BY LINUS CHIBUIKE
NORTHERN elders have said they are disappointed that President Muhammadu Buhari did not announce the sack of service chiefs in his New Year message to Nigerians.
The elders, who spoke on the platform of the Coalition of North East Elders for Peace and Development, said the President’s refusal to heed to calls by Nigerians for a change of service chiefs in the face of worsening security problems made Buhari’s New Year message empty.
The statement, signed by the Group’s National Coordinator, Zana Goni, said for the security situation in Nigeria to change for good, there must be an immediate change of guard, which would reflect the federal character principle.
The northern elders however said sacking the service chiefs without an increment in the nation’s defence budget could not also get the country out of the woods.
According to the elders, robust budget funding will lead to the military having the necessary tools to stand taller than their adversaries.
The group said, “We listened to the New Year speech of Mr President to Nigerians with rapt attention believing that he was going to give us a New Year gift in new service chiefs but the president to our disappointment, was silent on this key issue on the lip of every Nigerian.
“At the moment, the most important thing to every Nigerian is security. They want their lives to be protected first. The National Assembly has since understood this and that is why as representatives of the people, they have since been calling for more robust, efficient and effective security management for the country.
“They recognised that this cannot be achieved without emplacing a completely new security architecture. That is why the two chambers of the legislature came up with resolutions seeking replacement of service chiefs but after many months of this genuine and patriotic call by the people’s representatives, President Buhari (has) yet to accede to their request. This is unfair to Nigerians whose lives are being cut down on a daily basis.
“We still stand by the position of the National Assembly where members unanimously resolved that you relieve the security chiefs of their positions to pave ways for not only fresh hands but also fresh ideas in our security management strategies.
“Sacking the current chiefs and subsequently replacing them with new ones will automatically change the game of insecurity as the morale of fighting officers will be boosted, new strategies will be launched beside the flow of intelligence information among the security agencies.
“We reiterate that President Muhammed Buhari, as a matter of urgent national importance, sacks the current crop of service chiefs over the state of insecurity in our country. Their sack will no doubt be in our national interest, given that they seem to be now bereft of ideas on how to contend the security problems bedeviling our dear country.”
The elders wondered whether there were unseen hands in the service frustrating the fight against insurgency and insecurity in the country deliberately, owing to the continued stay of the service chiefs.
They said, “This is why we appeal to the president to hearken to the call by the majority of Nigerians as reflected in the country’s parliament recently that it’s time for him to do the needful.
“We are in a constitutional democracy where any decision of government or leaders is taken from the popular view.”
