Also, I recall as part of my military exploits when I went to receive the corpses of eight Nigerian contingent to the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission who were killed in a clash with supporters of Somali warlord, Mohammed Farah Aidid. I was also to give the nation's position on the killings of these soldiers to the Commander of the United Nations Forces in Somalia.
As a matter of fact, I found the killing of these soldiers totally unacceptable to the Nigerian Army.
At that time, no Nigerian military officer was ready to go to Somalia to receive the corpses of these fallen soldiers.
But I opted to undertake the venture as the Chief of Operations then. When I got to Mogadishu, I had discussions with the United Nations Enforcement Commander and later, retrieved the dead bodies of our fallen soldiers.
One thing happened while I was leaving for Nigeria. Nigerian journalists who were at the airport didn't bother to find out from me the position of the country in respect of the killing of its eight soldiers. However, when I got to Liberia, one of the BBC Correspondents cornered me and wanted me to confirm that it was the fault of the UN Enforcement Commander who abandoned the Nigerian troops to be slaughtered like cows. But I refused to confirm the report because I wanted to speak while on the Nigerian soil.
But as I landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, I had expected our journalists to have cornered me to give them the situation report but they did not. I would have told them exactly what happened but since they didn't ask me, I went straight to brief the then President.
I told the President that Nigerian troops were slaughtered as a result of the dereliction of duties by the contributing troops who would have otherwise protected them while they were embarking on that dangerous patrol.
But they didn't protect the troops and that led to the killing of eight of the soldiers. That's part of the distrust that I was talking about concerning the Liberian experience. It's also available in any peace keeping operation anywhere in the world. Distrust cost Nigeria its eight soldiers.
At the time Sgt. Doe was captured and whisked away by Johnson and his men from the ECOMOG base, were there no troops on ground that could have countered the crossfire?
The ECOMOG headquarters then was occupied by mere staff officers. And around the HQ, we had the Gambian troops who were stationed to protect the HQ from external attack, though they were not all that experienced and the country's army at that time was made up of greenhorns. We wanted to take our time before introducing them to the theatre of war.
And remember, I told you that I warned Prince Johnson never to enter the HQ again with his men armed to the teeth which the unit commander upturned.
If the troop stationed at the HQ had tried to counter the crossfire, it would have been total massacre. My plans then was if the Commander had obliged me to deploy troops to rescue Sgt. Doe, I would have asked the nearest troop to the HQ , which was the Nigerian troop, to move in and rescue Sgt. Doe from the stronghold of Johnson.
But if I had taken the initiative to deploy troops and in the cause of that action, any troop recorded casualties, the Commander would blame me for illegally deploying troops. That was my fear and why we could not counter the crossfire immediately.
Taylor Killed Nigerians
At this stage of the Peace Keeping Operation, Nigeria recorded many casualties. Was that true?
I must state here that a lot of casualties were not recorded by Nigeria at the early stage of the operation. But it was after we started advancing towards Charles Taylor's territory that we started suffering casualties.
And before our arrival in Monrovia, Charles Taylor and his men had invaded the Nigerian House and killed a lot of our nationals resident in Liberia. It was not about killing Nigerian soldiers but basically, it was about killing Nigerian citizens who were based in Liberia at the time the war broke out.
And again, during that period, we asked so many Nigerians in that country to return home. But they would not listen to us because according to our findings, most of them were married to Liberian women and had children and established businesses.
They did not believe that Charles Taylor would have anything to do with them. But being a rebel, he invaded the Nigerian House and killed innocent Nigerians who had run there for safety.
That brings us to the asylum that was granted to Charles Taylor by the Obasanjo's administration. Was it a right step to have taken by the government?
I do not know what transpired within the government axis regarding the asylum that was granted Charles Taylor in Nigeria. I cannot say whether it was deliberately done to lure him to be captured. But information available to me was that Charles Taylor should not have been granted asylum in Nigeria at all.
