Military opens up on calls for Interim Government
…As OBJ calls 2023 polls, ‘Show of Shame’
BY ANDREW OROLUA
The Defence Headquarters said on Thursday that the call for Interim Government by some politicians and commentators is mischievous and unconstitutional.
The Director of Military Operations, DMO, Major General Musa Danmadami who spoke on the issue while fielding questions during the biweekly briefing on the activities of military and security agencies against the insurgents, cautioned against dragging the country back via such calls.
He said that the Presidential election has been successfully conducted and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had declared the results of the election.
General Danmadami said that “those making the call are trying to be mischievous on a step they knew is unconstitutional.”
On the increasing spate of kidnappings in the country after the general election, the military operations spokesman reiterated that the fight against criminals must not be left to the security agencies alone.
“All hands must be on desk to check it and all aspects of the society must be involved” adding that the recent kidnapping cannot be wholly attributed to the relative increase in cash circulation compared with the weeks of the elections. He assured that the military will not relent in its efforts against the criminals and are working hard round the clock 24/7 to ensure that criminality is reduced.
On their performance within the past two weeks, Major General Danmadami said that a total of 974 terrorists comprising 77 adult males, 364 adult females and 533 children surrendered to troops at different locations within the joint areas of operation in the North East of the country.
“Troops equally neutralized 21 terrorists, captured 9 suspected Terrorists, arrested 11 suspected terrorists logistic suppliers/collaborators, they apprehended 2 other terrorists and rescued 54 terrorist escapees”.
The “troops recovered 14 AK47 rifles, 2 NSVT guns, 1 NSVT gun barrel, 1 QJC barrel, 3 RPG bombs, 1 Anti-Riot gun, 3 pump action guns, 2 hand grenades, 3 PKT MG, 3 Gun Trucks, 188 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm ammunition, 142 rounds of 12.7x108mm ammunitions, 110 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, 27 cartridges, 18 dane guns.17 AK47 magazines and Improvised Explosive Device wires”.
Other items recovered include 2 grinding machines, 1 vulcanizing machine, 1 mechanic tool box, tyre rims, 3 pairs of Boko Haram Uniforms, shovel, bags of assorted food stuff, cartons of spaghetti, medical supplier, solar panels, 12 motorcycles, 13 bicycles, mobile phones, boafeng radio, pouches, 1 vehicle and sum of Two Million, Three Hundred and Five Thousand One Hundred and Fifteen Naira (N2,321,015.00) only.
In the North West the troops neutralised 24 terrorists, apprehended 19 suspected criminals and rescued 43 abducted civilians.
Troops conducted fighting patrol to terrorists camps in Maidabino general area in the Danmusa Local Government Area of Katsina state and made contact with the terrorists.
Following a fire fight, troops neutralized 2 terrorists and recovered 4 dane guns, 4 AK47 magazines and other sundry items.
Consequently, “within the week in focus, troops recovered 10 AK47 rifles, 9 AK47 magazines, 14 dane guns, 28 rounds of 7.62mm special, 6 motorcycles, radios and 76 rustled cattle.”
Similar military operations in North Central Zone and South East Zone yielded positive results.
…As Obasanjo calls 2023 polls “Show of Shame”
Meanwhile former President Olusegun Obasanjo has continued to berate the conduct of the February 25 presidential polls.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Thursday, described the just-concluded elections in the country as a painful show of shame, saying that efforts should be made by patriotic Nigerians to correct it and not allow it to repeat itself. He said he is too old to keep quiet and watch the country launch into a dystopia and that efforts are required from well-meaning and committed patriots to rescue the nation from the precipice.
The former President said these as a guest of honour at a public lecture series tagged, “From Elections to Governance and Performance”, in Abuja.
He lamented that the country is currently more divided and corroded than what its founding fathers had in mind.
Also speaking, the Founding Partner of Nextier SPD, Patrick Okigbo, said that election promises can only be implemented if the civil servants that are supposed to drive it were reformed.
