Service chiefs plan massive changes

 

There are strong indications that the newly appointed service chiefs will embark on a far reaching reorganisation within the three services of the Armed Forces.

Security personnel, who confided in one of our correspondents on Friday, said that the changes might come not later than the next one week.

The new service chiefs are Chief of Defence Staff, Maj.Gen. Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin; Chief of Army Staff, Maj.Gen. T.Y. Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar.

It was learnt that there had been apprehension in the military since the announcement of the change in leadership in the military in Monday.

It was gathered that the appointments had elicited mixed reactions from military personnel especially the officers cadre because some officers who did not ‘have juicy appointments’ are expecting better postings while those in such positions are looking forward to retaining them.

It was further learnt that the new chiefs would not delay in effecting the expected changes because of the need to put together a team of senior military officers to pursue their respective visions for the three services.

The changes, it was gathered, would affect the various General Officers Commanding, the Air Officers Commanding, and the Flag Officer Commanding of the services.

It was further learnt that the shake-up would also affect Directors, field commanders and others occupying strategic positions in the services.

The source said, “It is not only about a directive to reposition the military. When there is a change in command, this must happen. It would not be delayed and should not be later than a week.

“There must be major changes involving the GCOS, commanders, commandant of tri-service formations, air officers, and flag officers commanding in the next one week.

“The new chiefs are not supposed to waste time. They must work with their loyalists.

“Naturally, some very senior officers in the same course with the service chiefs would go with them while chances would be created for others in the tri-service institutions.

“All those who are leaving must be replaced; there can’t be a vacuum, posting must come.”

Another source, who spoke on the issue, said that the expected changes were inevitable.

The source stated that it was the norm in the military for the service chiefs to appoint their loyalists, reshuffle officers just the same way the President replaced the service chiefs he inherited from Jonathan.

Investigations showed that the Nigerian Army headquarters’ 11 departments and six divisions will be affected by the impending shake-up.

These are the Directorate of Army Policy and Plans: Directorate of Army Training and Operations; Directorate of Army logistics; Directorate of Army Administration; Directorate of Army Standards and Evaluation; and the Directorate of Civil Military Affairs.

Other departments of the Army to be affected are: Directorate of Nigerian Army Welfare Limited/GTE; Army Transformation and Innovation Centre; Nigerian Army Military Secretary; Legal Service; and the Directorate of Army Public Relations.

The Army divisions that may be affected are 1 Division; 2 Division; 3 Division; 81 Division; 82 Division; and 7 Division.

Also to be affected are the seven service headquarters of the Nigerian Air Force, its four commands and 13 Direct Reporting Units.

The seven branches of the service headquarters are: Policy; Operations; Engineering; Log and Comms; Administration, Evaluation and Air Secretary.

The Commands of the Nigerian Air Force that may be affected by the shake-up are: Tactical Air Command; Mobility Command; Training Command; and Logistics Command.

The DRUs, by virtue of their functions, report directly to NAF Headquarters.

The units are: Nigerian Air Force Holding Company; Air Force Institute of Technology; National Air Defence Corp; Presidential Air Fleet (101 PAF); Aeromedical Centre (102 AMC); Pay and Accounting (103 PAG); Pesonnel Management Group (104 PMG); and NAF Camp Abuja (106 NAF Camp Abuja).

Others are: NAF Camp Abuja (107 NAF Camp Lagos); NAF Hospital Abuja (108 NAFH); Special Investigation Group (109 SIG); Aeronautical Engineering and Technical Services Ltd (AETSL); and Quick Response Force (QRF).

For the Nigerian navy, its eight Command Headquarters are also expected to be affected by the shake-up. The naval command structure involves the Naval Headquarters; the Western Naval Command; the Eastern Naval Command; Central Naval Command; and the Naval Training Command.

Others are the Logistics Command, the Autonomous Command and the NN Air Arm.

Reacting to the planned shake-up, a former Director of Procurement in the Defence Headquarters and a Fellow of War College, Brig.-Gen. Ayodele Ojo, described it as normal. He said the new service chiefs would naturally want to bring in people they think could do the job.

He said, “It is customary that when new service chiefs are appointed, it is usually followed with changes down the line particularly at the top echelon.

“The new service chiefs will want to bring on board officers of like mind that will be able to implement and carry out their operational and strategic directives. That explains why it is necessary to effect changes at the top level of command.

“Similarly, for effective command and control by the service chiefs, it is expected that all officers senior to them are supposed to go on voluntary retirement. In the case of the Army, all officers of Regular 28 and above and their equivalent counterparts should proceed on retirement.”

A security analyst, Ben Okezie, asked the new Chief of Army Staff, to restore discipline and restructure the army, noting that indiscipline had eaten deep into the armed forces.

According to him, soldiers no longer have respect for senior officers and this, he said, had permeated every sector of the security forces.

Okezie advised the CAS to look into the welfare of his officers and men, noting that this was neglected by the past security chiefs.

Also speaking, a retired Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Tsav, said he expects the new military chiefs to restructure the army and weed out redundant hands and those he described as mercenaries.

Tsav challenged the COAS to focus seriously on the war against insurgency which he said the sacked service chiefs failed to do.

But a retired senior military officer, Col. Tony Nyiam, called for caution.

He said the shake-up should not be used to intimidate officers.

Nyiam said, “Yes, they need it (shake-up) to change and bring in people, but this must not be a witch-hunt. We have dead woods, but there should be no intimidation based on ethnicity because the usual thing is to see people use such as an excuse to put their own people in and remove others.”

In a related development, President Muhammadu Buhari may not hire mercenaries to prosecute the war against Boko Haram insurgents, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.

It was gathered that the President had been assessing the war against terrorism since his assumption of office and had come to the conclusion that Nigerian military could defeat the insurgents without mercenaries.

A top security source, who confided in Saturday PUNCH, said, “The President considers it as a national honour for our military to handle the crisis without interventions from foreign armies.

“He was in the Nigerian army and he knows what it can do. He believes if the military is properly equipped, it can defeat the insurgents.”

When contacted, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said the Federal Government had not talked about hiring South African mercenaries to fight against the Boko Haram sect.

Adesina, in an interview with one of our correspondents on Thursday, said he would not be able to comment on what the government had not talked about.

“This administration has not talked about that (hiring South African mercenaries to fight against Boko Haram sect). So, I cannot comment on something that has not been talked about,” he simply said.

It will be recalled that Buhari, on May 18, while hosting the National Executive Council of the Arewa Consultative Forum,   expressed disappointment with the way the military handled the war against insurgency in the North East.

According to Buhari, Nigerian soldiers needed not wait for South Africans before confronting Boko Haram insurgents and winning the war in parts of the North- East.

“The military has never been so incapacitated like now. It is a shame that the Military cannot secure 14 out of the 774 local governments in the country.

“What is more worrisome is the fact that Nigeria’s military has to rely on South African mercenaries before it could gain recent success in the war against Boko Haram. This situation is shameful and unacceptable.

“My administration will concentrate on three major areas on assumption of office that is insecurity, the economy/unemployment and corruption. We will ensure we nip insecurity in the bud.

“A situation where people live above their earnings will not be tolerated”