Editorial
0

Nigerian Army’s a Disgrace: ‘A Letter from Buhari’s Principal was his Highest Certificate to be enlisted in the military in 1961

Nigerian Army’s a Disgrace: ‘A Letter from Buhari’s Principal was his Highest Certificate to be enlisted in the military in 1961 New York[RR]Abuja–Nigerian Army’s A Disgrace as presently constituted–‘A Letter from Buhari’s Principal was his Highest Certificate to be enlisted in the military in 1961. Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, campaign project manager, George Kerley said: […]

Muhammadu-Buhari-speech

Nigerian Army’s a Disgrace: ‘A Letter from Buhari’s Principal was his Highest Certificate to be enlisted in the military in 1961

New York[RR]Abuja–Nigerian Army’s A Disgrace as presently constituted–‘A Letter from Buhari’s Principal was his Highest Certificate to be enlisted in the military in 1961.

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, campaign project manager, George Kerley said: “It would be have good IF Quota system alone was what was at play! It was unqualified teenagers who could barely speak english language but were hauled into the military by a Northern establishment which set out to serve a certain kind of interest and mission at that time.

Continuing, he said, “Little wonder Ikemba Odumegwu Ojukwu could not stand them. An Eton & Oxford trained Soldier can never be put on the same level with another who has ‘a letter from his principal’ as his highest ‘certificate’ at the time!

In a Media briefing by Brigadier General Olajide Laleye Director Army Public Relations on Tuesday 20, January, 2015 said that,he was pleased to put this certificate controversy to rest.

His words: “Gentlemen of the Press, I am pleased to welcome everyone back from the Christmas and the 2015 New Year festivities. On behalf of the Chief of Army Staff, officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army, I wish you all a happy and more fulfilling 2015. Since our last media briefing on 31 December, 2014, some issues relating to the Nigerian Army have occurred and this briefing is holding specifically to address them.

I will begin with the Major General Muhammadu Buhari certificate controversy. Gentlemen, let me state clearly that the Nigerian Army holds the retired senior officer in very high esteem and respect and would not be a party to any controversy surrounding his eligibility for any political office. Suffice to state that Major General Buhari rose steadily to the enviable rank of Major General before becoming the Head of State of our dear country in December 1983. The media hype on retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari’s credentials as well as the numerous requests made by individuals and corporate bodies to the Nigerian Army on this issue have necessitated that we provide the facts as contained in the retired senior officer’s service record. Records available indicate that Major General M Buhari applied to join the military as a Form Six student of the Provincial Secondary School, Katsina on 18 Oct 61. His application was duly endorsed by the Principal of the school, who also wrote a report on him and recommended him to be suitable for military commission. It is a practice in the NA that before candidates are shortlisted for commissioning into the officers’ cadre of the Service, the Selection Board verifies the original copies of credentials that are presented. However, there is no available record to show that this process was followed in the 1960s. Nevertheless, the entry made on the NA Form 199A at the point of documentation after commission as an officer indicated that the former Head of State obtained the West African School Certificate (WASC) in 1961 with credits in relevant subjects: English Language, Geography, History, Health Science, Hausa and a pass in English Literature. Neither the original copy, Certified True Copy (CTC) nor statement of result of Major General M Buhari’s WASC result is in his personal file.

“I hope this explanation will put to rest the raging controversy surrounding the secondary school credentials of Major General Mohammed Buhari as it affects the Nigerian Army.

APC and Buhari supporters think Nigerian army as currently constituted is a disgrace. They think they disgraced Buhari, they disgraced themselves,Mr. Adiele said.
His words: “The Nigerian Army has officially confirmed,as per its records, that General Buhari’s claim of possessing WASC is not false. The Nigerian Army of today, headed by First Lady Jonathan’s protege, denies having any variant of Buhari’s WASC. Since you Buahriphobes are in the habit of drawing the most negative conclusions in any matter affecting Buhari, how about I insist that, on the orders of the presidency, Army Chief Minimah disappeared copies of General Buhari’s certificates in his military file?

“Does that sound absurd? Well, that’s how absurd and negative you folks sound with relative to anything Buhari. You folks have insisted that he did not attend secondary, a sickening claim now destroyed by the army — Buhari was recruited right from high school, which is the only qualification he needs to meet in order to run for president, not the WASC. You claim that he did not obtain WASC; army says that he did, it just no longer has documentation of it, even though he forwarded the WASC to the army way back in the 1960s. Army says that there is no evidence that anyone verified Buhari’s claims in 1961, which is a stupid thing for the army authority to state in the same press conference through which it is denying incompetence accusation leveled against it by CNN. If the Nigerian Army is as incompetent as this press briefing has indicated, then I am not surprised that it is constantly being defeated by ragtag boko haram thugs.

Continuing he added, “How any credible Army could shamelessly state what has been stated here (that it is not sure that Buhari and his secondary school principal’s claim, including his WASC, were verified) defies maturity and professionalism. By default, the legal implication of the Army’s claims confers the benefit of the doubt on Buhari. In other words, everything that Buhari has stated is correct.

“This press release projects the three Service Chiefs (who collectively weigh over a ton — have you seen their fat stomachs?) in bad light. Lt. General Minimah was too junior to be made an Army Chief but once Dame Patience Jonathan appointed her the Chief of Army Staff, he had to be promoted rapidly and propped properly into that position, with no questions asked from all corners. There is nothing bad about that since any ranks and positions above Colonel in any army always attracts godfather benevolence and political clout tinges. However, he must not demean that position by indulging in partisan political shenanigans. To claim that a General who was once appointed HoS has always had no credentials of this nature in his file can only be believed by ghouls and political hacks; it makes the Nigerian Army less reputable than the Salvation Army (they have records of their bells).

