The newly appointed service chiefs’ senior officers have until Monday to voluntarily retire from the military, according to the Defence Headquarters.
The directive was made in a memo dated June 26 and signed by Maj Gen Y. Yahaya on behalf of the Chief of Defence Staff. It was addressed to the senior officers in the Nigerian Army, Air Force, and Navy—generals, brigadiers-general, air vice marshals, and rear admirals—in the three services.
Following the appointment of new service chiefs by President Bola Tinubu on June 19, the development confirmed a report that a large number of senior military officers would retire.
The three services’ senior officers were all retired in accordance with a long-standing military custom that officers who were senior to the service chiefs be retired.
Military custom dictates that when a junior officer is appointed as a service chief, senior officers who are appointed before him or her would retire.
It is common knowledge that senior military officers are unlikely to obey orders from their subordinates.
General Lucky Irabor, the chief of the defence staff, Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya, the chief of the army, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, and Air Marshal Oludayo Amao, the chief of the air staff, were all to retire immediately, and they were to be replaced by new military leaders, according to Tinubu.
The new service chiefs are Maj Gen Christopher Musa, Chief of Defence Staff, Maj Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, Chief of Army Staff, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, Chief of Naval Staff, and Air Vice Marshal Hassan Abubakar, Chief of Air Staff.
Maj. Gen. E Undiandeye was named Chief of Defence Intelligence, and DIG Kayode Egbetokun served as acting Inspector-General of Police.
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Nuhu Ribadu, a former head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission who had previously served as the president’s security adviser, was also promoted to the position of national security adviser.
The COAS, the CNS, and the CAS are participants in the 38 Regular Course, whereas the new CDS is a participant in the 39 Regular Course.
However, all officers with commissions senior to those of the Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Course 39 were instructed by the DHQ to submit their applications for voluntary retirement from service with immediate effect in a memo with the reference number DHQ/I5/PLANS/801/13.
According to the statement, this was done in order to uphold the military’s core values of hierarchy and service discipline.
The memo stated, in part, that new CDS and Service Chiefs would be appointed on June 19, 2023 by the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
It is crucial that all officers whose officer cadet courses run seniority above that of the current Service Chiefs disengage from the Service in order to preserve and uphold the principles of the military profession, which values hierarchy and service discipline.
“As a result, I am directed to kindly request that all officers with commission seniority above NDA Regular Course 39 submit their applications for voluntary retirement from Service with immediate effect. I should also mention that affected officers must submit their applications to the appropriate Service Headquarters by Monday, July 3, 2023.
Army spokesperson Onyema Nwachukwu responded, “I am not able to generate such statistics now until it unfolds,” when questioned on Thursday about the number of naval officers who may be impacted by the directive.
Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan of the Nigerian Navy replied, “I believe on this, acting DDI, DHQ (Director, Defence Information) can be reached to speak for the AFN. There were already rumours about this in some print media. It will be disclosed, though, once approved and allowed.
Air Commodore Ayodele Famuyiwa, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Air Force, declined to comment because he will hand over his duties to his successor on Monday.
However, because he did not return phone calls or a text message sent to his phone, Brig Gen Tukur Gusau, the acting director of defence information, was unable to be reached to inquire about the number of senior officers who might be impacted by the directive.
The military should create a corps for retired personnel, retired Col. Foluso Saka said in response to the order to the senior officers, adding that their experiences, particularly those with technical skills, could still be useful to the nation.
Retirement Corps of Officers
He remarked, “I am aware that it is customary for the military to retire some of its top officers when a junior is appointed, but I am of the opinion that there should be a corps or similar reserve for former service members rather than simply asking them to retire.
If necessary, they can rely on the military, which can also be used to raise and educate the children. They should not be allowed to waste their services, especially those who are highly skilled, as they can be used for the good of the country. They have received a lot of investment in order to gain the knowledge they do.
Timothy Avele, a security analyst, claimed that the retirement might not have an effect on the ongoing military operations across the nation and added that a contemporary strategy was needed to address the security issues the nation was currently facing.
If they are replaced with younger, more tech-savvy officers, it won’t make much of a difference, he said. A general’s rank is no longer sufficient to combat contemporary security threats, though experience is still important.
Another development is the redeployment of 56 senior officers and one commodore, which the Nigerian Navy has announced.
A few days after Ogalla assumed the position of chief of naval staff, there has been a significant shake-up in the Nigerian navy.
The move was necessary, according to Ayo-Vaughan, the navy spokesperson, to reposition the navy for maximum performance.
According to him, Alexander Bingel, formerly the director of Combat Policy and Tactics, is now the director of Logistics at the Defence Headquarters, and Olusanya Bankole, formerly the director of Logistics of the Defence Space Administration, has been named the chief of Communications and Information Technology at the Naval Headquarters.
Rear Admiral Kennedy Ezete, formerly Director Project Monitoring, Defence Headquarters, returns to his previous position as the Chief of Administration, Naval Headquarters, while Rear Admiral Ibrahim Dewu, formerly Director of Project Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate, Naval Headquarters, is now Chief of Defence Civil Military Cooperation, Defence Headquarters.
Rear Admiral Livingstone Izu, formerly the Director of Manning at Naval Headquarters, is now the organization’s Chief of Logistics, and Rear Admiral Musa Madugu, formerly the Deputy Director of Special Operation Forces at Defence Headquarters, has been named the Admiral Superintendent Naval Ordnance Depot.
The former Director of Innovation and Concept Development at Naval Headquarters, Rear Admiral Daupreye Matthew, is now the Director of Training at Defence Headquarters, and the former Director of Training at Naval Headquarters, Rear Admiral Zakariya Muhammad, has been reappointed Chief of Training and Operations.
Rear Admiral Emmanuel Nmoyem has been reappointed as the Defence Headquarters’ Director of Human Rights Desks, and Rear Admiral Ibrahim Shettima, who was formerly the Flag Officer Commanding Central Naval Command, is moving there to serve as the Director of Plans.
Rear Admiral Monday Unurhiere, a former director of plans at Naval Headquarters, has been named chief of defence administration at the Defence Headquarters, and Rear Admiral Hamza Kaoje, a former director of equipment standardisation and harmonisation at the Defence Headquarters, has been named group managing director of Navy Holdings Limited.
Rear Admiral Sulaiman El-ladan, the former Director of Naval Engineering at Naval Headquarters, is now the Director of Marine Research at the Defence Research and Development Bureau at Defence Headquarters, and Rear Admiral Idi Abbas, the former Director of Operations at Naval Headquarters, has been reappointed as the Chief of Naval Safety and Standards.
Rear Admiral Saheed Akinwande, formerly the Commandant of the Naval War College Nigeria, has been named Director of Operations at Naval Headquarters, replacing Rear Admiral Mohammed Abdullahi as the Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command.
