Nigerians Will Experience Peace Again –CDS

…as Buhari gives new service chiefs few weeks to perform

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Friday told the new service chiefs that they only have a few weeks to secure the country.

He said he expected that before the rainy season, they would have secured the country to the level that farmers who had fled their farms in different parts of Nigeria would have enough confidence to return to their farms.

Buhari gave the charge shortly after decorating the new service chiefs with their new ranks at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Those decorated with their new ranks include the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Ibrahim Attahiru; Chief of Naval Staff; Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Isiaka Amoo.

He directed them to identify competent officers irrespective of seniority or qualification and deploy them appropriately to achieve the target.

The President said, “During our four-hour security meeting, I have taken the responsibility as the Commander-in-Chief for you to go out into the field and secure the country.

“I have accepted responsibility for your action on the field. It is up to you to identify your competent officers irrespective of seniority and paper qualification and deploy them to make sure that we secure this country.

“You have got a few weeks to do that because by the rainy season, we expect people to develop confidence and go back to their land so that we don’t get into trouble by being away from the field and therefore unable to produce enough food for the nation.

“We all look forward to you to perform and I as the Commander-in-Chief, I am backing you 100 per cent and I expect you to effectively deploy your officers and men to secure the country.”

The President told the service chiefs to see their appointment, confirmation by the National Assembly and decoration as a vote of confidence in them.

“For those (of you) that have been confirmed by this ceremony, the decoration, in front of your spouses, is a further confidence loudly expressed in you on behalf of the nation, to respond to the insecurity the country is in, and the nation looks up to you for rapid relief,” he said.

Responding on behalf of the other service chiefs, Irabor assured the President that they will not fail in their responsibilities. He said their mandate was clear.

“Nigeria will have peace again. Based on the mandate, we will address all issues, working with all other security organisations,” he said.

In an interview with State House correspondents at the end of the ceremony, Irabor said he was aware that Nigerians expect them to restore peace and security in concert with other security agencies.

He promised that he and the other service chiefs would achieve that.

“We can’t live in fear. We will ensure that whatever brings fear to Nigerians before now will be a thing of the past,” the CDS promised.

He further promised that they would not give the kind of instructions they cannot carry out themselves to their subordinates.

He added that they would command the troops based on the expectations that they have of them.

 
Irabor said they would also review strategies with a view to coming up with new ones to be able to meet the demands of the current realities.

He said they would work hard to achieve the target Buhari set for them.

He said, “That is a matching order that Mr President has given to us and we will work assiduously to achieve that. No doubt, next 100 days is not as important as today.

 
“I believe that as members of the Armed Forces working in concert with the rest of the security agencies, we will bring Mr President’s expectations to bear in terms of our task.

“But let me also let you know that the inevitable is that Nigerians will indeed experience peace and security across the land.”

On the role played by the military in the negotiation that led to the recent release of abducted students from bandits, Irabor said, “We as members of the Armed Forces will never in any way demand peace and security of our nation in the hands of the terrorists. Rather, it is we that will determine the peace and not for us to live it in the hands of the terrorists.”

 
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; Minister of Defence, Major-General Bashir Magashi (retd.); and Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, among other top government officials attended the event.

Copyright PUNCH.