Why Senior Generals May Be Forced To Retire
Why senior generals may be forced to retire, it has been reported that in the interview with SOLOMON ODENIYI, he speaks on why generals, who are seniors to the new Chief of Army Staff, Major Gen. Farouk Yahaya, should be retained and the tasks ahead for him.
Senior generals shouldn’t be forced to retire because of Yahaya’s appointment
Bashir Adewinbi is a retired Brigadier-General in the Nigerian Army.
Generals May Be Forced To Retire
The new Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Farouk Yahaya, assumed office on Friday, what are the tasks ahead of him?
The major task before him is tackling the insecurity in every part of the country.
He must bring his experience to bear here and ensure that security of lives and property is guaranteed. The tension all around must be doused.
He must work in synergy with other security agencies, including the other arms of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, that is, the Navy and Air Force, to reduce the tension caused by insecurity in the country. The situation is getting worrisome.
Apart from insecurity, the other task I see ahead of him is the coordination of the Armed Forces because he is of Course 37 and has more Major Generals ahead of him; he needs to manage them very well.
He needs to devise tactics to manage them so that he can tap from their wealth of experience.
That will enable him to succeed in office as well as restore peace to the nation. Some of them are mates of the late CoAS.
Generals May Be Forced To Retire
In military tradition, these senior generals may be retired; do you see this having any implication on the country?
No, I do not agree with them being compulsorily asked to retire. These people can be redeployed in the Ministry of Defence and given some tasks to do. You see, retiring them to me is a waste of resources and manpower.
Many of them have been trained with the scarce resources of the nation to get to where they are; hence, the appointment of one person should not lead us to sending them away.
Apart from that, in the fight against insecurity, no hand should be wished away if we really want to get it right. We need them to bring their experience to the table.
The new Chief of Army Staff might have been at the theatre of operation and possesses other distinct attributes for him to have been chosen, but he still needs these senior officers.
My candid advice is that these senior officers should not be forcefully retired if they are willing to stay.
Those who want to retire should be allowed, while those who want to stay should; they should be maintained;they still have a lot of things to offer the system.
Are there no implications for retaining these senior officers since it is the tradition of the military?
There are no serious implications. For example, is the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, not the CoAS, Yahya’s senior?
And some of these officers on the verge of being retired are perhaps mates of Irabor and other officers at the Defence Headquarters, where the activities of the fight against insurgency are being coordinated.
Generals May Be Forced To Retire
To the best of my knowledge and as a retired military man, they are still very useful. The new CoAS should know how to manage them to be able to get the best out of them.
How best can the new CoAS curb the rising insecurity across the nation?
This is simple; he needs to carry everyone along.
As an experienced theatre commander, he should use his experience to holistically evaluate the strategy being deployed in the fight against insurgency and other forms of insecurity in the country, which are causing tension in all states of the federation.
He should overhaul these tactics if necessary or make adjustments where he needs to.
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Also, the welfare of the troops is very important. He must ensure that their morale is very high so that they can deliver for him. The troops are the ones in the theatre of war; they need to be well motivated.
When you motivate a soldier, you are on your way to defeating your adversaries. I think that is another aspect he should focus on.
There are what we call the principles of war. Sound administration is part of these principles and it is very key to securing victory on the war front.
From troops allowances to logistics, and most importantly, sophisticated weapons and other relevant equipment that meet the tasks at hand must be made available.
Generals May Be Forced To Retire
Generals May Be Forced To Retire
Generals May Be Forced To Retire
They must not be lacking anything; that is what can boost their morale.
He also needs to work on intelligence gathering for the Nigerian Army, especially as it is being reported that a terrorist group is having the edge over another.
He needs to get adequate information about their activities and operations; once he has enough intelligence reports with him, the job is as good as done.
There have been complaints about inadequate arms and ammunition for the troops, how well do you think the CoAS can tackle this?
He knows what to do as the CoAS with regard to this. He should be close to the National Security Adviser and the Ministry of Defence; they are the ones in charge of the procurement of arms for the Nigerian Army and other agencies.
He should make them understand the true situation of things and the need for the right equipment to be procured so as to prosecute the fight against insurgents and tackle all forms of insecurity.
It is a real war that we are fighting and not a jamboree activity. Wars like the one at hand demand sophisticated equipment.
Generals May Be Forced To Retire
Do you think the demand in some quarters is that the Armed Forces of Nigeria, especially the Army, need more funds to tackle insecurity in the country?
In the country, we are currently battling with a lot of security challenges, which cut across the different states of the federation.
In the North, we have terrorism and banditry. In the South, we have abduction and what have you. There is a need to disburse adequate funds to the military.
Generals May Be Forced To Retire
Why senior generals may be forced to retire, what is your comment?
