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Buhari’s preference for a northerner as army chief unsettles military
BY KAZIE UKO
The appointment of Major General Farouk Yahaya as the new Chief of Army Staff may have unsettled the armed forces, according to a report by The Nation.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday showed no sign of relenting from his preferred choice of choosing the head of the Nigerian Army from his more familiar core north as he by-passed more senior army officers of Regular Course 35 and 36 and settled for Major General Yahaya of Course 37.
The appointment of Yahaya, the current Commander of ‘Operation Hadin Kai’, formerly known as Operation Lafiya Dole, rested speculations that Buhari may appoint the present Army Chief of Policy and Plans, Major General Benjamin Ahanotu, an Igbo man, as Attahiru’s successor.
Incidentally, it was Ahanotu who gave the funeral oration at Attahiru’s burial. He described the late Chief of Army Staff as a disciplined, gallant and professional soldier, who added value to wherever he worked.
Ahanotu, who hails from Anambra State, is a member of Regular Course 35, same as the late army chief, Attahiru.
He was the commander of the military operation that captured the founder of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf and his followers at their hideout in Maiduguri in 2009, before handing them over to the police.
READ: JUST IN: Buhari appoints Yahaya new Chief of Army Staff
Now, with the appointment of Yahaya, serving members of Regular Course 35, 36 and 37 in the Army, Air Force and Navy, may be forced out of service.
Quoting a reliable military source, The Nation reports that the senior officers may be asked to turn in their papers for ease of administration or be posted out to head tri-service institutions depending on the discretion of the Military Council.
According to the source, “there is going to be a serious shakeup in the three Services with the appointment of the new Chief of Army Staff. Depending on the decision of the Military Council, members of Course 35, 36 and 37 may be asked to turn in their papers for ease of administration or they can also be redeployed to head tri-service institutions but most of them will go certainly.”
Another senior army officer who pleaded anonymous put the figure of Army Generals that will go at over 30, including two serving members of Course 35.
READ: Kukah: Buhari has First Class in Nepotism – ECWA to MURIC, others
The late Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, was of Course 35 before his death in an air crash involving a Nigerian Air Force aircraft in Kaduna, May 21, as well as the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, while the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo is of Course 36.
The President, according to the report, was earlier advised against going below Course 35 in picking Attahiru’s replacement for fear of unsettling the Army.
But Military sources, said the decision may not be unconnected with recent decision to flush out old hands in the Service to pave way for younger officers who can reinvigorate the counter insurgency war.
Although the exact figure of Generals that may be forced to resign was not known as at the time of filing this report, it was also unclear if the Minister of Defence, Major General Salihi Magashi (rtd), will allow a chunk of senior military officers to go in the middle of terrorism war.
One of them said, “it is a welcomed development, what it means is that we have the chance of attaining commanding positions before we retire from Service but if they continue to stay, it will mean that most of us will not get to that height.”