Daily Independent Online.
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Friday, June 11, 2004.
Kalu canvasses better training for military
By Uche Nwosu
Special Correspondent, Umuahia
Governor Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia State has said the
only antidote for an enduring democracy is to provide some basic needs of the
military.
Kalu, while receiving the new commander of the 34 Field Artillery
Brigade Obinze near Owerri, Brigadier Adamu Ibrahim, at the Government House,
Umuahia, on Thursday, explained that the armed forces as a professional body
should be given a sound training and provided with the necessary equipment
while the salaries and allowances of every member of the armed forces are paid
as and when due.
The governor opined that he felt for the military
because of the noble roles they play in protecting and defending the nation,
saying that unless they are accommodated in the scheme of things, the
country’s democracy may continue to feel threatened.
Kalu maintained that the armed forces should be
integrated into the mainstream of the polity and that they should also be
allowed to handle certain projects, which the civil society does.
“I am looking forward to the day army engineers
will bid and win contracts for some road construction, bridge maintenance and
building construction and so on,” he said, adding, “This is the kind
of the military I envisaged and I want for this country.”
He said the role of the military in ensuring the
peace of the nation and maintaining its territorial integrity cannot be
overemphasised, pointing out that any citizen of this country should be proud
of his armed forces because of the way it is built.
Earlier, the new brigade commander told the governor that he
assumed duties as the new boss of the brigade in March this year, explaining
that he had come to inform the governor of the development since, according to
him, Abia is one of the states covered by the brigade in terms of security.
