Akinrinade lists dangers of weak political opposition
From Madu Onuorah, Abuja
FORMER Chief of Defence Staff, Lt-Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd), yesterday warned against the dangers of lack of a virile opposition, saying it portends grave consequences to the country's democracy.
The former National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) chieftain also took a swipe at military intervention in the polity.
To him "the military has failed in the field of modern rational organisation, in economic development and above all in the formulation and sustenance of political institutions."
Military interventionism, Akinrinade said, has only served to foster fragile, infant political systems and increased the number of bureaucrats instead of increasing the efficiency of bureaucracy.
Speaking on "Military Professionalism: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" at the National War College graduation lecture, he asked Nigerians to learn from the experiences of Ghana where absence of opposition made the army the official opposition to the government.
He quoted the late Ghanaian leader, Col. A.A. Afrifa who said: "A coup d'etat is the last resort in the range of means whereby an unpopular government may be overthrown. But in our case where there were no constitutional means of offering political opposition to the one-party government, the Armed Forces automatically became the official opposition of the government."
Akinrinade added: "There is the lesson for our polity, the politicians and the professional military officers."
The former Defence Chief stated that once an army enters government, the possession of power proceeds to divide it.
According to him, "Army cohesion disappears as soon as the Army stops performing the function for which it was drilled. The military, in the case of Africa, failed to be the repository of hope and liberation and the arbiter of political affairs. 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."
Akinrinade said politicians, the intelligentsia and the military that form the elite in Africa must work for new directions in their various countries.
He added that these segments of the elite "must be interested in changing the sordid image of desperation, war, hunger and want making the rounds in the midst of poverty. The military professional 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."
Charging 72 graduands of the Course 12 of the college, Akinrinade said. "Please remain ambassadors of unity and contribute your quota to changing the face of poverty, want and hunger that has pinned on our continent for so long."
The 72 participants included 35 Nigerian Army officers, eight Naval officers, 10 Air Force men, six Nigeria Police personnel, five civilians from Nigeria's strategic ministries and departments and eight foreign officers.
The eight included two from Ghana, one each from Benin Republic, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Uganda.