Do you think it's still relevant for Nigeria to continue to contribute troops for peace keeping operations?
Yes! I think it's still relevant. Nigeria has been contributing troops to peace keeping operations overseas.
There's no realistic training than what the boys learn while on the battle field. Look at any battalion that embark on a peace keeping operation.
When they return to the country, they appear more seasoned and more trained than they were before they left the shores of the country. We do conduct exercises in Nigeria but those are dry exercises. In peace keeping operations, it's a very real situation and there is no training that money can buy than what our soldiers gain when they embark on peace enforcement operations.
That's the greatest asset that we have gained as a nation from contributing troops to peace enforcement operations.
My Anger
Would you say the country has been fair to you in terms of your unannounced retirement from service?
I think there's a problem of leadership here. I have been saying time without number that the military incursion into the nation's politics is a very big mistake. And most of the time, when it happened, it's the military boys that suffered the consequences.
This is so because those who took part in any coup got rewarded with juicy appointments. The effect is that when they have gotten to the top, they begin to amass wealth and find themselves no longer amenable to military discipline. So, because of that, indiscipline craved into the military, coupled with greed and extortion.
These happened to be the same set of people that rose to the position of decision making in the army, thereby distorting the normal flow of communication.
They formed what we now call kitchen cabinet, gossiping and back-biting, all in attempts to get to the top. They are the ones who now advise that if you do not retire these officers, there wouldn't be positions for us to occupy.
Look at countries like Ghana, they hardly retire their experienced officers like Nigeria does. They only re-cycle them from time to time.
Even though they do not promote their officers as frequently as we do here, they usually prefer to keep them to tap from their wealth of experience and allow them to acquire more training in all the branches in the military.
So, my retirement was as a result of greed, gossip and inordinate ambition to become a Major-General by the low ranking officers.
But one thing they fail to realize is that if you become a Major-General, you are also not far from your retirement. So, it's a no win situation. It's definitely going to come back to you. I'm glad that the situation is getting more suitable than it was when we were there.
Now, let's start thinking of how we are going to move the nation forward. Right now, there is a lot of tribal politics playing out in the military.
Do you have regrets fighting against your kinsmen during the Nigerian civil war?
Not all. The situation at that time dictated the action I took. I was at the Nigerian Defence Academy struggling to ensure that Nigeria remained one indivisible entity. If that situation repeats itself and I find myself in the same position, I will definitely behave the same way.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF NIGERIAN ARMY SPONSORSHIP OF DECEASED PERSONNEL CHILDREN FOR 2022/2023 ACADEMIC SESSION
The Nigerian Army is announcing the commencement of verification and screening of eligible beneficiaries for Sponsorship of children of it’s personnel who died in active service.The scheme is designed to give the children of the deceased the requisite necessary education.
The verification and screening is for Primary, Secondary and Tertiary institutions from 17 January to 17 February 2023 at Army Headquarters Command Officers Mess Asokoro, Abuja. It is meant for existing and new applicants.
Applicants would be in the following Categories:
a. Primary School - 6 - 12 Years of Age.
b. Secondary School - 12 – 18 Years of Age.
c. Tertiary Institutions - 18 – 22 Years of Age.
Required documents for the screening and verification exercise are :
a. Handwritten application for Sponsorship containing the names of the children.
b. Letter of Admission of the beneficiary.
c. Last School Report Card/results of the beneficiary.
d. Letter of Confirmation from the School as to the students of the beneficiary.
e. Birth Certificate of the beneficiary.
f. Death Certificate of the deceased personnel.
g. Part 2 Orders Publication of death.
h. Condolence Letter of deceased Parent.
i. NOTICAS Signal.
j. Nigerian Army Application for Sponsorship form duly completed by the last unit and formation headquarters of the deceased personnel.
k. Four recent passport photograph of the beneficiary.
l. Passport photograph of the deceased personnel.
m. Account number and sort code.
n. Telephone number of the surviving parent or administrator.
