Shake-up in military *Course 13 Generals retired; 4 GOCs, 2 AOCs affected

By Kingsley Omonobi
Posted to the Web: Tuesday, July 31, 2007

ABUJA — PRESIDENT Umaru Yar’Adua has approved the retirement of all Course 13 Generals in the Armed Forces. About 40 Generals including Majors-General and Brigadiers-Generals are affected by the retirement which takes effect from the end of this month.

The immediate fall-out of the retirements is that all the General Officers Commanding the five Divisions of the Army and TRADOC have been removed while new ones have been appointed.

Besides, the Nigerian Air Force has retired four Air Vice Marshals (AVMs) including the Air Officer Commanding the Tactical Air Command, Air Vice Marshal Nelson Dilli, and the Chief of Policy and Plans at the Defence Headquarters, Air Vice Marshal Saliu Atawodi.

Following the removal of the GOCs, new GOCs and Corp Commanders have been appointed for the Army while new Air Officers Commanding have been appointed for the Air Force.

The new appointees are Major-General A. T. Ibrahim, GOC 82 Divisions, Enugu; Major-General Dambazau, GOC 2 Division, Ibadan; Major-General Moses Obi, GOC 1 Division, Kaduna; Major-General Akinyemi is GOC 3 Division, Jos; Major-General M. C. Yerima, Military Secretary Army, and Major-General J. B. Samuel, Commandant of the Nigerian Army Artillery Corps and School.

Others include Major-General Adekegba Ovo, formerly Director of Military Intelligence, now Chief of Training and Operations at Defence Headquarters; Brigadier-General O. Role, formerly the Deputy Commandant of the National Defence College, now the Commander Army Headquarters Garrison, Abuja.

For the Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Femi Gbadebo, formerly the Air Officer Commanding Training Command, Kaduna has been appointed the new AOC Tactical Command while Air Vice Marshal C. Obierika, formerly the Air Officer in charge of Inspections at NAF Headquarters, is the new AOC Training Command.

Some of the Generals retired are Major-General Adewuyi, formerly GOC 82 Division and CTOP at DHQ; Major-General R. Ihekire, and Commandant of TRADOC and former Force Commander of African Union Force in Darfur.

The former GOCs  are Majors-General Ihejirika of 81 Division, Lagos; Major-General Atawodi of 82 Division, Enugu; Major-General L. Jokotola of 1 Division, Kaduna; Major-General Joseph Oshanupin of 3 Division, Jos and Major-General Saleh of 2 Division, Ibadan.

Minister states Yar'Adua's commitment to military's devt

Meanwhile, Defence Minister, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, declared yesterday that the priority of the President Yar’Adua’s administration was to ensure a qualitative equipment and personnel such that the Nigerian Armed Forces would be able to hold thier own among their contemporaries anywhere in the world.

Speaking when he and his Minister of State, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze, assumed office in Abuja yesterday, Ahmed said: “Our main priorities in this ministry will first of all be to know the status of each of the services in terms of number and quality of men, equipment holding and quality, welfare package and other needs for our military establishment.

“Secondly, we want to know about the availability of training facilities, to which extent we are training and re-training, because military warfare or in peace time, deserves to be constantly in tune with modern realities, and I am pleased to say that in the Nigerian public system, there is no better trained organisation like the Nigerian Armed Forces. They are so organised in terms of training and it is even tied to their career development. That is what we are trying to impart on the civil service.

“Thirdly, we are going to emphasise on barracks accommodation because we cannot continue to pretend that we have an armed forces that is always at the mercy of civilians, mixing freely and having the chance of compromising your ethics and professional stand. We know that government is trying in terms of barracks rehabilitation but when we recall when last barracks were built in this country, we know that we have a long way to go.

“With monetisation, you cannot deny an army officer, naval officer or air force officer or men that always go to fight or to keep peace for us, decent accommodation. Another area that will take our attention is to make sure that the military pension is taken headlong,” he said.

He disclosed that though he was in an inter-ministerial committee that did a lot to tackle the problems of military pensioners, “more still needed to be done because the military, when they go out, they were never in touch with civilians, they do not have time to go do petty trading. All they rely on and all they will depend on will be their pensions. So we will take pensions as one of our top priorities.”

On the role the military would play in achieving the success of the seven-point agenda of the President, the minister said: “Of the seven-point agenda, the military has relevance in achieving four. One is security of the nation, second is the Niger Delta issue, third is maintenance of infrastructure and human capital and last but not the least, the fight against corruption.

“These four of the seven are directly relevant to this ministry and we will articulate them fully with a view to having a stand and a position, so that we will dovetail it into the mission of this ministry and continue to brief Mr. President on the progress of these objectives which he has highlighted.

“So, if out of seven cardinal objectives of Mr. President, the Ministry of Defence is directly related to four, then you know that you are central to the implementation of President Yar’Adua’s seven-point agenda which with his Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, told the whole nation that they are going to make a difference,” he said.

