Group Tells Tinubu To Ignore Calls For Removal Of Service Chiefs

Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, Chief of Army Staff

LAGOS – A civil society coalition group, Campaign Against Injustice (CAI), has told President Bola Tinubu to ignore the calls for removal of service chiefs.

The group, in a statement on Thursday signed by its convener, Abbey Jolaosho, said it’s wrong to blame the service chiefs alone and called for their removal whenever things go wrong without critically examining the situation. 

The group while reacting to the call for the removal of service chiefs by Northern Ethnic National Forum through its convener, Dominic Alancha, on Thursday, CAI, said Nigerians should encourage the Nigerian Army for the services they have rendered and continue to render, adding that a lot of them paid the supreme sacrifice to ensure that the territorial integrity of Nigeria is not in jeopardy. 

It noted that apart from the fact that terrorism is a worldwide phenomenon, the military have suffered a lot of setbacks in terms of equipment, remuneration and other factors that should be taken care by the governors and other officials at the local government levels in term of good governance to discourage those taking arms against the country because of frustration and hardships. 

CAI hailed the efforts of the Chief of Army Staff, Gen Olufemi Oluyede for leading from the front.

“We’ve noticed the zeal with which the Chief of Army Staff has conducted himself in recent times in terms of Nigeria’s Army motivation and welfare. This is highly commendable.”

The group also commended President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which has improved on the welfare and allowance to the military. 

On the daily allowance which was one thousand and five hundred naira only (N1.500) before it was increased by President Tinubu, the group said the Nigerian Army has done well if the number of operations they’re involved in across Nigeria is put into consideration. 

The group also urged the governors and local government chairmen across the country to up their game and support President Tinubu’s Agenda as more money is being released to them.

“People’s scrutiny should be directed towards the governors and council officials who now have more than triple allocation to make life easy for the people and also the military, instead of transferring their anger and aggression to the service chiefs who are doing all that is humanly possible to get rid of the insurgency ravaging Nigeria. 

“We know that the kinetic method is just about 25 per cent while the non-kinetic (good governance etal) would take care of the remaining 75 per cent.

“It’s because of these unhealthy criticisms that you now have a lot of deserters and others not willing to join the Nigerian Army,” the group added.