Nigeria’s Military Should Be Restructured To Avoid Further Polarisation, Says NSCDC Former Chieftain

By Frank Oshanugor

A retired Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC) Dr. Nnamdi Okonkwo has called for drastic restructuring of Nigeria’s Military for it to truly reflect the national establishment it was meant to be.

Speaking exclusively with ATLANTICNEWSONLINE recently, Okonkwo who is currently into private security consultancy noted that the military as currently constituted behaves more like a sect run on tribal lines than a national outfit.

He hinged his position on the recent agitation by some women who were protesting against the increasing incidence of fatality of soldiers in the war against terrorism and banditry.

The Boyson Security boss argued that in a situation of true national army, every soldier’s loyalty is to the Federal Republic of Nigeria with the responsibility to rise in defense of the country, protection of citizens and their individual properties.

To him, the agitation by the women to withdraw their sons, brothers and husbands from the military could possibly be as a result of polarisation where some people see the army in particular from ethnic or regional prisms like Yoruba army, Hausa/Fulani army or Igbo army instead of national army. “Leadership of the country at one time or the other made it so, as a result of nepotism that encourages the domination of the military by the tribe of whoever is the Commander-in-Chief.”

While referring to the recent reports of some repented Boko Haram terrorists who were integrated into the Nigeria Army but later shifted their loyalty to the terrorist group, Okonkwo condemned the integration describing it as uncalled for.

In analysing the situation, he posed a question asking “is there anything like repentance of people who are already radicalized ideologically?

“To deradicalize somebody from an ideology takes a lot of issues other than what we see on the ground. Honestly, repentance is not the word to be used when it comes to de-radicalism because, we are talking of ideology. The
ideology is in somebody’s head. It may have been in the head since the age of five as he has been brain washed that he should hate certain people due to their religion.

“Even at the age of 20/25, the hatred continues to increase and the hater continues to see the other person as enemy even of God simply because he does not belong to the same religion.”

The NSCDC former chieftain wondered why some people would kill their fellow human beings in the name of religion “Some Muslim youths would want to kill in the name God with a strong belief that they can go to heaven and marry virgins.

“I do not know who will teach such but in heaven, there is no gender. There is no gender in spiritualism. There is no man or woman as everyone is a spirit. So the earlier those in Islamic leadership position in Nigeria begin to correct this wrong doctrine, the better for the country.”

The security chieftain has therefore called on Imams, Muslim Clerics and other enlightened Islamic scholars to begin a re-orientation programme for Muslim youths some of whom are fast growing with this mindset of hatred against people of other religions.

“They should be made to understand that the Koran is a book like the Bible but that the aspect of the Koran that encourages jihad, maiming, killing or conquest all in the name of God should be corrected since God does not want anyone to spill the blood of others on His behalf. It is unfair for worshippers in other religions to be seen by their Muslim counterparts as infidels.”

He contended that if Islamic scholars can correct that aspect of their religious belief, the world particularly Nigeria would be a beautiful and safe place for everyone to live in. “There would be no need for anybody to fight another because of religion. Elsewhere like India, they have Muslims, Hindus, Christians etc but they all live in peace. Why can’t we live in peace in Nigeria?” he asked.

Speaking on the fast and systematic infiltration of every part of Nigeria by the Fulanis and the increase in attacks on communities, Okonkwo posited that there are so many reasons responsible for the multifaceted security problems facing Nigeria at present.

According to him, “we must remember that there has always been an existential threat in Nigeria especially associated with the Fulanis. The Fulanis have this singular belief that Nigeria is a conquest of their great grand father, Usmanu Dan Fodio and until such impression or historical belief is erased, other Nigerians would continue to be in servitude to the Fulanis.

“The whole of Hausa kingdom before now had been completely erased by the Fulanis. From Sokoto to Adamawa, there is not a single Hausa kingdom any more. Every where one goes now, there is an emir and he has to be a Fulani. They want such to be replicated in every existing local government area in Nigeria and even want more local government areas to be created for their sake so that they can have more emirates, more emirs and so on.”

The NSCDC former chieftain has therefore called on the government of the day to correct the so called existential threat, otherwise the insecurity situation would continue unabated.

On the issue of self defense by communities in line with the current insecurity situation in the country, Dr. Okonkwo expressed some worry over the ambiguity or inconsistency associated with the criminal code and penal criminal code.

According to him, a situation where some people from northern parts of the country are allowed to carry guns unmolested in the name of self defense whereas those from the southern part cannot possess or bear the same gun without being accused of pre-meditated criminal intentions does not augur well for the country.

He has therefore challenged the authorities to amend the criminal code to explicitly define what could be validly relied upon as self defense in a court of law across the country.