Today is very significant in the history of Nigeria. It marks the day, 57 years ago that Igbo soldiers took an advantage of their preponderant population and murdered Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani soldiers and political leaders leaders in Nigeria's first military putsch.
The clearly bigoted soldiers left Igbo soldiers and political leaders such as Azikiwe, Okpara and co untouched while they mutdetrd Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa, Akintola, Okotie Eboh and co. They made an attempt to also kill Awolowo who was then in jail buy they were repelled by soldiers who were waiting for them.
The day should never be forgotten because it gives us an insight into what Igbos are capable of doing when put in position of authority.
The Republican constitution which confers autonomy on the four regions was abrogated by another Igbo man, Aguiyi Nrosi to whom the Igbo soldiers handed power after killing people from other tribes. He replaced it with a unitary constitution that is in effect to this day.
As Nigeria goes through another electoral circle, we hereby call on Nigerian youths (not biafran youths) to be circumspect in their choice of president. Chose people who will use power to develop all parts of the country and not those that would use power for secessionist agenda.
I surely know most of our politicians didnt ve heaven! C d way dey wasted d biutiful soul of our army? And they know of these boko haram, God know the best sha!
Nothing dey vex Naptu2 pass this kin comment on ein thread
The extra-judicial killings perpetrated by men of the armed forces over the years make it very hard to celebrate them on a day like this. Damn it! For Christ's sakes, some of 'these people' shot at armless protesters at Lekki, who had only but their singing voice and the National Anthem!
naptu2: Today is Nigerian Armed Forces Remembrance Day!
In Nigeria, Armed Forces Day, also known as Remembrance Day, is celebrated on January 15th. It was formerly marked on the 11th of November every year to coincide with the Remembrance Day (Poppy Day) for the World War II veterans in the British Commonwealth of Nations, but it was changed to January 15th in Nigeria in commemoration of the surrender of Biafran troops to the Federal troops on 15th of January 1970 thus signalling the end of the Nigerian Civil War.
The day is marked with a Remembrance Day parade at the Cenotaph in Abuja and in the 36 state capitals. The ceremony includes a 21 gun salute, playing of the Last Post, a minute's silence, laying of wreaths and release of pigeons to symbolise peace.
In the past month Armed Forces Remembrance Day emblems have been on sale across the country. Proceeds of the sale of the remembrance emblem go to the Nigerian Legion.
The Nigerian Legion is the Nigerian association of ex-servicemen, i.e. former members of the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force.
Officers and men of the armed forces are trained to fight and kill. When they retire, they discover that there are no jobs for them (some of them have been in the armed forces since they were teenagers and military work is all they know). Others were forced to retire from the Armed Forces due to injuries sustained in battle. The Legion helps them to integrate into society and to take care of themselves.
By law the Legion is permitted to operate certain businesses in order to raise money for its members. Members of the legion also serve as security guards at government establishments (you often see them in their brown uniforms). The Legion also raises money through the sale of Armed Forces Remembrance Day emblems.
In recent years (especially since the return to civilian rule) members of the Legion have gone through great hardship while trying to collect their pensions and gratuity. Sometimes their pensions are not paid for many months. At other times, legionnaires, who could be as old as 60, 70, or 80 years old are made to travel long distances and queue in the hot sun, all in the name of pension verification exercise. Many legionnaires have died during this process.
How many people did you think have time to read those bunch of unending jargons you posted. We just want to say thank you to our brave men and women of the armed forces of Nigeria.
Let's remember our BRAVE soldiers that crushed 5 million IPOB people and sent them to hell,may your souls rest in peace and may the souls of those 5 million IPOB people rest in pieces in hell.
May God protect my father. He participated in the Nigerian civil war first and second Liberian civil war and the Sierra Leon war. Our government need to do more for the veterans
