New service chiefs: Buhari needs to exercise stronger leadership – Northern elders
…say appointments not enough to tackle insurgency, insecurity
AREWA AGENDA- Northern Elders Forum has enjoined President Muhammadu Buhari to effectively exercise leadership as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, saying that the appointment of new service chiefs is not enough to bring the needed change Nigerians expect to see in the country’s war against insurgency and sundry security challenges.
NEF spokesman, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, stated this on Wednesday while featuring on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme.
Baba-Ahmed said, “The key is the president, he has to change his attitude to the defence and security of this country. You cannot run this country with all these security challenges and maintain the distance that he maintains with what is going on. You listen to the president and his spokespeople are telling you the situation is better than it was in 2015. It is a very disturbing thing when you hear this.
“There are no suicide bombings now but the population of Nigerians living under Boo Haram is large, huge and unacceptable.”
After much pressure from Nigerians for the President to bring in fresh hands to pilot the country’s anti-terrorism war, especially against Boko Haram in the North-East, Buhari announced the appointment of four new service chiefs on Tuesday.
The new service chiefs are Major-General Leo Irabor as Chief of Defence Staff; Major-General Ibrahim Attahiru as Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral A.Z Gambo as Chief of Naval Staff; and Air-Vice Marshal I.O Amao as Chief of Air Staff.
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But NEF said the replacement might not be effective if the president leads the new crop of service chiefs the same way he led the former commanders.
The Forum through its spokesman, Baba-Ahmed, said, “At last, it appeared that the President has considered that it is time for him to appoint new service chiefs.
He said, “Our hope is that he is not just responding to public opinion but he himself acknowledges the fact that all service chiefs have ran out of steam. Their leadership did not produce the results it was intended to produce.
“But we don’t want the nation to be carried away. It is important that the Armed Forces have a new leadership but they have a huge task and it has to start from the president.
“We have a Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces. The president has responsibility to lead the new service chiefs in a better way than he did in the past. He needs to recognise the fact that he has a role.
“He (Buhari) needs to have a closer eye on what is going on and hold the new service chiefs accountable to make sure that the changes are brought into the military in terms of conduct, professionalism, integrity, morale of the fighting forces and change in tactics.
“If these new service chiefs are led in the same manner the president exercised the distance between him and the conflict that the military is fighting, we are going to have the same problem.”
Baba-Ahmed further said Nigerians would know if the president made the right choices in his appointment of the new service chiefs in the next seven months.
Tgnews.com.ng
Arewa Agenda is a publication of young writers and journalists from Northern Nigeria geared towards peaceful coexistence and national development through positive narratives.