Robot  Villager

# 1 Shake-up in military *Course 13 Generals retired; 4 GOCs, 2 AOCs affected By Kingsley O...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 31.07.2007 10:17

Big-K  Villager

# 2 When I read things like this, I feel like head-butting OBJ. If OBJ had used the rare opportunities he had to fundamentally restructure the country, these shake-ups will become really mute and there would be no fear of marginalization. I can predict now that all the so-called changes OBJ made in the past 8 years will be undone in the next 4. Oh, well, I'm a Northerner anyway. Na our time, AGAIN. Posted by Big-K| 31.07.2007 10:29

Son of the Delta  Villager

# 3 Nigeria's military is messed up and the process is continuing. Posted by Son of the Delta| 31.07.2007 10:59

Enforcer  Villager

# 4 The shake-up may be related to the need to re-orientate the armed forces to their professional duties and away from politics. Some of these generals are corrupt and are not truly professional soldiers. The Nigerian armed forces have been their own worst enemy. Years of military rule have produced several allegiances. We have heard of Abacha boys and Babangida boys. I am sure there are other “boys” units as well, which pose another threat to our young democracy. Many of the officers have gotten used to believing they are above the law. Others also engaged in crude oil bunkering in broad day light with impunity. If some of these officers were not involved they have at least condoned it. They have to pay for it. There is no way Nigeria can progress without cleansing the armed forces. It is a bold move and must be supported. Next will be the Nigerian police force, customs and civil service. Posted by Enforcer| 31.07.2007 11:08

Exxcuzme  Villager

# 5 =Big-K;196236>When I read things like this, I feel like head-butting OBJ. If OBJ had used the rare opportunities he had to fundamentally restructure the country, these shake-ups will become really mute and there would be no fear of marginalization. I can predict now that all the so-called changes OBJ made in the past 8 years will be undone in the next 4. Oh, well, I'm a Northerner anyway. Na our time, AGAIN. You must be above board, bro! Posted by Exxcuzme| 31.07.2007 11:19

felix  Villager

# 6 :D Yar adua breaks clear! ....Mark my words;This marks the begining of the demistification of the god of otta...Whatever made an Obasanjo to think that he can control the president in Abuja from Otta still eludes me..., not to talk of the irritating feeling in the core north of an "infidel" like him controling a well bred Fulani son...:biggrin: Yar adua is home and dry..., with the army now effectively in his pocket Obasanjo can fool himself as the BOT chairman of PDP, in a while he will get bored and resigns to fate...., to think that this man had the best chance to restructure the country and most importantly the military and blew it as he battled with his over bloated ego simply infuriates.. Obasanjo wanted to command from the grave and that made him to neglect foundamental structural changes that would have extricated the soul of Nigeria from the hands of our brood of hungry politicians ...He concentrated all powers on himself , now all the so called changes (if any) his praise singers parrot can be wiped out overnight!...His guys in the army have been wiped out in one move , how can he influence then? Beleive me when I tell you that Obasanjo is the biggest m-or-on to sprout out of Nigeria!:( Posted by felix| 31.07.2007 11:38

ikechiji  Villager

# 7 =Big-K;196236> Oh, well, I'm a Northerner anyway. Na our time, AGAIN. Big-K, I do not think (yet) that this mass purge has an ethic bias to it. I think it was simply a pre-emptive strategic strike designed to neutralize potential "coup" plotters and consolidate his military power base. The most glaring question is why did he retire the GOCs and not the Service Chiefs? Ikechiji Posted by ikechiji| 31.07.2007 11:54

Mikky jaga  Villager

# 8 The rate of turnover in the military is alarming. When one is not sure of the security of his job, when his services can be terminated overnight by any new person on the saddle, how do we expect such military officer to give his/her best What do we expect these obviously young generals who are not tired to do now. How do they fit into the economy that is overloaded with unemployed young men. If some of them have been patriotic and honest and did not amass illegal wealth that would cushion the effects of sudden retirements, how would they sustain their families now that there is no regular income, apart from their pensions. If we agree that they would be paid huge severance allowances, how do we expect the economy to absorb such huge infusion of cash without driving inflation? We need to look critcally into these and more areas before hailing this retrogressive action by these temporary tenants of Aso Rock. Posted by Mikky jaga| 31.07.2007 12:11

Enforcer  Villager

# 9 =Mikky jaga;196285>The rate of turnover in the military is alarming. When one is not sure of the security of his job, when his services can be terminated overnight by any new person on the saddle, how do we expect such military officer to give his/her best What do we expect these obviously young generals who are not tired to do now. How do they fit into the economy that is overloaded with unemployed young men. If some of them have been patriotic and honest and did not amass illegal wealth that would cushion the effects of sudden retirements, how would they sustain their families now that there is no regular income, apart from their pensions. If we agree that they would be paid huge severance allowances, how do we expect the economy to absorb such huge infusion of cash without driving inflation? We need to look critcally into these and more areas before hailing this retrogressive action by these temporary tenants of Aso Rock. Mikky jaga, There you go again! Have you wondered how corruption became rooted in the Nigerian political system? What do you do if you find that a crate of eggs you have just bought is rotten? Do you throw them away or you eat them because it cost you money? Who told you they haven't amassed wealth? Who are the generals responsible for the illegal crude oil bunkering? Who are the generals sustaining the theft? What is happening to the Nigerian army today is the consequence of their unprofessional attitude. The Nigerian armed forces are riddled with various allegiances to “eminent” personalities rather than the country they ought to serve. Posted by Enforcer| 31.07.2007 12:31

Oghre  Villager

# 10 Speaking of military generals, here is what wikipedia has to say about Abacha. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sani_Abacha#His_sudden_death General Sani Abacha (Kano, 20 September 1943 – Abuja, 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military leader and politician. He was the de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998.<1> His sudden death: Abacha died while in the company of two Indian prostitutes. Though the official cause of his death was a heart attack, according to a widely held belief amongst Nigerians and Western diplomats he overdosed on Viagra or Burantashi (a native Hausa-Fulani virility drug).<11><12> Posted by Oghre| 31.07.2007 12:39

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