General CG Musa’s Leadership Concept and the Nigerian Military
By Abdulsalam Mahmud
Every leader desires to steer the affairs of his or her subjects, in a manner that will better their lots. They do not wish to be found wanting in that regard. That is why some of them come up with a leadership philosophy, vision or concept.
In fact, politicians who aspire for elective offices have what they call their governance blueprint. It is the document they recourse to in piloting the affairs of their people, after grabbing power. In recent years, most of the Service Chiefs Nigeria produced were also not left out.
They, at various times, unveiled their own leadership philosophy/concept/vision/mission. The immediate-past Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, General Leo Irabor, on February 20, 2021 unveiled his. It happened a few weeks after he was appointed as Nigeria’s 16th Defence Chief.
He said: “I envisage a knowledge-driven, skill-based, object-focused, fiscally responsible, systematic, creative, forward-looking, ethical and citizen-minded, conscientious and caring armed forces. In this regard, the broad outline of my leadership focus shall be “To foster a Professional Armed Forces capable of effectively meeting constitutional imperatives”.
“This broad focus shall be anchored on PEARL as tenets going forward. I shall seek to build the AFN which is Professional, Effective, Agile, Result-oriented and Loyal to the constituted authority as emplaced by the Constitution (PEARL), in concept, shape and outlook”.
Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, the country’s longest Chief of Army Staff, COAS, also did, when he assumed office in June 2015. Buratai’s vision was to have a professional and responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of constitutional roles.
Same goes for the last two COAS, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru of blessed memory and Lt. Gen. Faruq Yahaya. Attahiru, who died when a military jet crash landed in Kaduna in May 2021, had this vision for the Nigerian Army: To have a Nigerian Army that is repositioned to professionally defeat all adversaries in a joint environment.
“The pillars of my command are readiness (which entails mission oriented training, functional manning and equipment); duty to country (which entails loyalty and sacrifice for our fatherland); dependable (which is built on the capacity of the NA to accomplish any mission in line with the norms of humanity as enshrined in our core values and ethics); as well as continuous leadership development (which will ensure innovative 21st century commanders),” the late COAS had said, while assuming office.
As for Gen. Yahaya, his foremost ambition was to defeat all security challenges presently (then) confronting the Nigerian nation, in collaboration with sister services and other security agencies. He (at that time) said that he will command the NA to win all land battles in defence of the territorial integrity of Nigeria, protect her national interests and accomplish assigned tasks in aid of civil authority among other responsibilities.
Thanks to their leadership blueprints, the aforementioned ex-Service Chiefs, truth be told, all recorded significant strides in tackling Nigeria’s lingering security challenges. Even though, insecurity still persists, they did a yeoman’s job in taming terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements.
They checkmated the marauding and sabotaging activities of these enemies of the Nigerian State. About three weeks, Gen. Christopher Gwabim Musa, the newly-decorated CDS, also unveiled the first-class concept of the leadership style he will be adopting as Head of the Nigerian military.
He said that the significance of his roadmap is to foster a highly disciplined, cohesive and inspired AFN ready to achieve its constitutional roles, facilitate national security and enhance sustainable socio-economic development in the country.
“In this regard, the broad outline of my leadership concept shall be “To Nurture a Professional Armed Forces of Nigeria that is People – Centric, Collaborative and Capable of Meeting its Constitutional Responsibilities in a Joint Environment”.
“Accordingly, my leadership concept will be hinged on 3 pillars which include being people-centric, prioritizing troops’ welfare while deepening jointness and interagency collaboration.
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“I recognize the significance of leading the thousands of devoted and distinguished service men and women to provide a secure and peaceful environment for the Nigerian people to freely engage in their legitimate enterprise in line with the constitutional mandate of the AFN.
“In this regard, the AFN under my leadership will be people-centric by prioritizing and safeguarding our people and their legitimate way of life as prescribed by the Nigerian Constitution.
“Accordingly, the AFN will apply the lens of people-centricity to key components of activities to truly put the Nigerian people at the centre of its actions geared towards promoting and safeguarding a secure environment for all. To achieve this, the AFN will proactively defend our territorial integrity and democracy as well as safeguard internal security and unity to achieve the stability required to guarantee sustainable national development.
“Troops’ welfare and sound administration will provide the required atmosphere for the AFN to deliver on its constitutional responsibilities. Thus, the AFN will continue to seek ways and means to improve the welfare of its personnel under my watch.
“In this regard, service men and women of the AFN should be reassured of my commitment to their welfare, provision of relevant operational equipment as well as infrastructural development within available resources to enable them to succeed in assigned constitutional roles.
“The goal will be to promote targeted and specific capacity building, sound administration and efficient resource management amongst others to enhance both individual and collective welfare of AFN personnel. I shall also promote international military cooperation/collaboration to further expose and provide capacity building to AFN personnel in joint and combined operations outside the shores of Nigeria.
“This measure is required to consolidate on AFN welfare priorities in order to effectively deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars by providing ready, prompt and sustained land, sea and air dominance by the AFN across traditional as well as asymmetric conflict settings as part of a joint force.
“”Joint operation which is designed to exploit unity of efforts to seize, retain and maintain the initiative in order to achieve a clearly defined military objective is crucial to the realization of the AFN constitutional duties. I shall, therefore, deepen jointness and prioritize decision-making through a shared process of active contribution and consultation across a wide spectrum of our security architecture.
“In this regard, I shall promote trust, initiative, judgment and creativity among the various services and maintain a channel for proactive engagement in all our interactions. With regard, to other security forces, I shall build bridges by revitalizing communication channels while deepening synergy in the planning and execution of operations within a well- coordinated, joint and multi-agency environment.
“The myriad of security challenges which have currently bedeviled our dear nation calls for a more succinct approach towards mitigating the issues. In view of this, I am committed towards ensuring a conducive and secure environment for the protection of lives and properties for socio-economic activities to thrive.
“To ensure this, the AFN is poised to fulfil its constitutional roles in order to address evolving security dynamics across the country”. The leadership concept of Gen. Musa is one that eloquently speaks to the purposeful, charismatic and goal-driven leadership he is already offering as Defence Chief, and his resolve to restore the glory and prestige of the Armed Forces, hitherto revered among its contemporaries, across the world.
The concept, again, is one that will emphatically reawaken the gallantry of our entire military personnel, at a time their combat morale appears low. One thing that the new CDS is uniquely endowed with is having an uncommon sagacity in military command administration.
Gen. CG Musa has just deployed it in designing a leadership philosophy that will instantaneously propel the Nigerian Armed Forces to ferociously tackle the country’s security dilemma. He should faithfully abide by it.
His leadership concept, needless to repeat, has the magic wand to address Nigeria’s security woes. That is if its implementation does not become a challenge for the Kaduna State-born General and his team of lieutenants at the DHQ.
*Mahmud is the Deputy Editor of PRNigeria, and wrote in via: [email protected].*
