Military set to retire over 1000 officers …DHQ says no comment
By Philip Nwosu

Monday, August 10, 2009

Fears have gripped some military officers over the decision of the Armed Forces authorities to ease them out of service prematurely. The officers Daily Sun learnt are over 1,000 and mostly in the rank of captains and majors and their equivalents in the Navy and Air Force.


The bone of contention, Daily Sun learnt was a decision taken by the military to retire some the officers, particularly those who enlisted as Short Service Combatants at the age of 40.

By the decision, the officers who are mainly captains in the Nigerian Army and their equivalents in the Navy and the Air Force, especially those who enlisted as Short Service Combatants were mandated to retire from the military on the attainment of 40 years under the Armed Forces conditions of service.

They claim that if no action is taken to settle the matter, a good number of officers who enlisted in the military before and between 2002 and 2008 could be thrown out of service earlier than they had planned.

The decision by the top hierarchy of the military have generated disaffection within the ranks of the military with some of the officers seeking protection at the civil court.

Worried by the disaffection the issue had generated and several pending court cases, Daily Sun learnt that the immediate past Minister of Defence, Dr Shettima Mustapha had directed the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike to raise an administrative panel to iron out grey areas in the terms and condition of service in order to assuage the dissatisfied officers.

However, it was learnt that the panel which was headed by a top officer in the Defence Headquarters instead of improving the conditions of service, insisted that the age ceiling for captains and majors should be at the present age.

As a result, middle level officers under the aegis of Concerned Officers, in a four page Save our Soul message sent to the Chief of Defence Staff, said the recommendation by the panel was capable of deepening the disaffection among the cadre of officers instead of giving them the expected succour.

The SOS letter signed by one Major I A Badisa noted that Short Service Combatants joined the military at the ages of between 25 and 30.

“After graduating from the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) after nine months such an officer is commissioned second Lieutenant and is expected to wear the rank for 3-4 years before becoming full fledged Lieutenant. He wears the rank for another 3-4 years to become a captain when probably the officer would have attained the age of either 37 or 38. Because such an officer spends 4-5 years on the rank it means he will be about 41 years as a Major.”

Badisa said the implication of the policy is “that the officers retire at 40, a situation which had propelled disengaged officers to head to the court for redress.’’

‘’We feel this development is not good for the system. The situation will create a dearth of skilled manpower in the Armed Forces’’, Badisa noted. He pointed out that instead of the panel to increase the age ceiling by at least one year, the committee in its report as contained in the harmonized Terms and Condition of Service for Nigerian Armed Forces Officers (2007) Revised, in paragraph 15.04 retained the 40years ceiling for Captains.

Badisa said that although Lieutenant-Colonels had one year added to their age ceiling to make it 50 years, ’’this will not significantly change the present condition. Three years would have been added to the age ceiling for the Lt-Cols, to enable the system benefit maximally from the experience of the officers who after graduating from the Senior Staff Course (PSC) are hardly allowed to remain on the system for long for the nation to benefit from the investment on them.

Most of them retire after one year on the rank of a Lt-Col, this practice is not encouraging.’’

When contact on the issue, the Spokesman for the Military who was identified as Colonel Mohammed Yerima told Daily Sun on phone that he was not going to speak on the matter.

When asked to react on the issues raised by the said Major Badisa, the Military spokesman was enraged and angrily poured abuses on the reporter who tried to explain to him that all he wanted was his reaction.

He however identified the said Major Badisa, explaining that, “but this officer you are talking about works with the Army Headquarters.”

If not because they've politicized everything, why would you be on a rank for more than 4 years. And didn't those officers sign papers that would have defined their retirement to a particular age rather than a particular rank. . .I mean I don't gerrit!!

this is so sad,but i am sure those officers knew what they were getting into when they joined the military as short service commission so no sentiments i beg,i now understand that the regulars in the military are the real deal in the military cos they spent 5 years in the NDA,so anybody who joins from the backyard should expect things like these o

the govt should duely occupy these men before they are hijacked by politicians or criminals alike. these men are highly exposed to military tactics & techniques & as such shouldn't be treated shabbily.

but i really wonder why at this time cos times are really harsh so i i'm musing why the military authorities are pushing these men to the precipice of the unknown!!!

Pathetic

Hurray!!!!!!!! No problem, there would be vacancy for some of us who are eager to work.

