Military Failed In Governance, Says Akinrinade
From George Oji in Abuja
Former Chief of Defence Staff and National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) chieftain, Lt. Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd), has described military intervention in the nation's politics as failure and unnecessary to Nigeria's development.
Delivering the 2004 annual graduation lecture of the National War College (NWC) Abuja yesterday, Akinrinade who was also a one time Chief of Army Staff regretted that military's intervention in politics only served to foster fragile, infant political systems. He said the successive military regimes failed in economic development as well as sustaining the nation's political institutions.
He further observed that military's failure in politics stemmed basically from the institution's inability to internalise and improvise modern organisations.
"In actual fact, however, the military has failed in the field of modern rational organisation, in economic development, and above all in the formation of modern sustainable political institutions.
"This failure stems, not so much from the military's inability to emulate modern structures as from its inability to internalise, improvise and orchestrate modern organisation.
"In fact, interventionist actions of the military have served only to foster fragile, infant political systems and have increased the number of bureaucrats but not the efficiency of bureaucracy," the retired general stated.
Akirinade whose lecture was titled, "Military Professionalism: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow," argued that military professionals of all ranks must not just know how to fight wars, but "must also be drilled in the environment being created around the world in order to be effective."
He urged Africa's military institutions to emulate the Chinese, Singaporeans, Indians who have used the phenomenon of their military industrial complexes and people-based orientation to move their economies forward.
Akinrinade who was at various times Minister of Agriculture, Industries and Transport regretted that apart from South Africa, the other African countries have relied on borrowed weapons and not developed the basic infrastructure and industries on which they could produce their war machineries.
He further stated that operations "Desert Storm and Restore Hope" which was the slogans of the nwa attempts to restcue oil-rich Kuwait from Iraqi's in 2000 are clear indicators of the way conventional battle fields would look like henceforth.
"That wars from now on will be fought with high technology equipment is not in doubt, and so also that only officers with high scientific qualification, great talents and genius, hard training of their soldiers and all round awareness will find relevance in that environment," he said.
Akinrinade also observed that the military professionals of all ranks must not just know about how to fight wars, but must also be drilled in the environment being created around the world in order to be effective.
He urged African heads of states to take a second look at the declaration that borders are sacrosanct, and that there will be no interference in the internal affairs of members states. He argued that their new interests should be "how to change the sordid image of the desperation, war, hunger and want making the rounds in the midst of plenty."
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