Still on Osita Chidoka’s Sophistry and Amnesia against General Lagbaja
By Olu Taiwo
This is the concluding part of ““Osita Chidoka’s Sophistry and Amnesia on military appointments”
Another controversy stoked by Osita Chidoka in his vexatious interview with Channels Television arose from the context in which he saw the appointment of General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja as Chief of Army Staff when he described his choice as the appointment of a ‘Yoruba’ officer by the sitting President, who we know is also of Yoruba extraction. For all his posturing as cosmopolitan, it is disappointing that the debonair Chidoka could descend so low as to play the ethnic card in offering his take to Channels Television on the appointment of General Lagbaja as COAS. Suffice to ask, where was Chidoka when his benefactor, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Lieutenant General Kenneth Minimah (rtd), an Ijaw like Dr. Jonathan himself, COAS?
Not only that, skipping the seniority roll from General Ihejirika’s Course 18 to General Minimah’s Course 25 was apparently not offensive to Chidoka when General Minimah was appointed COAS. And neither was there any ‘bloodletting’ then too. Yet skipping just one Course, as President Tinubu did, i.e. Course 38 to 39, riles the former Minister of Aviation to the extent that he went on television to make such offensive comments.
Although Chidoka pretends to not know, even if he savages his acclaimed high intelligence quotient by so doing, this write knows that he knows that in appointing Service Chiefs two critical factors come to play – the pedigree of the officer appointed and the need to ensure that the appointment promotes geo – political balance in the polity, particularly in the security architecture of the country.
Regarding the criterion of pedigree, General Lagbaja is eminently qualified to be appointed COAS. This is even as Chidoka chose to refer to him derisively and condescendingly as “a Yoruba officer” as if it is taboo for a Yoruba officer to be appointed COAS. Not only is General Lagbaja an officer of the revered Infantry Corps of the Nigerian Army, fondly referred to as the Queen of Battle and the foremost of the five Corps tagged the ‘teeth arms’ of the combat services of Nigerian Army (the four others are Armour, Artillery, Engineers and Signals, in that order), he has also paid his dues as a seasoned and brave Infantry officer. And, by the way, the Infantry Corps produced the four Chiefs of Army Staff preceding General Lagbaja. These are Generals Minimah, Buratai, Attahiru and Yahaya.
Unlike a few previous Chiefs of Army Staff who never held command appointments in the strategic levels of their mother Corps, General Lagbaja literally saw it all in the Infantry Corps before he was appointed COAS. It is to the credit of the sitting COAS that, in addition to serving as Commanding Officer (CO) of the elite 72 Special Forces Battalion based in Makurdi, Benue State, he also commanded troops in two different battalions at the Platoon level, which is the lowest cadre of command for a young officer and where such officers cut their teeth in the art of commanding troops.
Besides serving as CO of a Battalion, General Lagbaja equally commanded two strategic Brigades of the Nigerian Army, namely the elite 9th Brigade, with its headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos and 2 Brigade in Uyo. The COAS also belongs to the pantheon of Army officers who have had the distinguished honor of commanding more than one of the eight Divisions of the Nigerian Army. These are 82 Division, with its headquarters in Enugu, and the strategic 1 Division which has its headquarters in Kaduna.
General Lagbaja was also a key member of the nucleus of senior officers posted to Monguno in the northern axis of Borno state, and one of the hotbeds of the Boko Haram insurgency, to set up 8 Special Task Force Division of the Nigerian Army, precursor of its 8 Division, when its rear headquarters was located in Monguno.
There he served as Chief of Staff under two successive General Officers Commanding, Generals Ohifeme Ejemai (rtd) and Stevenson Olabanji (rtd). Although he is primarily an Infantry officer, General Lagbaja also undertook vast training in Amphibious and Airborne operations which vested him with extensive capabilities to operate both in maritime and air domains and earned him the coveted paratroopers’ badge.
But it must be pointed out that admiration and respect in the Nigerian Army are not earned through acts of valor and gallantry alone or simply by commanding strategic units and formations. They are also accorded officers who excel in other critical appointments such as staff and instructional duties. And here, again, General Lagbaja stood out head above shoulders. For General Lagbaja also distinguished himself among his peers, as well as his juniors and seniors alike, as a fine officer through his meritorious track record in the staff and instructional appointments he held prior to his appointment as COAS.