The normal promotion cycle is one promotion per five years. Retirement is usually at age 55 or after 35 years service. However officers can be retained beyond that age/service years at the pleasure of the govt.  For example the Nigerian General Martin Luther Agwai is currently the commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur. He is 59 yo and has been in service for nearly 40 years.  Lt-General Chikadibia Isaac Obiakor is the Military Adviser to the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations at U.N. headquarters in New York.  He has already been in the army for over 36 years and is 58 years old.

However the FG has the right to prematurely retire military officers if it wants to. They are after all paid by the FG.

MUZBO:

If not because they've politicized everything, why would you be on a rank for more than 4 years. And didn't those officers sign papers that would have defined their retirement to a particular age rather than a particular rank. . .I mean I don't gerrit!!

wait slf Na age dem dey use give promotion? not ur actions and achievements.abi dey no dey go war or atlest do something, u know nowoo as a soilder, For me Nigeria ARMY seems to be a place, u just join in and u go start to collect ur pepper and other wayo stuff.

What is there left for the army to do?
IBB in his insecurity, chopped it up like a knife through butter. Obj in his wisdom decimated what was left.

They are a dangerously misguided bunch who have learnt to call everyday folk "bloody civilians"; they feel that their guns give them some sort of superiority, even if they are unschooled. This is a group of armed citizens that have perfected the art of brutalising the populace including women.

In my opinion, the army needs to be totally scrapped and rebuilt afresh from the ground up.

What is there left for the army to do? How about suppressing attacks by murderous subversive sects that behead preachers, kill innocent people and try to attack police and army HQs?

Once again, it is NOT age that determines promotion. Normal promotion cycles are every 5 years but officers are also required to attend courses, and pass exams before being promoted. After being commissioned from the Nigerian Defence Academy, officers have to attend further courses at the Command and Staff College in Jaji (for mid ranking officers) and the National Defence College in Abuja (senior officers). They cannot be promoted till they attend these courses and pass their promotion exams.

The officers should be happy, at least they have been complaining of no payment, now they can go and find better jobs.

Just another queue of unpaid pensioners.
NIGERIA which way!!

brein:

Just another queue of unpaid pensioners.
NIGERIA which way!!

Pension for sitting in the barracks and harassing innocent people on the street?

Fhemmmy:

Pension for sitting in the barracks and harassing innocent people on the street?

these are officers and not some kwe kwe enlisted soldiers.

bawomolo:

these are officers and not some kwe kwe enlisted soldiers.

No be kwe kwe officers de command kwe kwe enlisted soldiers?

Compare JTF General (left) to the two US Generals below.

are you jealous you haven't been blessed enough to have guilder belly?

why you dey hate now.

bawomolo:

are you jealous you haven't been blessed enough to have guilder belly?
why you dey hate now.

Damn! Na so ya bele be?
Anyway, you can see Gen JTF's wife is expecting him to deliver soon! Its a modern World!

with that kind belly, you aint fit t be in the military

Beaf:



Damn! Na so ya bele be?
Anyway, you can see Gen JTF's wife is expecting him to deliver soon! Its a modern World!

hahahahaha!! i laughed at that one.

The problem is that the military, army especially, requires a lot of subalterns, but less field officers. so the hierarchy has to be trimmed. i feel that the terms and conditions of service has to be fully understood by the SSC cadet on entry into NDA. this is because the military is a unique system with rules and regulations which are quite different from what the civil community knows. and binding by those rules and conditions the affected officers dont have a case. but policy changes.

but policy changes.

how often do these policies change? And why wold the military force policy change all the time at the detriment of soldiers job.

I think this short service men are not been sincere.They should leave when their time is up and stop all this complain.
Reasons been that;
1)They know the term & condition b4 they enlisted,so they should no try to shift the goal post when the game have started.
2)If their services are needed by the fgn then govt will not ask them to go
3)they should give room to other pple
4)the experience they garnered from the military should be used to set up legal security outfit that will benefit the populace.

The simple question is . . . .were this rules in place before they signed up? If yes . . . they should quit complaining.

I remember some officers blasting one 'other-rank' here on NL becos he expected to be commisssioned on attainment of a Bachelors degree. So what is good for the goose ,is good for the gander. . . .

@Frankkky
this is so sad,but i am sure those officers knew what they were getting into when they joined the military as short service commission so no sentiments i beg,i[b] now understand that the regulars in the military are the real deal in the military cos they spent 5 years in the NDA,so anybody who joins from the backyard should expect things like these[/b]

My brother, first and foremost SSC is NOT a back door affair.

