THIS is an unusual season. Generals are seldom heard in public. It is expected that their actions speak for them. But, this rule has been stood on its head lately as defence chiefs and security institutions have been on the war path with themselves. On the political plane which has been taken over by generals in retirement, the men have chosen to drop esprit de corps in a bid to prove that they could play it as dirty as the natural politicians. The Court of Appeal is still hearing the case instituted by the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) candidate in the last election, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (RTD) against the declaration of the incumbent who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag bearer in that election. The military establishment comprising both serving and retired senior officers is believed to have been split into two broad camps.
The Department of State Security is equally at loggerheads with Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu who represented the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the last election suggesting that state machinery was out to terminate his life. The SSS fired back that Ojukwu was merely afraid of his shadows. The positions of both parties have been given sufficient play in the news that the public is so well entertained by the accusation and counter accusation.
Had the altercations and the brickbats being limited to the partisan political scene, there would have been little cause for concern but the institutions have joined the fray. For two weeks now, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Samuel Afolayan and the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun have launched out at each other’s jugular. The naval chief started the game when he told the public that the Nigerian vessel declared missing in the country’s territorial waters did not disappear while in the custody of his service. He said the Navy had successfully handed over to the Police before it disappeared.
A stunned defence committee of the House of Representatives quickly asked the Police authorities for an explanation following which Mr. Tafa Balogun denied ever taking control of the vessel.
The fact remains that a ship, not a boat, got missing in Nigeria and the authorities charged with national security have no explanation for the whereabouts of that ship which had been charged with criminal activities.
It is a shame that at a time when political assassinations have become the order of the day and exposed the inefficiency of the internal security network, this latest case has proved that policing the territorial waters and warding off external invasion might also be a serious problem.
The matter should not be allowed to die like that. It is commendable that legislators of the lower house have waded into the matter. The public has sufficient interest in this case and a public hearing would not be out of place. The investigations should be given expedited treatment and the findings made known. It is curious that Mr. President to whom the Naval Chief referred in giving his own side of the story has not said anything on the matter. Neither has the Defence headquarters nor the Defence Ministry.
Security is such a sensitive thing, central to the continued existence of a state, if handled the way our chiefs do now, it is a question of time before foreign political or economic foes identify the soft underbelly and deliver devastating blows. The commander-in-chief must rise up to the challenge of re-organising the security forces in the interest of the nation.
