I met Jonathan over poor funding of military, says Bamaiyi

A former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi (rtd), said he met with former president Goodluck Jonathan over allegation of poor funding of troops fighting insurgency in North East but nothing was done to address it.

Bamaiyi spoke yesterday at the launch of his book ‘Vindication of a General.’ He said lack of leadership at both the top and bottom got soldiers demoralized during the past administration.

He said when he was released from prison, he met a soldier that ran away from the battlefront and the soldier complained that they were not having access to food and ammunitions.

He said when he met with Jonathan over the allegation, “President Jonathan told me he was surprised too at what was happening as money released for the military was not being judiciously put to use. He promised to look into it, but nothing was done to address it”.

He challenged the present service chiefs to always consider the welfare of soldiers above their own. “Without soldiers, there won’t be officers. This consideration is what makes a successful officer,” he said.

He told journalists after the event, what Nigerians refer to as “Abacha loot” is a media creation. He said the current President, President Muhammadu Buhari was an insider of Abacha government and that this accounts for the reason foreign countries do not want to listen to him concerning the country’s money lodged in foreign bank accounts.

Source: Dailytrust