There are actually policies guiding both commisions(RC and SSC). So 5 yrs in NDA is really not the criteria as you would have seen in most post in this thread. You also need to understand that most SSC officers joined as graduates with degrees in Engineering, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, Pol Science, etc from the University and polytechnic respectively. Others Join with either a first or Higher degrees as DIRECT SERVICE COMMISIONED OFFICERS.The Army is a very regimented sector and I tell you all the SSC officers are well aquainted with what they are going into within their 9-months training at the NDA before they are commisioned.

There are also a few non-commisioned officers who have served over a period of 10 years or more who get CONVERTED into SSC. In most cases some of these officers started as career service men from Military School Zaria and then worked their ways to earn a degree in the poly or University and then qualify through internal process to get commisioned. Looking at the 3  levels of commision listed above you don't definitely expect them to apply the same retirement policy across board(I am not making a case for the post though)

You must understand that most graduates have taken jobs in the military and the police either because they like the visibility or they are generally passionate about serving their country or because that was what was available at the time. Job opportunities in Nigeria are not easy to come-by when you think of how many graduates are churned out of our universities yearly.

I heard somebody say the SSC guys in question here should take the retirement and go set-up a security outfit? there are quite a lot of circular jobs these guys can do(with their level of certification and experience) if they are eventually relieved from the Army. I personally served five years in the Navy as regular commisioned officer after graduation from the Academy and opted to out for personal reasons. I now work in the Oil and Gas sector as an Offshore Engineer in the Gulf of Mexico.

Let them settle themselves, is man know man

kwe kwe officers dey comem join kwe kwe Major-General Senator David Mark for politic to CHOP OIL MONEY

How will this affect us.
I guess more people to be without a job.
More people that will never get pensioned.
More people that will be on street and probably using their uniform to get 20Naira on the streets.
More people that was never useful.
na dem sabi jare

mike oscar:

My brother, first and foremost SSC is NOT a back door affair.

There are actually policies guiding both commisions(RC and SSC). So 5 yrs in NDA is really not the criteria as you would have seen in most post in this thread. You also need to understand that most SSC officers joined as graduates with degrees in Engineering, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, Pol Science, etc from the University and polytechnic respectively. Others Join with either a first or Higher degrees as DIRECT SERVICE COMMISIONED OFFICERS.The Army is a very regimented sector and I tell you all the SSC officers are well aquainted with what they are going into within their 9-months training at the NDA before they are commisioned.

There are also a few non-commisioned officers who have served over a period of 10 years or more who get CONVERTED into SSC. In most cases some of these officers started as career service men from Military School Zaria and then worked their ways to earn a degree in the poly or University and then qualify through internal process to get commisioned. Looking at the 3 levels of commision listed above you don't definitely expect them to apply the same retirement policy across board(I am not making a case for the post though)

You must understand that most graduates have taken jobs in the military and the police either because they like the visibility or they are generally passionate about serving their country or because that was what was available at the time. Job opportunities in Nigeria are not easy to come-by when you think of how many graduates are churned out of our universities yearly.

I heard somebody say the SSC guys in question here should take the retirement and go set-up a security outfit? there are quite a lot of circular jobs these guys can do(with their level of certification and experience) if they are eventually relieved from the Army. I personally served five years in the Navy as regular commisioned officer after graduation from the Academy and opted to out for personal reasons. I now work in the Oil and Gas sector as an Offshore Engineer in the Gulf of Mexico.

what you guys should understand is that the officers cader in the military is meant for the full combatant soildeirs who had undrgone 5 year (now 4 yrs) of trainning in the NDA. the short service commision was created so as to fill in the vacancy created when regular combactant officers go for courses or are on leave. the barrack can never be vacant without a commandant. in cases of emmergency, who leads who.
however, i think the 40 age limit is to harsh for the ssc officers. they are destinned not to be generals and that they no very well. the country has invested so much on them and can stiil tapped a lot from them. many of these officers in the cornnel caders are posted to head military schools while the combactant soilders hold key positions in the army. only few generals are permitted. even as with commbactant soilders, their numbesr are systematically been pround down so that many generals dont emmmergd among them "we cannot have two captain in a ship"

@ lakeside44

What you said makes sense.

@mike oscar,why leave a bright career in the military as a regular combantant,u might have become a general tommorow who knows(but then u have a right to choose whatever u want)bact to the post,these ssc officers knew what they were getting into when they signed,so waz all da fuss about?
i mean how can someone accept to to spend 4 to 5years on a rank(GOD FORBID)SOME OFFICERS EVEN SPEND MORE THAN THOSE YEARS ON A RANK,HABA!.,B4 U KNOW IT AGE WILL CATCH UP WITH THEM
SHORT SERVICE THAT IS WHAT IT IS,SHORT SERVICE