The event, put together by Nextier SPD, also witnessed the public presentation of a book: “The Unending Quest for Reform: An Intellectual Memoir”, authored by Prof. Tunji Olaopa.
Obasanjo said with the current situation on ground, it would not be out of place for a national reconciliation, which will assuage the feelings of aggrieved Nigerians, particularly the youth population.
He criticised the growing debt profile and spending spree of government at all tiers, especially those at the helm of affairs currently, likening the situation to “spending like a drunken sailor”.
Obasanjo, however, advised that for reforms to take root, there must be political will and concerted effort to drive it by all stakeholders in Nigeria.
On the issues of reforms, he said governance in Nigeria now calls for thinking outside the box in terms of development financing.
According to him, this trend of thinking has become inevitable in the face of Nigeria’s dwindling fortune in oil revenue, Nigeria’s huge foreign indebtedness and the urgency of diversifying Nigeria’s neo-cultural economy.
He said, “Let me suggest three ideas that I think can enrich the direction of the conversation here today.
“One, given what we saw during the election, Nigeria is now even more divided and more corroded than we thought.
“This places a deep onus on any administration following the current one, to urgently facilitate the process of national moral rearmament and national reconciliation that the potential will enhance skills for the aggrieved and will lead us across Nigeria and to assuage the youth.
“This must be done in sync with the imperative of national value orientation that Nigeria requires to build a collective sense of enduring and local values and national belonging.
“Two, governance in Nigeria now calls for thinking outside the box in terms of development financing, this has become inevitable in the face of Nigeria’s dwindling fortune, in oil revenue, Nigeria’s huge foreign indebtedness and the urgency of diversifying Nigeria’s neo-cultural economy.
“We cannot be spending like a drunken sailor on frivolities and corruption and expect development and growth. Such a situation cannot take us into the fourth industrial revolution already underway.
“My experience and understanding, however, is that the money to develop and grow our economy is out there if we provide a conducive environment for it to come and stay.
“Three, political will, political action and administrative efforts must be invested in reforming the public service into a capability-ready institution that could enable Nigeria’s development agenda beyond 2023.
“All of these and more are necessary to correct and not to repeat the sickening and painful show of shame that the elections of 2023 generated into.
“Let me conclude by stating clearly that I am now too old to keep quiet and watch Nigeria’s seemingly clueless launch into dystopia.
“All efforts are now required from all well-meaning and committed patriots to rescue the nation from the precipice.
“And when I look at the audience I have a feeling that among the people who can do it and who must do it are some of you here.
“It has become my own personal obligation, continuing in my relentless service as a letterman, dedicated in my twilight years to say the truth, as I see it, so as to push Nigeria in the direction of our collective aspirations.
“What is our collective aspiration? A better society where all Nigerian can become what the Almighty God is destined to be.
“At times like this, some of us have to adopt the attitude of being known to be blind and not being afraid of the dark. But we must continually work for the light of all.”
He congratulated the author of the book, Prof. Tunji Olapa for continuing to labour on behalf of the Nigerian public service and adding the significant intellectual memoir to his huge collection of publications and to the annals of administrative reforms in Nigeria.
Speaking to journalists at the occasion, Okigbo noted that reforming the civil service was necessary to drive electoral programmes and promises that would better a lot of all Nigerians.
Okigbo said it is one thing to have a political will as a leader and another thing entirely to translate the will into actionable projects which is what reforms are all about.
According to him, “Every four years, we go to elections, politicians make promises of what they want to do and at the end of the day, not a lot happens.
“It is not because these politicians are bad people, it is not because they do not want to do stuff, it is basically because all the electoral promises will have to be delivered by the public service, the civil servants, the political appointees.
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“If the civil service does not have the capacity to deliver on these promises, they will remain mere promises, so what we are attempting to do here is to convene leading scholars, leading practitioners, leading policy advocates, development partners etc, to say what is the pathway for reforming Nigeria’s public service.
