Senior service leaders: Military gives generals until Monday to retire

The newly appointed service chiefs’ senior officers have been given until Monday by the Defence Headquarters to voluntarily retire from the military.

The directive, which was included in a memo dated June 26 and signed by Maj Gen Y. Yahaya on behalf of the Chief of Defence Staff, was given to senior officers in the Nigerian Army, Air Force, and Navy, including generals, brigadiers-general, air vice marshals, and rear admirals.

The news confirmed a rumour that numerous senior military officers would retire after President Bola Tinubu appointed new service chiefs on June 19.

It has long been a military custom to retire officers who are senior to the chiefs of each service, and this was the case with the senior officers in all three services.

When a junior officer is appointed as a service chief, it is customary for senior officers who are appointed before him or her to retire.

Senior military officers are thought to be unlikely to follow orders from their juniors.

General Lucky Irabor, the Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya, the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, and Air Marshal Oludayo Amao, the Chief of the Air Staff, had been announced as retiring immediately by Tinubu. They had been replaced by new military chiefs.

The new service chiefs are Maj Gen Christopher Musa, who will serve as the Chief of Defence Staff, Maj Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, who will serve as the Chief of Army Staff, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, who will serve as the Chief of Naval Staff, and Air Vice Marshal Hassan Abubakar, who will serve as the Chief of Air Staff.

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Both Maj. Gen. E Undiandeye and DIG Kayode Egbetokun have been named as the interim chiefs of defence intelligence.

Nuhu Ribadu, who had previously served as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, was also promoted to the position of national security adviser.

The COAS, the CNS, and the CAS are members of 39 Regular Course, whereas the new CDS is a member of 38 Regular Course.

However, the DHQ instructed all officers with seniority on commission above that of the Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Course 39 to submit their applications for voluntary retirement from service with immediate effect in the memo with reference number DHQ/I5/PLANS/801/13.

It stated that this was done to uphold the military profession’s values of hierarchy and service discipline.

It would be remembered that the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, recently appointed new CDS and Service Chiefs on June 19, 2023. The memo was copied to the army, navy, and air force headquarters.

“All officers whose officer cadet courses run seniority above that of the current Service Chiefs should disengage from the Service in order to preserve and uphold the tenets of the military profession, which values hierarchy and service discipline.

As a result, I am instructed to politely request that all officers with commissions that are senior to NDA Regular Course 39 direct their subordinates to submit their applications for voluntary retirement from service with immediate effect. The affected officers must submit their applications to their respective Service Headquarters by Monday, July 3, 2023, at the latest.

Onyema Nwachukwu, the army spokesperson, declined to provide any statistics regarding the number of naval officers who may be impacted by the directive when questioned about it on Thursday.

Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, a captain in the Nigerian Navy, responded by saying, “I believe the acting DDI, DHQ (Director, Defence Information) can be reached to speak for the AFN on this. There were rumours about this already in some print media. However, it will be disclosed once approved and allowed.

Air Commodore Ayodele Famuyiwa, the Nigerian Air Force’s spokesperson, declined to comment because he will be replaced on Monday.

However, due to his failure to return calls or a text message sent to his phone, acting Director of Defence Information Brig Gen Tukur Gusau could not be reached to inquire about the number of senior officers who might be impacted by the directive.

However, retired Col. Foluso Saka said in response to the order to the senior officers that it was time the military set up a corps for retired personnel, adding that their experiences, especially those with technical skills, could still benefit the nation.

Corps of retired officers

“I am aware that it is customary for some senior officers to retire when a junior officer is appointed, but I am of the opinion that there should be a corps or similar reserve for retired military personnel instead of asking them to simply retire,” he said.

“The military can rely on them if they require their services or be required to raise and educate the children. Their services, particularly those of the highly skilled among them, shouldn’t be wasted because they can be used for the good of the country. For them to gain the knowledge they do, a lot of resources have been used.

Timothy Avele, a security analyst, claimed that the retirement might not have an effect on the ongoing military operations across the nation and added that the country needed a modern strategy to address its security challenges.

It won’t have much of an impact if they are replaced with younger, more tech-savvy officers, he said. Although experience is important, having the rank of a general is no longer sufficient to combat today’s security threats.

Another development involves the redeployment of 56 senior officers and one commodore, as announced by the Nigerian Navy.
A few days after Ogalla assumed the position of chief of naval staff, the Nigerian navy underwent a significant shake-up.

The move, according to the navy’s spokesperson Ayo-Vaughan, was necessary to reposition the navy for peak performance.

The chief of communications and information technology at the naval headquarters, Olusanya Bankole, formerly the director of logistics for the Defence Space Administration, according to him, while Alexander Bingel, formerly the director of combat policy and tactics, is now in charge of logistics at the Defence Headquarters.

While Rear Admiral Kennedy Ezete, formerly the Director of Project Monitoring, Defence Headquarters, has returned to his previous position as the Chief of Administration, Naval Headquarters, Rear Admiral Ibrahim Dewu is now the Chief of Defence Civil Military Cooperation, Defence Headquarters.

Rear Admiral Musa Madugu, formerly the Deputy Director of Special Operation Forces at the Defence Headquarters, has been named the Admiral Superintendent Naval Ordnance Depot. Rear Admiral Livingstone Izu, Director Manning at Naval Headquarters, is the new Chief of Logistics, Naval Headquarters.

While Rear Admiral Zakariya Muhammad, the previous Director of Training at Naval Headquarters, has been reappointed Chief of Training and Operations, Rear Admiral Daupreye Matthew, the former Director of Innovation and Concept Development at Naval Headquarters, is now the Director of Training at Defence Headquarters.

While Rear Admiral Ibrahim Shettima, formerly the Flag Officer Commanding Central Naval Command, is moving to Defence Headquarters to serve as Director of Plans, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Nmoyem has been reappointed as Director of Human Rights Desks at Defence Headquarters.

Rear Admiral Monday Unurhiere, formerly of Naval Headquarters’ Director of Plans, has been named the Chief of Defence Administration at the Defence Headquarters, and Rear Admiral Hamza Kaoje, formerly of the Defence Headquarters’ Director of Equipment Standardisation and Harmonisation, has been named Group Managing Director of Navy Holdings Limited.

Rear Admiral Idi Abbas, formerly the Director of Operations at Naval Headquarters, has been reappointed as the Chief of Naval Safety and Standards. Rear Admiral Sulaiman El-ladan, formerly the Chief of Naval Engineering at Naval Headquarters, is now the Director of Marine Research at the Defence Research and Development Bureau at Defence Headquarters.

While Rear Admiral Saheed Akinwande, formerly the Commandant of the Naval War College Nigeria, has been appointed Director of Operations at Naval Headquarters, Rear Admiral Mohammed Abdullahi, the most recent Director of Communications at Naval Headquarters, now serves as the Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command.