“As to your question, Cool Breeze, nothing disqualifies Buhari from running for president. He did not lie under oath because the army has confirmed that his record has always borne the attendance of high school and the possession of WASC. Army’s current statement is nothing but its mea culpa, not an an impeachment of Buari’s claim. Buhari cannot be compelled to show his WASC, not even by the courts, because there is no constitutional requirement for him to do so. He only needs to be educated up to high school and the army has confirmed that, indeed, he was educated up to high school.

Finally, he said, “If the purpose of this press conference was to discredit Buahri, the army succeed in nothing but discrediting itself and putting this phony certificate scandal to a permanent rest. Nigerians who are still fixated on Buhari’s WASC should henceforth go and get a life..”, he said.

Reacting Vin Otuonye, said, “Aguiyi Ironsi rose from the rank and file of Nigeria army all the way to the position that Buhari later attained – Major General. Ironsi unlike Buhari enlisted in the army through the infantry as a non-commissioned officer. As a non-commissioned officer, he rose all the way to become a Major General. Please note that the British colonialist were the ones that promoted Ironsi to Major General. Ironsi didn’t have to provide any letter from his principal to become a commissioned officer. Instead of Buhari enlisting as a non-commissioned officer; instead of enlisting in the infantry as Ironsi did, he was commissioned an officer based on the letter from his secondary school principal. The letter from the principal replaced his WASC certificate that would have been used to see if he qualify to be made a commissioned officer. What I fail to understand is why the Army Selection Board proceeded to commission Buhari an officer instead of putting him in the infantry as a non-commissioned officer or administering a standardized test to see if he completed WASC and thus suitable to be made a commissioned officer…”, he queried. That is Quota system for you. This is Nigeria for you, sir!

Adding Mr. Otuonye said, “Please tell Nebu to ask Buhari to get his WASC from his alma mater – Provincial Secondary School, Katsina, if indeed he has WASC Certificate. When he was filling the INEC form, Buhari did not say his WASC certificate is with his alma matter – Provincial Secondary School, Katsina. Rather, he said the military has it. Now the military say we don’t have it o. So, what’s Buhari’s next line of action? Let him go to his alma matter. Please note unlike Nebu, I won’t suggest that Buhari’s WASC certificate is suddenly going to show up in his alma matter–Provincial Secondary School, Katsina.

Read full text beneath:

I will also seize this opportunity to make some observations on the recent CNN report titled ‘The Battle Against Boko Haram’, which was aired a few days ago. I believe we all hold the CNN in high esteem. However, CNN’s report on issues concerning kitting, equipment, medical treatment and corruption in the Nigerian Army is perhaps the best example of a media house’s show of bias, ignorance, poor journalism, unprofessionalism and handiwork of a sponsored documentary.
Let me start with kitting. It would interest you to know that there is no Army in the world where personnel do not purchase additional uniforms and kits to augment those officially issued to them. Accordingly, the Nigerian Army without fail issues uniforms and kits to its personnel periodically. Like other armies, the NA has over the years, established ordnance shops in all its barracks and cantonments where uniforms and kits are sold at subsidized prices to its personnel from allowances already provided in their pay slips.

Similarly, you will agree with me that the NA has a very functional health care delivery system in the country. There is no barrack or cantonment that does not have at least one Medical Inspection Room, Medical Reception Station or Medical Hospital. The NA fully subscribes to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and this is functional in all its health facilities. Specifically, personnel in the North East have the best medical treatment in that the various health facilities in all the barracks and cantonments are well equipped. Notwithstanding this, personnel with extensive injuries are evacuated to the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital Kaduna (44 NARHK), while others are promptly flown abroad for medical treatment. Therefore, issue of a soldier of the NA paying for treatment and drugs covered by the NHIS is absurd. The Nigerian Army’s undoubted operational gains in the North East of recent, have rubbished the claim of Boko Haram out-gunning the NA. The CNN would do well to beam its searchlight on the atrocities of Boko Haram terrorists against innocent and defenseless Nigerians rather than the NA.
Equally, the NA in the past had requested severally that any evidence of corruption in the NA should be reported to the appropriate authority. Till date, no such evidence has been forwarded but rather all we see and hear are sweeping statement of the purported corruption in the NA. In the case of Nick Robertson, his leading questions and introduction of the word ‘corruption’ to the unknown person purported to be a soldier of the NA was most unprofessional and merely justifies a paid exercise. The CNN in the past have interviewed authorised personnel of other countries’ armies and not unauthorized hooded criminals to speak to the media. The CNN knows very well how to contact the relevant offices to clarify issues concerning the NA but chooses rather to conduct a clandestine interview in a kiosk with a faceless person and a masked individual who obviously know nothing about the NA.

Finally, the Nigerian Army wishes to state that it will remain focused on its mission to rid Nigeria of terrorism and insurgency. To that end, it has commenced the implementation of the extensive operational, administrative and logistical decisions reached during 2014 COAS Annual Conference. In no distant future, law abiding Nigerians will begin to see very positive results in terms of security, particularly in the North East and our dear nation generally. Before I depart, I once again seize this opportunity to reiterate the NA’s unalloyed loyalty and subordination to civil authority as presided over by His Excellency, President and Commander – in – Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR. The Nigerian Army also wishes to emphasize its adherence to the principles and respect of human rights in the discharge of its constitutional duties. It further calls on everyone to remain vigilant and report any suspected breach of the peace to security agencies.
Thank you and God Bless.

Credit: Nigerian Army, DIRECTOR ARMY PUBLIC RELATIONS BRIGADIER GENERAL OLAJIDE LALEYE ON TUESDAY 6 MAY 2014

Republic Reporters: Standing Between Civilization And Anarchy...

Republic Reporters New York

There are 0 comments

Leave a comment

Want to express your opinion?
Leave a reply!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>