As a matter of fact, General Lagbaja served his staff duty appointments at key desks of the Nigerian Army. Such duty posts included the top Department of Army Training and Operations as well as at the headquarters of two different Divisions of the Nigerian Army, namely 8 and 81 Divisions. He capped his stellar performances at these desks with serving as Directing Staff at the prestigious Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC) and as an Instructor at his alma mater, the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Nigeria’s foremost tri – service military training institution where officer cadets, who are later commissioned into the three services of the armed forces, are trained. General Lagbaja had the distinguished honor of teaching for six years in between these two instructional appointments.
General Lagbaja also boasts of two very significant achievements used as criteria in the armed forces to rate officers and for determining the level of admiration and respect they deserve.
All things being equal, officers of the armed forces are expected to move up to the next rank after a given number of years, beginning from when they were commissioned into service on the Second Lieutenant rank cadre. Under normal circumstances, promotion from the entry rank of Second Lieutenant to full Lieutenant and from the rank of full Lieutenant to Captain should be granted every four years. Promotion from the rank of Captain to Major, Major to Lieutenant Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel to full Colonel and from full Colonel to Brigadier General should be after every five years, while promotion from the rank of Brigadier General to the Major General rank cadre is after four years.
Even as the designated number of years for moving from one rank cadre to another are well laid out, it is not automatic that promotion will be granted in the designated periods. This is because elevation of officers of the armed forces to the next rank is done strictly on merit / performance and not by right. It must therefore be earned before it is granted. It is noteworthy that, tight as promotion is in the Nigerian Army, General Lagbaja belongs to the highly respected group of officers who never ever missed their promotion whenever it was due. In what more way can excellence be defined, one may ask?
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And still on pedigree, anyone who is familiar with military affairs will know that for any officer of the combat arms to be promoted to the rank of Brigadier General from the full Colonel rank cadre, they must attend a one – year course at the National Defence College (NDC). Attendance of the NDC is however very competitive and not a right. Therefore, not all Colonels of the Corps of the Nigerian Army that must pass through the NDC to be promoted Brigadier General ever qualify to attend the College. Sadly, those who must do so but fail to meet this mark, and who cannot also secure nomination to study at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), are compelled to end their career on the rank of Colonel. But that is not the only significance of attending the NDC.
There is also the rigorous weeding process to select officers eligible to attend the College. The exercise sets aside the best 10 qualifying officers or thereabouts. As a mark of honor and recognition of the exceptional brilliance of such officers, they are granted the privilege of undertaking their Defence College studies, otherwise known as War College studies, which lasts a little over one year, in very prestigious and globally – acclaimed military training institutions overseas. The countries of choice are usually United States of America (USA), United Kingdom (UK), China, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. As earlier indicated, these overseas postings for Defence College studies are reserved for the best of the very best of eligible officers. Not only did General Lagbaja fit that bill, he undertook his Defence College Course in the much sought after United States of America War College. High pedigree does not come any better than that. Yet this is the exceptional officer Chidoka chose to disparage by referring to him as a ‘Yoruba officer’, thus suggesting that he got appointed as COAS not on merit but simply because he is Yoruba, just like President Tinubu. What a gratuitous insult on General Lagbaja.
And now the critical issue of geo – political balance. It is pertinent to note that following the retirement of General Ihejirika as COAS, no officer of the Nigerian Army of core Igbo extraction was ever appointed as COAS and indeed a Service Chief. General Ihejirika himself was the first and only officer of core Igbo extraction to be appointed COAS since the Nigerian civil war ended in January 1970. Yet, like officers of some other major ethnic groups too, the Igbo always have very brilliant and competent officers serving in the Nigerian Army.
Expectedly, and understandably too, most Igbo leaders felt hard done by each time the ethnic group was by – passed when each new COAS was appointed before and after the tenure of General Ihejirika as COAS. Perhaps unknown to the Igbo is the troubling fact that since General Alani Ipoola Akinrinade (rtd) left office as COAS in 1980, after he was promoted to the then newly – established office of Chief of Defence Staff, (CDS) of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, no officer of Yoruba extraction was ever appointed COAS for the next 43 years.
