A coalition of civil society organizations (CSOs) on Friday rejected call for the sack of service chiefs by the Northern Elders’ Forum, describing the call as uncharitable.
The coalition, a conglomerate of 16 CSOs, said the call which was a fallout of the nationwide protest against police brutality was another “highly partisan position and a clear attempt at politicising an otherwise unfortunate situation, a moment that demands national cohesion.”
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Addressing a press conference in Lagos, Comrade Shina Loremikan, who spoke on behalf of the CSOs, said the ongoing protests nationwide was not the making of the army.
Loremikan, who is the National Coordinator of Campaign Against Indiscipline, noted that the #EndSARS protest across the country “is symptomatic of the evils bedeviling our governance structure in the country.”
According to him, the campaign is a trigger of the crisis in education, healthcare, lack of infrastructure, unemployment and underemployment in Nigeria.
He said, “The Army should not be the fall guy in the rot, occasioned by many years of neglect in the country. The military like ordinary Nigerian is also a victim of the level of decadence and its associated vices over the years and it can’t be rectified overnight.
“The level of decadence in our polity will take a while to be fine-tuned. The incessant calls for the removal of Service Chiefs at every turn without giving them equipment and budget that will compliment their gallant efforts is capable of lowering the morale of the officers and men at the Theatre of Operation.
“We also need to look at the sacrifices they have made to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria in terms of the number of casualties they have suffered and still facing challenges.”
The CSOs urged the northern elders to acknowledge the efforts and “landmark achievements” that have been made by the Nigerian military in the fight against insurgency.
“The call for the removal of Service Chiefs at this defining moment in our history leaves much to be desired. Let not forget that the Boko Haram insurgents are lurking around waiting to strike. If we lowered our guard by acceding to the call of those who want the Service Chiefs removed, it may spell doom.
“We need to rejig the structure of the country and our leadership recruitment. The army is grossly underfunded,” he added.
They called on the Federal Government to improve its financial obligations to the nation’s Armed Forces in order to improve their capacity towards effectively tackling the unfortunate crisis being witnessed in some parts of the country.
