Integrity of the Armed Forces

By 

Augustus Aikhomu

These are very exciting times and also trying historical circumstances for the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is common knowledge that of Nigeria's 41 years of post-colonial independence, the military was compelled by historical, patriotic, nationalistic and professional values and commitments to intervene in the country's governance, and it remained as the dominant factor in governance of the country for about 30 years. Two definitive attempts were made in the distant past to wean away the military from governance - in 1979 and in 1993. Although very noble and patriotic as they were, both attempts did not succeed fully to restore democracy to the country. The third attempt which was inaugurated in May 1999 hurriedly eased the military away from governance coupled with efforts to return it to its normal and professional role in society. With sense of grave responsibility, I dare say that militarism, or the Nigerian-military-in-politics is gone, but the nation is still grappling with the politics of transition from civil rule to democracy. I also dare say that the nation will, over time and with the good will and commitments of all, transit fully into democracy. In this manner the Nigerian Armed Forces is fully poised in its own transition back to professionalism and the re-institution of the armed forces high command unencumbered by the attraction and perkings of political power.

But the transition is not going to be an easy one. It will involve as I believe it has started, honest and dedicated commitments by government as well as by the military hierarchies and of the officers and men. On the part of the armed forces, there must be preparedness for a systematic re-orientation, and of coping with the new challenges and dynamics of current historical circumstances in which the armed forces are subordinate to the will of the people as symbolised by democratically elected representatives. The armed forces must get back to the imperatives of training and re-training, tooling and re-tooling and of getting to grips with the requirements and utility of high technology of the information age. On the part of government, there are no doubts whatsoever that high priority than before should be devoted to well articulated defence budgets and to full and non-diversionary implementation of the budgets; the welfare of men and officers must be taken with greater priority than before if the policies and programmes of re-professionalism will succeed. It is simply not enough to announce that the military is returning to professionalism. The implementation of the policies and programmes must be seen and felt to be in consonance with national and military professional interests. Government should stop blaming its difficulties on past regimes, and face up to its responsibilities with regard to the armed forces.

The armed forces have come a long way from its colonial origin to the post-colonial and civil war challenges. They have largely been influenced by two key variables. The first and most important is the historical formation of the armed forces. The colonial roots of the Nigerian Army and the Navy, and subsequently of the Air Force have had tremendous impact, arising from the British colonial heritage, on the way the military perceived, or used to perceive, its role, types of issues around which defence policy should be structured and its strategic and tactical doctrines. Because the colonial armed services were employed largely in support of the maintenance of law and order and in aid of civil forces, the second variable, consequent upon these imperatives is based on the requirements of law enforcement and territorial defence. These two variables made the Nigerian Armed Forces rather militaristic in orientation and designed as instrument for control rather than for development of society. For a long time even after independence, the Nigerian Armed Forces were structured to implement pre-determined strategic and tactical doctrines which were largely oriented outwards rather than for the transformation of the internal tissues of the Nigerian nation.

National interest and national security, particularly after the Nigerian Civil War, embraced not only law enforcement but also security of life and property, security of economic and natural resources particularly of the oil and gas sector, food security for the people, health and medicare of the people, the safety and security of the environment, and national integrity. It also became imperative to acknowledge and embrace the tremendous changes in the international system which were partly ideological with reference to the collapse of the Soviet Union and communism, and partly technological with the reference to the applied science and technology to defence and security matters, resolution of conflicts and the maintenance of peace, proper understanding of the global economy as well as the technological, social, human rights and cultural foundations of contemporary problems. All of these and more, became the essential components of defence policy analysis.

For us in Nigeria, the armed forces develop, particularly out of the Nigerian civil war from being uni-service doctrines to tri-service doctrines so as to harmonise defence and security policies and programmes for common goals and objectives. There was also, in the period after the civil war, a gradual development of what can be called credible homeland defence posture with strategic and tactical doctrines transformed massively from their colonial origins to an internally comprehensive system in which many strategic determinants became important. Among the determinants are national values and interests, national and regional power configuration; ownership and control of major economic and natural resources; consideration of internal and external security threats; national integrity and integration; and the synchronisation of foreign policy with regional power and peace-keeping assistance provided to United Nations' causes.

It is in the light of the gradual growth and development of homeland strategic and tactical doctrines that both the Nigerian government and the armed forces will need to work out, in today's excitement and predicament, a tactical balance in posture as to the use to which external assistance can be put in the re-professionalisation of the armed forces. I personally subscribe to the views currently being expressed and canvassed in certain layers of the military hierarchy about the concern over what appears to be an undue exuberance around external assistance to the Nigerian Armed Forces. We may have difficulties and crises in our country but there is a limit to which we can sacrifice our acquired homeland doctrines to the exposure and manipulation of external forces. Indeed, we have more reasons now than ever, arising from the nature and dynamics of democracy, to protect and preserve our strategic and tactical doctrines from external pollution and manipulation or indeed from desolation.

Admiral Aikhomu was the former 2ic to IBB.