commanders.
Irabar was a member of NDA General Division 34. He was commissioned a second lieutenant on 28 June 1986 and assigned to the Nigerian Army Signal Corps.
Former COAS Lieutenant General Yahaya was a member of the NDA’s 37th regular course. He began his cadet training on 27 September 1985 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps on 27 December 1990.
Former CNS Lieutenant General Gumbo is a 36th undergraduate student at the Nigerian National Defense College, and 21st CAS Air Marshal Amao joined the Nigerian Armed Forces in January as a 35th undergraduate cadet at the Nigerian National Defense College. 1984.
Meanwhile, Major General Musa of the new CDS was a member of the 38th Regular Division of the NDA and was commissioned into the Infantry Corps on September 21, 1991.
23rd COAS Major General Lagvaha is a member of NDA RC 39, commissioned on 19 September 1992, and the new CNS Lieutenant General Ogara is a member of NDA 39 Regular Course. A new CAS, Air Force Deputy Marshal Abu Bakar enlisted in the Nigerian Air Force as a member of NDA RC 39 and was commissioned as a pilot on 19 September 1992.
This means that the security officers are juniors of some generals who were members of Course 37 and Course 38.
Following military tradition, the appointment of a junior to the rank of sergeant requires the retirement of a senior officer above him. This practice has seen him remove more than 500 generals from the army over the past decade. About 120 executives were forced to resign in December last year. The exercise was said to have been conducted in accordance with the Civil Service Regulations and the 2017 Harmonized Service Conditions of the Nigerian Armed Forces (Revised).
Critics accuse the relentless routine of veterans in the country of creating mediocrity. Officials who spoke to THISDAY said most military chiefs were appointed in the past based on favoritism, tribal affiliation and quotas rather than merit.
They can be diverted to other uses such as sending junior officers to military installations to train junior officers, so why should some senior officers retire early because they appoint their juniors as military personnel? I wondered if it wouldn’t. Others criticized the sudden and unexpected retirement of the generals, rather than a planned retirement to prepare for a life outside the military service.
Analysts argue that this pattern of retirement destroys continuity and experience within the military hierarchy and could lead to leadership gaps. The retirement of a veteran officer with extensive knowledge and battlefield expertise can be viewed as a loss to the organization.
Former Nigerian Air Force spokesman Capt. Sadiq Shev (rtd) reacted to mass retirements by saying the numbers were terrifying, saying no country could retire more than 100 generals without collapsing their armed forces. I warned you not to.
Scheff on the ARISE NEWS channel program denounced the process of promoting officers to major general. He said it’s not ideal for a president to choose from among more than 300 major generals, given the impact of other generals being forced to retire.
“If you follow the structure of the military pyramid, whoever is the president or commander-in-chief, he has already given a few good officers for him to choose from,” he said. The situation of choosing among major generals, you are not helping him.
“The issue is not the President himself. Indeed, looking at the literary implications of Article 217 regarding the appointment of the Chief of Staff, the President could, as it is now, choose a Colonel and even say that this is my Chief of Staff.” He can choose who he wants.The organization of the Nigerian military is so bloated that no other country can afford to retire 100 major generals without collapsing.”
He went on to argue the financial burden of such policies.
“The problem here is that when you look at the money that is spent training these people, whether it’s on a course in a foreign country or here, the experience we’re losing, and what we’re wasting on these people. And it’s time to see the money telling them to go “not good for the national economy.”
“On a personal level, our President and Commander-in-Chief have the right to appoint a Secretary of War, pursuant to the constitutional requirements of Article 217, and the Constitution does not bind his hands in appointing a Secretary of War. For a chief, he must choose either the oldest, middle-aged, or youngest. It is entirely within his right to do so.
“But President Tinub came and met about 350 major generals from the entire army, so to be honest his job was not even easy to choose a military commander. I think there’s a problem: the president shouldn’t be choosing among 350 major generals.
He also highlighted the imbalance within the military pyramid, where the number of generals exceeds the recommended proportion. Scheff pointed out that the pyramid structure should have a larger base of junior officers, gradually narrowing it down to a smaller number of generals. But the current situation in Nigeria deviates from this ideal structure, with a disproportionate number of officers reaching the rank of major general.
“According to the research I have done, there are also some courses where about 44 percent have become major generals after breaking the defense pact. I think it has something to do with the management system.
He added, “When we were studying these things going back to 2012, we noticed a tendency to promote too many generals. Too many generals. Like when I enlisted in the military.” I know it’s not the time, but when I joined the military in Kaduna in 1984, I remember barely seeing a brigadier general around me. What is it, too many generals.
“We need to listen to our seniors. General Aishola Williams warned back in 2020 that there are too many generals and too few field troops. is the country.”
