THRUST suddenly into national and international spotlight, Nigeria’s Armed Forces are looking rather flat-footed. While struggling to contain the terrorist insurgency in the toxic North-East zone and engaged in operations in most of the states, its personnel are unwisely being deployed for some purely political and civil matters by a short-sighted Presidency. It is a dangerous game that could well imperil the Fourth Republic.
President Goodluck Jonathan and his advisers are too fixated on politics to appreciate the dangers of immersing the military in partisan politics. No wonder that late last month, soldiers claiming to be acting on “orders from above” stopped the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, as he arrived for a function in Kaduna and insisted on searching his car despite protestations by the security aides of the country’s Number 4 citizen. Also in June, soldiers deployed in support of the massive security provided for the Ekiti State governorship election were reported to have stopped two state governors, Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) from attending a rally in Ado-Ekiti, two days before the poll.
In Lagos State, soldiers allegedly acting at the behest of the Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, invaded a building site of the state government, chased away the workers and occupied the premises. Ownership of the site is being disputed by the federal and state governments. When did armed soldiers become the arbiters in civil disputes between two tiers of government?
Blatant political partisanship also played out in Adamawa State, where soldiers deployed in the residence of the state’s acting Chief Judge in what the opposition alleged was a move to intimidate him (the judge) into constituting a panel to investigate Governor Murtala Nyako and his deputy as the state House of Assembly moved to impeach them. Any doubt about this was erased when the military took on the task of providing security for the sittings of the panel and lawmakers after the CJ set it up. Surely, the police mobile unit can guard state legislators. Nyako was eventually impeached on Tuesday, while his deputy resigned.
Using the military for services the police are constitutionally empowered to do, unless where absolutely necessary, is myopic and unwise. It is bad enough that rampant insecurity has compelled the deployment of soldiers in internal security operations in about 33 states of the federation, the impression should not be created that routine domestic security provision is impossible without the military. It was not necessary for soldiers to have accosted Tambuwal. If security imperatives demanded that all citizens be treated equally, policemen or State Security Service personnel should be tasked with frisking civilians, except in those states now under emergency rule.
Similarly, it is the police, if necessary, that should have accosted Oshiomhole and Amaechi; not soldiers, who ought to remain as the back-up lethal force if order breaks down: they are the last line of defence, not the first. In such instances, soldiers should provide back-up muscle, not replace the police.
Mind-bogglingly worse, soldiers, naval troops and Air Force personnel are now being routinely deployed as security guards for ranking legislators who head parliamentary standing committees that have oversight over government agencies. This must stop. Such military personnel should be withdrawn as it is an abuse of the military institution. Public officials who require protection should approach the police, who are empowered by the basic law to do so. The Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, and the Army, Navy and Air Force chiefs have a historic opportunity to insulate the military institution from partisan politics. As officers and gentlemen, they should be embarrassed seeing their men involved in land disputes or guarding politicians. Episodes such as the Lagos land affair and the Adamawa saga can be easily misunderstood and encourage junior officers and other ranks to similarly resort to self-help and some have been doing just that.
What should be the role of the military in a democracy? It is a great institution, a formidable plank in nation-building and historically, a training ground for statesmen. The world’s greatest nations, empires and super-powers have been led by statesmen groomed in leadership and patriotism in their armed forces. Our officers should disavow any appearance of thuggish behaviour and keep strictly out of the political arena, while pursuing professionalism. The top military brass must not make themselves or their troops available to be used as political enforcers for temporary, and often, unprincipled, occupiers of public office. The Nigerian Armed Forces have a long and heroic history that pre-dates our flag independence and have out-lived all governments, having served meritoriously in campaigns across the world.
The military’s top priority must at all times be the readiness to defend the territorial integrity of the country. Reforming it for this onerous task and shaping it to meet new threats such as terrorism, piracy and guerrilla insurrection should be Jonathan’s and Badeh’s priority.
Reversing this and restructuring the forces are more crucial than exposing and entrenching soldiers in the seductive maelstrom of partisan politics.
PUNCH
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