Dr.Muiz Banire
Published: 9th January 2025
Just as it has become a way of life in Nigeria, the system hardly reviews and reforms itself. That explains why the practice of most of the institutions in the country is either far behind the modern legal framework or the modern practices. In my experience over time, institutions hardly review their laws or the practices to bring them in tune with current and modern developments. Just as life is dynamic, institutions are like living things that ought to swing with the human developments to which they are primarily meant to respond. It is in this light that institutions must constantly update their operations in all ramifications inclusive of the legal framework. Regrettably, this has not been the lots of most of the institutions in Nigeria. In fact, such review can only be undertaken by a visionary and missionary leader that drives the institution. In Nigeria, however, this type of leadership remains a scarce commodity. Hence, the continuity of the affliction which renders most of the institutions not only obsolete in their operations, but comatose and retrogressive.
This scenario abounds in most of the institutions we have in Nigeria except a few that are in recent times populated with progressive leaders. It is in this context that I am discussing one of the many retrogressive, oppressive and wicked practices in the Nigerian military service. Nigerian military service basically consists of the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Airforce. They all have identical organizational structures, although with varying personnel capacity. Although, I am aware of several challenges bedeviling the delivery by the military service, obviously noticeable and validated by the state of insecurity in the country. This is however not my destination as those are issues for another day. In this conversation, I am worried by the spate of retirement of agile and active officers in the military service.
In this regard, I am not alluding to the voluntary disengagement or compulsory retirement of the officers for various vices. In any of those circumstances, I have no issue with their mode or practice of disengagement as every organization must operate in continuity by disengaging those who are due and recruiting new elements to fill vacant slots, improve in its organizational capability and ensure delivery on its mandate.
Where the crux of vexation lies is the compulsory or automatic disengagement of officers for systemic reason/failure. How do I mean? Most of the officers alluded to in the latter situation are disengaged by the system for reasons independent of the capacity or contribution of the officers. The most notorious of these is the ‘removal’ for failure to make promotion at the third attempt. In virtually all institutions in Nigeria, officials are promoted after spending a certain period on a rank or level and justifying the promotion. This is simply the basic criterion for elevation to higher offices or ranks.
However, in the Nigerian military service of recent, such progressive mode of promotion is becoming an abomination.
In other words, the facts that you are eligible for promotion does not entitle you to such promotion. It is bad enough that quota and federal character system still plays a pivotal role in the promotion of the officers in the federal service, just as in the military service, thus relegating to the background merit and competence, the latest woe is availability of space. As much as the military service is pyramidical in nature, it excuses not stagnation of officers on a rank and eventual force-out of the system due to the strangulated top of the pyramid. This is undoubtedly retrogressive. The contemporary practice which is now a norm in the military service is compulsory disengagement of officers from the service after three attempts at promotion. This is regardless of the eligibility of the officers for promotion. Even where they passed all the examinations and interviews but there is no space to accommodate them at the next level within the period, they are disengaged for no fault of theirs but systemic failure. Imagine a situation where about one hundred and thirty-five officers are eligible for promotion to the next rank but there are only thirty-five spaces available at the level.
Only thirty-five will survive while others continue to try their lucks in the subsequent exercises which will involve probably another consistently same figure from other next courses. Ultimately, only a insignificant number of them will pass the filtration process after the permissible three attempts. The consequence of this is that the balance will be compulsorily disengaged. In a lot of these instances, the concerned officers are in the middle age. What this implies is that all the investments in these officers will end up in a waste. Recall that to reach such level, particularly that of Brigadier General level, a lot of human capital development would have been involved. This is simply human and material wastages by a country with severely limited economic resources. The further implication of such compulsory disengagement of these concerned officers with skills, and with no alternative engagement, is the continuous unleashing of danger on the society. As opined above, the level of insecurity in the country is bad enough, why enhance it with the release of these ‘frustrated’ officers into the society?
I am aware that by the time most of them are even undertaking the third attempts, they are already so traumatized that they wither off, or develop mental ailments due to frustration and depression. In most instances, these officers are retired at a point when the children are teenagers and have to be attended to at the tertiary education level. The incapacity arising from the disengagement often leads to the curtailing of the future ambitions of the children, thus constituting another source of frustration. The bad news is that the society is unable to absorb these skills. They, therefore, become gradually a menace and threat to the society at large. Most of the officers that are affected fall in their early fifty years of age. You can imagine the catastrophe in sight. Most of the affected officers are highly intelligent men, energetic and cerebral. I recall the case of a friend, Segun Adenuga of the Finance Corps with chains of degrees in his competence which is finance but had to be compulsorily disengaged at early fifty years of age.
It was a very pathetic situation as I know the officer to be an embodiment of knowledge and competence. Each time I remember his case, I feel pained. Of course, he was retired simply because there was no space to absorb him, and not due to any act of incompetence or vice. This is pervasive in the Nigerian military service in contemporary times and needs to be urgently addressed. The excuse often given is that such retrogressive policy is contained in the harmonized terms and conditions of service. What a reason! Who made the policy? Under what circumstances was the policy made? How progressive is the policy in contemporary times? Is it not time to review the practicability of the policy? Is the policy not working hardship enough? Could it be that those in charge are not victims of the policy? Are we forgetting that our relatives, friends or associates can be victims in the nearest future? These are genuine concerns for meditation.
The current implementers and enforcers of this cruel policy will also fall victim one day and many of them would now be thinking of having recourse to legal assistance which cannot avail them as a result of their failure to speak out against this unjust policy when they were in service. How an institution would be desecrating and destroying its best like this is most baffling to me. There is also the case of those compulsorily retired without any reason or for criminal imputations that, upon legal scrutiny, were found to be baseless. The court has intervened in many of such cases, nullifying the decisions of the military authorities and ordering those officers to be reinstated to their entitled positions and statuses. The arrogance of the institution has been standing in the way of the rule of law with the military authorities refusing to obey court order and thereby rendering these fine officers mere objects of disillusionment and frustration while depleting the capacity and personnel capability of the military service itself.
The sad news again is that the meagre pensions they are entitled to is already eroded by inflation and currency devaluation. The import of this is that those affected officers are barely surviving and liable to temptation. Even the increment periodically done is so infinitesimal and not impactful. With the spate of insecurity in the country, I believe the organizational structure of the military service needs to be expanded. Threat level must cease to be the litmus test for the creation of brigade and divisions. Even on mere ground of being proactive, more commands and divisions need to be created. I know it is a function of funding. The federal government cannot shy away from this reality. It must continue to prioritize the increased funding of the security apparatus and architecture, particularly in this regard. No matter how much is committed to equipment, the truth remains that the officers and men are still required, not only to man the equipment, but for even employment’s sake.
I am sure nobody is in doubt about the inadequacy of men in the military service and retaining these men on whom the country has spent so much will guarantee availability of more skilled manpower and more informed and educated ones to impart knowledge and competence on the younger ones. TheY are in contemporary period not only overused but overburdened personnel that require more hands to be more productive. This institutional challenge must therefore be overcome. Time is of the essence of this intervention as multitudes of the concerned officers are being thrown haplessly into the society. Mr. President as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces must necessarily intervene in this. The intervention need not necessarily be in the way and manner I have proposed but in any other way he deems fit after exhaustive evaluation of the entire circumstances.
This is a conversation that must not die, as it is a situation of a stitch in time that saves nine. Let us not continue to make the men restless in a manner that they become a threat to us all. The more we procrastinate, the more we are toying with fire.