Follow Us on Google
From Clement Adeyi, Osogbo
The Olowu of Kuta, Osun State, Oba Adekunle Makama, has cautioned the National Assembly and Nigerians against the recent call for the removal of Nigeria’s service chiefs.
Oba Makama declared that what the country needed in the current insecurity challenges bedevilling it was a holistic appraisal to find lasting solutions but not the removal of the service chiefs.
“The nation cannot afford to take a step forward and two backward in the fight against the insurgency,” the monarch said.
The monarch also expressed the need to develop the Sambisa Forest for mechanised farming.
He expressed worries that leaving the forest fallow for too long would pave way for insurgents’ return to the enclave where they would continue their deadly activities.
The traditional ruler described the call for the sack of service chiefs as hasty and transferred aggression to the service chiefs despite their sacrifice to defend the territorial integrity and the internal security of the country.
While stressing that the security architecture of the country needed overhauling for optimum performance, he called on the citizenry not to blame the military alone for the lapses.
“The Senate and House of Representatives’ motions that the service chiefs should resign or be sacked is not the best way to appreciate their efforts. The danger inherent in such motions is that it will not only demoralise the officers and men who would feel let down by such decision, those coming to take over from them may be reluctant since it is the same military, considering the monumental impact the present military leadership has made towards professionalism in the Army that we’re not talking about,” he said.
Oba Makama added that when dealing with the issue of security, there was the need to be circumspect in order not to jeopardise the success so far achieved.
He stressed that insurgency was different from conventional warfare, which, according to him, was more predictable during operations.
The monarch noted that it was not easy for the military to battle insecurity alone with a poor budget, saying it needed adequate funding and the support of other armed security agencies.
“How can the military fight insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and other several insecurity battles alone and also cope with a meagre budget?” he asked.
“What’s the role of the DSS, NSDC, Police, Immigration, Customs in a situation like this? Are they not also equipped to complement the military’s efforts in the war fronts?”
The Olowu stressed that the military was overstretched.
He called for concerted efforts involving other security agencies to confront the insurgency to be able to record unprecedented breakthrough to end the tension in the affected areas.