Even when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a Yoruba of Owu extraction in Ogun State and former military Head of State, served for two terms as Nigeria’s democratically elected President, no Yoruba officer was appointed COAS. Yet, the Nigerian Army had several Yoruba officers that were eminently qualified to be appointed as COAS all through this 43 – year period of denial. Probably this act of commission or omission was unknown to the Nigerian public because the Yoruba did not whine or allege ‘marginalization’ over the blatant injustice.
The obvious slight was also not taken to the court of public opinion to propagate the hurt by the Yoruba that their ethnic group, which officers also played key roles in the prosecution of the Nigerian civil war that kept Nigeria as one indivisible entity, was being treated unjustly in the appointment of succeeding Chiefs of Army Staff since 1980. This mature approach adopted by the Yoruba may probably explain why Chidoka spoke derogatively about the appointment of General Lagbaja as COAS because, for all you know, the former Minister of Aviation may be unware that no Yoruba officer ever served as COAS since 1980.
Curiously, within the 43 – year period that officers of South West extraction were shuttered from the exalted post of Chief of Army Staff, the Nigerian Army was headed by 20 officers drawn from all the other five geo – political zones of the country with the odd exception of the South West. And here is the roll call: North West – seven. These are Generals Aliyu Mohammed Gusau (1993), Ishaya Rizi Bamaiyi (1996 – 1999), Martin Luther Agwai (2003 – 2006), Luka Nyeh Yusuf (2007 – 2008), Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau (2008 – 2010), Ibrahim Attahiru (2021) and Farouk Yahaya (2021 – 2023).
In the same period, the North East produced four Chiefs of Army Staff, namely Generals Gibson Sanda Jalo (1980 – 1981), Sani Abacha (1985 – 1990), Alwali Jauji Kazir (1994 – 1996) and Tukur Yusuf Buratai (2015 – 2021). The North Central geo – political zone produced five, namely Generals Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi (1981 – 1983), Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (1984 – 1985), Saliu Ibrahim (1990 – 1993), Mohammed Chris Alli (1993 – 1994) and Samuel Victor Leonard Malu (1999 – 2001).
Three COAS were produced by the South South in the period under review. They are Generals Alexander Odeareduo Ogomudia (2001 – 2003), Andrew Owoye Azazi (2003 – 2004) and Kenneth Tobiah Jacob Minimah (2014 – 2015). At the rear in the Chronicle of Command in the period under consideration is the South East with General Onyeabo Azubuike Ihejirika (2015). The South West finally broke the yoke of exclusion when General Lagbaja, a consummate Infantry officer, was appointed the first COAS of Yoruba extraction since the end of General Akinrinade’s tour of duty in 1980. Sadly, Chidoka took delight in rubbishing the appointment.
In all, it is indeed unconscionable, condescending and arrogant of Chidoka to cast General Lagbaja as undeserving of his appointment as COAS despite his proven pedigree and impressive track record. But this writer is not surprised. After all, we now live in very strange times when otherwise intelligent people like Chidoka have reduced themselves to championing causes that derive pleasure in advancing fallacious claims to achieve their objectives, even if they tarnish reputations and rubbish names that their victims built, oftentimes over decades of hard work, by so doing.
CORRIGENDUM
The first time a Course of the Nigerian Army produced two Chiefs of Army Staff (COAS) was in 1993 and it was in immediate succession of each other. This was when Lieutenant General Salihu Ibrahim (1990 – 1993), a member of the NDA Regular Course 1 set, was succeeded by General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau (1993), another member of the Regular Course 1 set. This invalidates the assertion in the first part of this piece that the NDA Regular Course 3 set was the first to produce two Chiefs of Army Staff and that the Army has not produced two COAS of the same set who succeeded each other in office. However, this historical fact applies to the military rule era and not the period between May 1999 – June 2023 which the piece dwells on.
Olu Taiwo is a Military Affairs Analyst
