BY Jonathan Lois
The nominee for Chief of Defence Staff, Maj Gen Christopher Musa on Monday said his leadership would be hinged on three pillars which is people-centricity, prioritizing troops’ welfare and deepening joint and interagency collaboration if confirmed for the position.
He said this when he appeared before the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee to screen the Service Chiefs nominated by President Bola Tinubu.
He said the realization of the critical responsibility of the CDS elicits a clear leadership concept which will serve as the roadmap supporting the implementation of relevant guiding principles by the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN).
Musa said the significance of this 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, Capable of Meeting its Constitutional Responsibilities in a Joint and Collaborative Environment’. Accordingly, my leadership concept will be hinged on 3 pillars which include being people-centricity, prioritizing troops’ welfare while deepening jointness and interagency collaboration,” he said.
He recognized 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 defend our territorial integrity and democracy as well as safeguard internal security and unity to achieve the stability required to guarantee sustainable national development,” he said.
On prioritizing troops welfare, he said, “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 AEN 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.”
On deepening collaboration in the AFN, he said, “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. This is geared towards ensuring that the AFN is capable of promptly identifying and addressing emerging operational challenges with appropriate methods and capabilities in a timely and efficient manner. 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.”
He said the contemporary of security challenges which the AFN and other Security services are currently confronting calls for a more concise approach towards mitigating the issues.
“In view of this, I am committed to ensuring a conducive and secure environment for the protection of lives and properties for socio-economic activities to thrive. To ensure this, the AFN under my leadership is poised to fulfill its constitutional roles in order to defend Nigeria’s sovereignty against internal and external aggressors,” he said.
Also the nominee for the Chief of Army Staff, Maj Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, said he would run a proactive, adaptive and inclusive leadership if confirmed.
“I consider my nomination as a call to higher responsibilities and I am determined not to betray the trust and confidence reposed in me. It is an open secret that our country has faced a challenging security environment in the past two decades. It has impacted adversely on our socio economic and political lives. The episodic crises of the past have now become enduring thereby making governance and the rule of law more challenging for successive administrations.
“Today’s painful reality is that insecurity has distorted our developmental plans and aspirations of a strong, prosperous, globally competitive and influential nation. Never in the recent past is the requirement for proactive, adaptive and inclusive leadership more needed than Nigeria’s security environment of today. These requirements are what I intend to carry out as COAS if confirmed. I am mindful that the Nigerian Army, which I am being screened to lead, is a crucial component of our military instrument of national power.
“It is not only the largest, but the most complex, most geographically spread, most sought after during crisis and often most misunderstood. I believe that for the Nigerian Army to grapple with the demands of the contemporary security environment, it would consistently transform to be a step ahead of its time. For this reason I conceptualize my philosophy of command as to transform the Nigerian Army into a well-trained, equipped and highly motivated force towards achieving our constitutional responsibilities within a joint environment. I intend to partner with the National Assembly and other stakeholders in achieving this command philosophy.”
Chairman of the Ad hoc Committee, Hon Babajimi Benson, said for more than sixteen years, Nigeria has witnessed diverse and unprecedented level of insecurity in which the Armed Forces of Nigeria have been fully involved prompting the launch of several theatres of operations and exercises as well as providing support for tackling several domestic security challenges.
He said the House of Representatives is delighted with the successes recorded so far, especially in the last one year.
“We acknowledge these robust achievements which is a proof of the level of professionalism often displayed by our military in the discharge of their duties. We urge you to effectively collaborate with sister security agencies to ensure that all security threats are completely neutralised, and Nigerians can live peacefully,” he said.
He said the role of securing lives and property of Nigerians is the collective task for all arms of government.
He urged all to work collectively to deliver more on the goals of this administration to drastically reduce cases of insecurity across the country.
“While the House will continue to support this vision through our legislative activities, we shall also embark on rigorous oversight exercises, beginning from this screening, to ensure that the Armed Forces of Nigeria adhere strictly to the provisions of all Appropriation Acts as will be eventually passed by the National Assembly and accented to by Mr. President.
“To the nominees, I urge you to kindly cooperate with the National Assembly while performing your constitutional duties of ensuring a peaceful, secure and prosperous country for all Nigerians. In the course of this screening exercise, we shall be asking pertinent questions that concern our constituents and Nigerians in general. Kindly feel free to oblige us with the necessary answers that will guide our deliberations. Please note that if confirmed, we shall thoroughly review your performance and painstakingly scrutinise every action you take,” Benson said.
Leader of the House, Prof Julius Ihonvbere expressed confidence in the officers to deal with the country’s security challenges.
“This is a novel development and a step in the right direction. The House of Reps is the people’s house. It is important we have this kind of engagement so we understand you better, know you better and carry your message directly to our people. I commend the President for the nominations. The men are ready to take relevant strategic national security issues forward. Looking through their profiles, I have no doubt these are men who have committed themselves to the stability, security and progress of Nigeria and the world at large,” he said.
The screening session for the Service Chiefs was broken into two.
The Acting CDS and Acting COAS were in the first session.
Others expected to be screened in the second session are Rear Admiral E. A. Ogalla as Chief of Naval Staff and Air Vice Marshal H.B. Abubakar as Chief of Air Staff.
At the time of filing this report the Acting CDS and Acting COAS were still behind closed doors with the Ad hoc Committee, while awaiting the second session.
END
