 President
Muhammadu Buhari’s current slow approach to governance is affecting the
prosecution of the war against extremist group, Boko Haram, in the
north east, findings by PREMIUM TIMES have shown.
Officials in
the administration and some retired security and military experts who
spoke to PREMIUM TIMES, expressed the view that the decision by the
president to continue working with the service chiefs and the National
Security Adviser he inherited from the administration of former
President Goodluck Jonathan, is greatly affecting the war.
“Service
Chiefs are currently sitting at the edge of their seats; there is a
regime of uncertainty because it was clear to them and everyone that
they would not be part of the new administration, as such, they
presently do not go the extra mile,” one official said.
We also
gathered at the Defence Headquarters that there is presently no long
term commitment on the part of the Service Chiefs and other top
commanders, owing largely, to the uncertainty regarding their tenure.
“All
the Service Chiefs have cleared their desks including the NSA, and each
day, they expect to receive the news of their sack, in that case, how
do you expect someone to be in the right frame to prosecute a war as
complex as the one against Boko Haram who use civilian targets as
shield,” he said.
Our source added that the Service Chiefs are presently hardly taking any decision on the war and security matters.
“They are often only called in to be given directive to carry out, the president is the one in charge,” he said.
“Take
for example the decision to remove military checkpoints; an order was
simply given without recourse to brainstorming on the issue,” he said.
Another
retired army general, who also asked not to be named for “personal
reasons” said other high ranking military officers, sensing the
insecurity on the part of the service chiefs have begun to show signs of
indiscipline.
He said top commanders are unable to enforce
discipline at present because “everyone knows that the leadership are
living on borrowed time, and so, hardly carry out directives”.
Our
source added that the tenure of Service Chiefs is usually two years and
the current chiefs were appointed in January 2014, as such, they know
sack or not, they would leave by January 2016.
“I know that what
is agitating the minds of our chiefs at present is planning their post
retirement life and not any long term plan to prosecute a war
“What I
would advise the president is to allow them leave, so that he, himself
would be focused with a fresh team he personally put in place, the
earlier we do this, the better for us as a nation,” the source said.
Just
like what obtains at present in the military, this newspaper had
reported recently how the delay by Mr. Buhari to make key appointments
more than three weeks after assumption of office was taking a serious
toll on government businesses.
We reported that the president’s
delay in filling important government positions, especially the office
of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, was hurting the
smooth running of government businesses.
PREMIUM TIMES
investigations revealed that the day to day operations of the different
ministries, departments and agencies have been weakened, while
coordination of important government policies and programmes has become a
mess.
“The country can ill-afford further delay by the president to
make these vital appointments,” a federal permanent secretary said on
Wednesday. “From the presidency to the ministries, departments and
agencies, everything has come to virtual standstill.”
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