Former Minister of Communication and Former General Officer Commanding (GOC), Third Armoured Division of the Nigerian Army, Major-General Tajudeen Olanrewaju (rtd), has maintained that the integrity of the country’s Armed Forces is as good as any middle power in the world.
General Olanrewaju gave this stand in reaction to a newspaper report titled: “A military of many Generals,” which highlighted the recent directive by the Nigerian Defence Headquarters that military officers, who were senior to the newly appointed Service Chiefs, should proceed on retirement effective July 3rd and had continued to generate considerable interests.
The report declared the directive unhealthy, indicating the existence of fundamental structural problems if, with every new administration, the country had to retire an average of 100 senior officers prematurely because their juniors had become Service Chiefs.
However, General Olanrewaju, who is also a former Minister of Communications, faulted the notion, saying that there is no reason to believe that those generals considered surplus to establishment were wasted and may impact the combat readiness of the Nigerian Army.
“I do not believe that those generals that were considered surplus to the establishment are wasted and that this may impact the combat readiness of the Nigerian Army,” he said.
This was just as the former General Officer Commanding (GOC), Third Armoured Division of the Nigerian Army, noted that the military had a system of promoting its officers following its manpower management policy, saying what the public had observed was a systemic failure due to many factors, even as he stated that the top-heavy distortion of the pyramid was an abuse of the system caused by the expansion of the existing ORBAT and extension of running out dates of some senior officers.
“The military has a system of promoting its officers in accordance with its manpower management policy. What the public has observed is a systemic failure due to many factors. The top-heavy distortion of the pyramid is an abuse of the system caused by the expansion of the existing ORBAT and extension of running out dates of some senior officers,” Olanrewaju said.
Speaking further, General Olanrewaju said the affected officers can apply their experience, expertise and career specialisation to meet individual challenges outside the barracks, adding: “Like in most modern military systems, senior retirees easily find employment outside service.”
“If the Nigerian Army can redefine its organisation for combat and recruitment system and minimize the abuses that are self-inflicted and ignore certain primordial sentiments external to the norms and practice of the military service, I think that the integrity of the nation’s armed forces is as good as any middle power in the world,” the former minister said.
“The armed forces of Nigeria have projected their power and influence as a fit fighting force in Africa and outside of it, and the records speak for them.
“The Running out Date of every officer is expressly explicit in the Armed Forces Conditions of Service. Right from the day you joined the service, your reckoning of service begins with a known terminal date. The maximum number of years of service allowable is 35 years. The minimum years of attaining the rank of a Maj-Gen is 30 years.
“I suspect the current COAS must have served about 32-33 years. The military system has a dynamic transformation of replacement.
“The military is not weakened by the exit and entry of senior military officer cadre. It is always evolving through promotion examinations, professional and staff training, and performance evaluation.
“Every year, senior military officers leave service as when due whilst NDA replenishes with fresh cadets on training as a revolving cycle.
“There is nothing new in the retirement exercise of this nature. It happened in the past. It will happen in the future. That is the tradition provided the exercise is guided by the service regulations,” he added
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