Kingsley Omonobi
13 July 2008
As part of activities marking this year's Nigerian Army Day celebration, the Chief of the Army Staff, Lt. General Luka Nyeh Yusuf, spoke in an interview on developments within the army since he assumed office. Excerpts:
WHY is the army very aggressive in handling internal security crisis?
We are pleading to Nigerians to understand that everything has a limit. Demonstrations that will lead to the destruction of properties are retrogressive. Yes we know that in some instances, the people can protest and question certain occurrences or actions but we must know that there is a limit. In the event of continuous conflict, negative conflict, there will be retrogression.
So we are advising Nigerians to ensure that their conflict did not become retrogressive to development and threaten public peace. That is the reason we advise that once the police come out during conflicts, whoever is aggrieved should take that as interest by government to see that whatever the problem, it is resolved there and then.
Any time soldiers come out, we come out as the final move to make sure the law is not violated and in our case we must make sure that the law is obeyed. It is just like it happened in the civil war and, as you have been told, it ended in no victor no vanquished because we are all Nigerians, even though we all lost in one way or the other. So we are appealing to Nigerians to always weigh the way they come out to express themselves in disagreements involving policies.
Internal unrest
I will like to also re-iterate that the Nigerian Army has the constitutional right to protect the nation against external aggression and internal unrest, which may threaten the sovereignty of the country. That is why we say we are one of the major pillars of democracy. For instance, if you note, in our country today, every government lasts for only four years but the Nigerian Armed forces and indeed the Nigerian army remains permanent, so invariably we are the pillars of democracy. Every politician, every government serves four years and goes back. I am sure every officer, every soldier in the Nigerian Army understands this matrix now and we are not only ready to live up to expectation but we understand that it is only through peace that our country can move forward in development and whatever aspect of international endeavours.
What is the situation concerning missing arms in the army and what steps have been put in place to checkmate further occurrence?
With regard to loss of weapons, it is not a new thing. This is not the first time weapons are lost in an army like Nigerian. It is just like in a family, anytime something is missing, the mother or father will call the children and ask them why that thing is missing. And so if we discover that our weapons or anything is missing in the army, we normally have a board of inquiry which was done and whatever is responsible, we make sure that there is no repetition and that is routine in the military.
There is complaint that the 15% increase in salaries of soldiers is yet to be implemented. What is the position?
Look, salary arrears and most of the things you are talking about have been sorted out. Infact, most of these things you are talking about are things we read in the papers. For us in the army, these things sound very strange to us. I can assure you that our soldiers are satisfied with whatever they are being paid to perform their duties.
The recent actions in some villages in Edo, Delta and Bayelsa states ostensibly to flush out militants, some allege, did not have the backing of the Chief of Defence Staff. Why was this so?
As for Niger Delta, I keep on telling people that that area is like any other part of Nigeria. Nobody has declared either a state of emergency or any war against Niger Delta. We are in Niger delta just like we are in Sokoto, Katsina or we are in Borno, as we are in Kaduna and indeed in Abuja. If you see a soldier in uniform and you seize his weapon, you can be sure that, that soldier will not allow you to go free.
He will chase you and get his weapon back. In Niger Delta, some soldiers lost their weapons. These weapons were returned but ammunitions were not returned and they have to get them back because, as I told you, it is mandatory that if any weapons or ammunitions are missing, as far as I am concerned, they have to get them back. So they don't need any order from the Chief of the Defence Staff or the Chief of the Army Staff to tell them that they have to recover the arms and ammunitions that some children in Niger Delta took from soldiers. Mark you, I don't call them militants, you are the ones that call them militants, it means I will have a different condition and approach for them. But as far as I am concerned, they are just misguided children.
Some people have questioned the rationale behind Nigeria taking part in the AFRICOM project. Two, can you throw more light on you earlier submission that the army is a pillar of democracy?
There are no controversies surrounding the African Command. They are ideas. People either accept or reject them. African Command, government has not asked us to have a say in it. What I am saying is that, it is the government that will tell us their stand and what to do and how to fit it in. We are an army under democracy and so we don't have our independent ideas as far as international issues are concerned or rather our ideas should be a fall-out of whatever the government directs us to do. Its like structures you put in place when you are building a house.
Democracy is like that; so, for now, in Nigeria, we are the ones that are holding out. We hold on until after four years, at the end of the four years, those that are there will leave, we all know this; and they go back to the electorate. If the people are satisfied with their performance, they can elect the same people or a new group altogether will come and lead this country and whoever is elected whether old or new will definitely come out and meet the Nigerian armed forces and other security agencies holding Nigeria in position awaiting the swearing in of any body as elected by Nigerians.
And so that is the reason why we remain the pillars of democracy because we are permanent. The army, the navy, the airforce and the police, we remain the pillars of democracy and whether you like it or not, it is the same thing and I am urging all Nigerians to make sure that they protect these structures very well so that Nigerians will have the opportunity of realizing the expectations of the world for our people. Don't forget, we were told in 1960 that there were three countries that will come up as super powers in the third world. These countries were India, Brazil and Nigeria.
Today, India is already a super power, they are a nuclear power, Brazil are already exporting arms and armaments; it is Nigeria that everybody is waiting for. And it is because we have not properly focussed ourselves, which is the reason we are behind. But with the current trend where we have democracy coming in, we are now in position to choose and elect people that will lead us to the promised land. That is why we remain the pillars of democracy.
Are you not worried about new trends in the army that call to question the level of discipline like officers taking the army chief to court?
I am not a bit worried. Rather I am very happy; happy in the sense that those are the gains of democracy. In those days when we had military government, it wouldn't have been easy for any soldier or any officer to take the army to court. No, but the army, like I told you, is like another other government department in Nigeria. We are not saying that we don't make mistakes; we are not saying that people don't feel aggrieved.
Indeed we are running an army whereby, going by our rules and regulations, if you feel that we have wronged you, you are free to go to court in line with the rule of law. And so anybody taking the army to court is not strange. Even during the military regime we had people that took the army to court and in one way or the other the court ruled in their favour.
Any time the court rules in favour of any individual who is serving in the army or has served in the army, we ensure that we keep to the law. So it is not abnormal, it is not any form of indiscipline, rather it is a sign of consolidation as far as democracy is concerned in Nigeria.
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Dear Oga Army, I realise the difficult choices facing you and your colleagues in the matter of "Nigeria versus Riverine boys". As an indegene of the most riverine part of Nigeria, I have a vested interest in this matter. My concern as an ex-khaki man is that it is impossible for the armed forces of Nigeria to identify their military targets without inflicting colateral damage to my people. You remember the Odi thing. You also remember the events in Victor Malu's area. The case of Malu's people (a spanish word meaning an evil person) seems like retributive justice. This same Malu of a man killed my people enmasse at Odi. A few months later, his people suffered the same fate he had unleashed on others. Due to the fact the Nigerian army does not have the wherewithal to carry out its duties without inflicting damage to the innocent, it is wise to call off your plans. Tell the Nigerian government to develop the area and there will be no wahala. Yrs PKOwi(Prof Maths)