Sack service chiefs as new year gift to Nigerians, Northern elders

By Doosuur iwambe

Says, retaining them is unconstitutional 

Again, the Northern elders have reiterated  calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the security chiefs over worsening security problems confronting the nation saying, sacking them will be the best new year gift for Nigerians.

The Northern elders operating under the umbrella of Coalition of North East Elders for Peace and Development said,they were disappointed that the president failed to address the issue in his  new year message. 

According to a  statement signed by its national coordinator Engr. Zana Goni, the northern elders noted that the continued retention of the service chiefs many years after expiration of their retirement date in service was not only unconstitutional but  also capable to weaken the morale of the military personnel as well as  the front line troops.

To this end,  they  charged the president to as a matter of urgency  do the needful by not only announcing appointment of new security heads but also ensuring that the new security management team was in line with Nigeria’s federal character principle.

The Northern elders particularly said they needed a gift of new service chiefs from the president,adding that it was the only way the president can convince them of hope for positive results in the ongoing war against insecurity in the region.

While stressing that the  appointment of all almost all the current security chiefs from the North was morally wrong,  the elders added that the development may also have  emboldened criminals, bandits,there must be immediate change of guards that reflect the federal character principles if the war against insecurity is to be taking seriously.

They further reiterated their earlier position that the security chiefs were not indispensable hence the need for their replacement.

“The continued retention of the service chiefs many years after expiration of their retirement date in service is not only unconstitutional but  also capable to weakened the morale of military personnel and the front line troops.

“Their continued stay in office is not adding value to the nation’s security management team”, it stated.

The elders regretted that the rising wave of insecurity in the North was being downplayed by the media.

“Many people are dying daily in the North as a result of banditry and insurgency but the situation is being underreported”.

The group which appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to listen to the voice of reason by relieving the security chiefs of their offices,said such action coupled with increment in defence budget were the only ways to go for Nigeria’s security situation to regain its glorious place in history.

They advised President Buhari to try different hands in the security architecture, saying such action could not only bring back the high morale but also zeal and vigour in addition to career development in the military.

But the group said sending the service chiefs packing from their offices without increment in the nation’s defence budget could also not get the country out of the wood,as according to it,robust budget funding which would lead to the military having necessary tools to stand taller than their adversaries was imminent.

They insisted that the president must stop looking at the service chiefs as indispensable, saying there were more efficient and tactically trained officers in the military with valour to confront the adversaries headlong and end the nation’s over a decade long insecurity, especially insurgency and terrorism in the North.

“We listened to the New Year speech of Mr President to Nigerians with rapt attention believing that he was going to give us a New Year gift in new service chiefs but the president to our disappointment, was silent on this key issue in the lip of every Nigerian,” the statement said.

The statement added: “At the moment, the most important thing to every Nigerian is security. They want their lives to be protected first.

The National Assembly has since understood this and that is why as representatives of the people, they have since been calling for a more robust,efficient and effective security management for the country.

” The recognized that this cannot be achieved without emplacing a complete new security architecture in place.

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That is why the two chambers of the legislature came up with resolutions seeking replacement of service chiefs but after many months of this genuine and patriotic call by the people’s representatives, President Buhari is yet to accede to their request.

This is unfair to Nigerians whose lives are being cut down on daily basis.

“We still stand by the position of the National Assembly where members unanimously resolved that you relieve the security chiefs of their positions to pave way for not only fresh hands but also fresh ideas in our security management strategies”.

They called on the president to rise to the occasion by hearkening to what they called the “voice of majority” that new hands were needed to pilot the affairs of the country’s security architecture.