With the appointment yesterday of
new service chiefs, analysts say President Muhammadu Buhari appears set
to shake off the dust of lethargy which has earned him the image of a slow leader.
The observers, who reacted to the sack of service chiefs
and their immediate replacement said the President needs to move at the
speed of lightening to regain the confidence of the voting masses who
gave him their votes on March 28, 2015 with the hope that the
much-touted “change” was in the offing.
Speaking with BusinessDay, the analysts
said they would expect that the President should follow up by appointing
ministers to shore up the confidence of Nigerians.
They noted that the delay in the
constitution of Buhari’s cabinet may have hampered the flow of
businesses into the country, as investors are now operating on the
principle of “wait and see”.
The analysts also expressed optimism that
Buhari, whose party criss-crossed the length and breadth of the country
during the electioneering campaign, pledging to restore the country’s
image by fighting corruption to a standstill, should as a matter of
urgency, either overhaul the machinery of the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences Commission (ICPC), or strengthen the institutions to
give bite to his anti-corruption stance.
It would be recalled that against the
expectation of many Nigerians that the incidences of bombings in parts
of the North would abate as soon as the new government took over power,
and that the economy would pick up immediately, Nigeria has continued to
experience challenges on all fronts.
Apparently as one of the steps to stem
the bloodletting being recorded from the activities of the Islamist
sect, Boko Haram, Buhari yesterday approved the appointment of Abayomi
Gabriel Olonishakin, a major-general, as chief of defence staff (CDS);
T.Y. Buratai, a major-general, as chief of Army staff; Ibok-Ete Ekwe
Ibas, a rear admiral, as chief
of Naval Staff; Sadique Abubakar, an Air Vice Marshal as chief of Air
staff; Monday Riku Morgan, an Air Vice Marshal, as chief of Defence
Intelligence, and Babagana Monguno, a retired major-general as national security adviser (NSA).
The new CDS, Olonishakin, hails from
Ekiti State. Until his appointment as Chief of Defence Staff, he was the
head of the Nigerian Army Training and Doctrine Command in Minna, Niger
State.
Buratai, the new Chief of Army Staff, who
hails from Borno State, was until his appointment the commander of the
Multinational Joint Task Force which has its headquarters in Ndjamena.
The new Chief of Naval Staff, Ibas, who
hails from Cross River State, enlisted into the Nigerian Defence Academy
as a member of the 26th Regular Course in 1979 and was commissioned as a
sub-lieutenant in 1983.
Abubakar, the new chief of Air Staff, is
from Bauchi State. He was a chief of Standards and Evaluation, NAF
headquarters and has held several other appointments.
Riku, the new chief of defence
intelligence, hails from Benue State. His previous appointments include
Air Officer Commanding, NAF Logistics Command.
The appointments were announced in a
statement signed by Femi Adesina, the Presidential spokesman. The
statement added that the new Service Chiefs would hold their
appointments in an acting capacity until confirmed by the Senate.
These major appointments, which came 44
days after Buhari took over the reins of government, analysts say, are “
a sign of better things to come.”
It would be recalled that in the last one
month, the President had met with the former service chiefs over the
worsening security situation in a multi-ethnic country where corruption
and insecurity have combined to stifle the economy.
Tunde Oyelola, chairman, Manufacturers
Association of Nigeria Export Group, said, having tackled security,
Buhari now has to face the next key issue which is the economy.
“To me, the appointments are good but we
are waiting to see the total picture. People say he is slow but I do not
think so,” Oyelola said.
Matthew Ibeabuchi, MD/CEO, MD Services,
told BusinessDay that the appointment of security chiefs is normal.
According to Ibeabuchi, no president can afford to keep security chiefs
of a previous administration for fear of sabotage.
“For us in the business community, we
want a new economic direction. You see what is going on in the stock
market, so Buhari also has to move into the economy to spur activity and
enable investors create jobs,” he said.
Reacting to the appointments, Bobboi Kagaima, president of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) said it was long overdue.
Kaigama said he foresaw the sack
breathing some life into the country’s security network and spurring
action in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency because, “the
service chiefs had proven incapable of taming the insurgents,” resulting
in continued loss of lives of Nigerians in the North-East.
He expressed the hope that those
appointed to take over their positions would breathe action into the
security networks in the fight against the insurgents, who in recent
weeks have become deadlier, bombing and killing innocent Nigerians
almost on a daily basis.
“The president needs to inject new blood
into the security network; so the sack of the service chiefs is in
order. In fact, it is overdue. Ordinarily, the president ought to have
relieved them as soon as he was sworn in. Nigerians must be protected
against incessant attacks and killings by the insurgents, so it is good
that the old service chiefs have been fired,” said Kagaima.
Nelson Ekujimi, chairman, Committee for
the Protection of People’s Mandate(CPPM), said his organisation would
institute a legal action against the sacked service chiefs for human
violations.
“We will institute an action against them
because we believe they should be tried. Don’t forget that these same
security chiefs were responsible for the postponement of the 2015
general elections from February as slated by the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to March and April,” said Ekujimi.
The former service chiefs, including the
Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Bade; Chief of Army Staff, Kenneth Minimah;
Chief of Naval Staff, Usman Jibrin; Chief of Air Staff, Adesola Amosun
were appointed by former President, Goodluck Jonathan.
Zebulon Agomuo, Elizabeth Archibong, JOSHUA BASSEY & Odinaka Anudu
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