The House specifically accused the service chiefs of failing to tame rising insecurity in Nigeria. It said President Buhari should sack the service chiefs if they fail to resign. The 360-member House had unanimously adopted a motion moved by the Chief Whip, Mohammed Monguno [APC, Borno] on The need to curb the incessant attacks by Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East Zone. Ahmadu Jaha (APC, Borno) added the amendment that said the service chiefs should be sacked if they failed to resign.
The service chiefs are Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Gabriel Abayomi Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas and Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar. Buhari first appointed them in July 2015 for a period of two years. Their tenures were extended for an additional two years in 2017, which expired in July 2019. They have however remained in office since then and it is not clear as at now whether they are serving another tenure.
At least in their first few years in office, the current service chiefs did very well in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists. Despite many hiccups and setbacks, the army under Buratai unrolled one strategy and one special operation after another which in time reduced Boko Haram to a shadow of its former self. Yet, he never succeeded in crushing the insurgents completely and ending the war. The Air Force under Air Marshal Abubakar, too, greatly upped its game and became a very important force in the fight. In the last six months, however, we witnessed a reversal of fortunes and an upsurge in Boko Haram violence, leading to the attacks on the all-important Maiduguri to Damaturu highway.
Public anger is not only because of Boko Haram but also the other crimes ravaging the country, especially kidnapping and bandit attacks on rural communities. Although fighting robbery, kidnapping and banditry is primarily the job of the police, the military has been lending a helping hand in many parts of the country. We are however far from achieving success.
Buhari should replace the military service chiefs because they have overstayed their welcome and should take some blame for the recent setbacks. Their overstay has also created discontent in the military where members of several courses junior to them have had to retire without fulfilling their career ambitions. Other officers should be given the opportunity to reinject vigour into the military and try new ideas in the fight against insurgents and bandits.
We must, however, add that changing the service chiefs alone may not necessarily bring all the desired benefits. The Federal Government must step up efforts at enlarging, equipping and retraining the military as well as the police and other security forces to be ahead of the criminals. If the military continues to operate with inadequate manpower, obsolete weaponry, low welfare motivation and on-and-off cooperation from our neighbouring countries, then success may continue to elude us.
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