Leadership (Abuja)
Prince Charles Dickson
15 April 2008
Abuja — Chief of Army staff, Lt. General Luka N. Yusuf, yesterday declared that it is now impossible for politicians seeking public offices to influence the military to effect change of government in the country.
Time has passed when failed politicians resort to all forms of lobby and influence to call in the soldiers to overthrow a sitting government to achieve their selfish interests, he said.
In an exclusive interview with leadership in his office in Abuja, Yusuf assured that the Nigerian soldier considers himself as the pillar of democracy and therefore is prepared to do everything within its constitutional powers to safeguard it.
Coup-detats, he stated, "are no longer fashionable the world over," and therefore urged desperate politicians to seek alternative and better ways of settling their differences when they lose elections.
"I have already told politicians who, after losing elections, run to the military, urging them to effect change of government of the day as a way of settling scores that this will no longer happen.
"We in the military today see ourselves as pillars of democracy and it is our constitutional duty to protect it from collapse," the Army Chief stated.
Reacting to another question on the Niger-Delta region, the Chief of Army staff said contrary to opinions in some quarters, there is peace in the region now, "except that some miscreants engage in theft at times."
The joint task put in place to curtail the activities in the region, according to him, has not failed.
"Note that the army has not failed in its assignment in the Niger Delta. we are working within the guidelines.
"We are not at war, we are not waging war against anybody in the Niger Delta. The people are our brothers. not all of them are militants, not all of them are doing illegal businesses there. It is the duty of other security agencies to arrest those engaged in stealing and kidnappings. it is not the duty of the soldiers," Yusuf asserted.
He dismissed insinuations in some quarters that the army high command was not satisfied with its 2008 budgetary allocation, pointing out that, "it is not our duty to appropriate money to ourselves. It is left to the government to decide how much it deems fit and okay for the military.
"Probably, it is because Nigeria is not at war with itself or another country and government feels what it has given us is okay. We have no complain about that."
The army officer advised his men and officers to endeavour to operate within the ambit of their constitutional role and avoid anything that will drag them into partisan politics.
He said he would not hesitate or delay approval on any application by any officer or rank and file of the army who may wish to leave the service to go into active politics, because "it is an aberation to attempt to do the two at the same time".
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