The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has ordered the immediate retirement of ‘disgruntled’ officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
The DHQ also directed the leadership of the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force, to sack personnel who are no longer motivated to discharge their ‘constitutional duties.’
According to a report by PR Nigeria, the military issued the marching order in a leaked memo dated May 26, 2022, entitled, ‘Retirement of Disgruntled and Unmotivated Personnel.’
According to the memo, signed by Rear Admiral MB Nagenu, on behalf of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Lucky Irabor, the disgruntled and unmotivated officers and soldiers no longer exhibit a high level of undivided loyalty, and the presence of mind required of military operations, adding that the affected personnel have been found wanting of unethical behaviours and acts of gross misconduct.
The CDS lamented that some military personnel were disgruntled or overcome by greed for various reasons.
“In view of the above, deployments of such personnel do not benefit the Services and are in fact counter-productive.
“Consequently, on the identification of disgruntled or unmotivated personnel Services are advised to take steps to compulsorily discharge or retire such personnel in line with extant laws, instead of deployment”, Gen. Irabor said.
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When contacted, the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Major General Jimmy Akpor, said the Nigerian Armed Forces depend on and emphasise loyalty, discipline, integrity and self-sacrifice, amongst other core values, in troops, to carry out its constitutional roles efficiently.
He said, “The Armed Forces of Nigeria is a highly professional institution. For it to carry out its constitutional roles efficiently, the Armed Forces depends on and emphasises loyalty, discipline, integrity and self-sacrifice, amongst other core values.
“Take for example loyalty. Loyalty is both vertical and horizontal. All personnel must be loyal to his/her superiors and all lawful orders communicated downward; he/she must also be loyal to his/her subordinates by the robust leadership he/she is duty bound to give; and horizontally, loyalty to his/her squad, section, platoon, company, squadron, unit, etc by building himself/herself up and conducting himself/herself in a manner that always brings glory to his/her team and the entire Armed Forces. Anything to the contrary portends negative perception for not only his team but also the entire Armed Forces. Such negativities also erode the morale of the fighting troops and overall efficiency of the Armed Forces.
“The point must not be lost that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is a well structured organisation with requisite departments and branches to deal with all issues, administrative or otherwise. Hence, no personnel would be retired or made to exit Service without rigorous administrative processes and procedures being exhausted. Be assured that the Nigerian Military is a self-regulating organization that holds tenaciously to the best practices of administration.
“Whilst mechanisms are in place within the 3 Services to deal with administrative issues, it behooves on the Defence Headquarters to continually play its coordinating role. Everybody takes pride in mouthing whatever role they have played in nurturing the democracy we all now enjoy. The role of the Armed Forces in this regard is unquantifiable. It therefore demands of every military personnel to remain loyal, disciplined, dedicated and committed to the constitutional imperatives of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. Anything less cannot be acceptable at this critical time of our nationhood. That is the crux of the message and it must be understood in that context.”
