Don’t drag military into politics, ex-Air Force officer warns

Gana, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Niger State, told journalists in Abuja that “the military all over the world is a unifying force for every nation,” saying it should be allowed to complement the efforts of the police during the election.
He said politicians should not do anything that would demoralise the military at this moment so that they would not be distracted from their primary duty of maintaining Nigeria’s territorial integrity.
 “There is no way that the police alone can provide all the security cover which is required for such a major activity like the election. The military have said they are ready to provide support to the civil police, so let us allow them to do that and we should be careful not to distract them by unnecessary criticism and by getting them into partisan politics,” he said.
He added that, “Just like other segments of the society, the military is growing, the military today is better educated; they are better enlightened than when we were there and they are in a better position to know their own responsibilities in terms of maintaining and supporting the democracy in this country, because they know that there is nothing that is better than a democratic institution which is also in their own best interest.”
The former senior military officer commended the Nigeria Armed Forces in their fight against insurgents, saying although they were not originally trained to face this kind of situation “but they have now been able to get hold of the situation and now the tide is changing for the better and I believe that with the type of leadership we have in the military right now, this thing will not rear its head again.”