Nigeria’s military should be protected from political interference, says retired general
The military establishment in Nigeria should be separated from the political system, said a retired officer of the Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Bata Haruna.
Haruna, who was a Federal Commissioner for Information and Culture between 1975 and 1977, made this assertion on Tuesday while appearing on Arise News.
He said this in the wake of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s (BAT) sacking of all the service chiefs and appointment of Nuhu Ribadu as the national security adviser.
Haruna said that the new military establishment in Nigeria should be allowed to focus on building security forces.
According to him, this should be with the objective of a nation that is united in diversity, rather than being divided by political tribalism. (Rtd)
“All these indices are irrelevant, I think the bullet does not choose where you come from whether North West or North East and so on,” Haruna said in his reaction to talks of bias in appointing the new service chiefs.
“And so as members of the Armed Forces, from my experience, I think things have not changed even though I look back to 191 which was my military registration number.
“But I now see that officers have gotten to about 18,000 and their serial number is getting close to that many, however, I think what we need to do is that those analyses are relevant for power sharing within the political terrain.
“We should not attribute them as the very high value that must be applied to the make-up of the Armed Forces.
“Again, I am saying, although the security outfit must be patriotic and committed, they must not be made to think as if they are political representatives in their institutions,” he said.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima decorated the new acting Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, in a brief ceremony witnessed by top government officials.
Shettima decorated Egbetokun at the presidential villa, Abuja in place of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) who had earlier left for Paris, France to attend the Financial Pact Summit (FPS).
