Quit Now! – Military Orders Senior Officers
- Ultimatum expires on Monday, July 3
BY EDMOND ODOK – The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has set Monday, July 3, 2023 deadline for all top Military officers who are seniors to the newly appointed service chiefs to voluntarily quit from the Nigerian Armed Forces.
Among those expected to willingly ease themselves out of the system are Major-Generals, Brigadier-Generals, Air Vice Marshals, and Rear Admirals in the Nigerian Army, Air Force, and Nigerian Navy.
The order, conveyed in a memo signed by Major General Y. Yahaya for the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), and dated June 26, 2023, is specifically directed to officers senior in ranks to the Service Chiefs recently appointed by President Bola Tinubu on June 19.
In the memo with reference number DHQ/I5/PLANS/801/13, the DHQ directed all officers with seniority on commission above that of Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Regular Course 39 to submit their applications for voluntary retirement from service with immediate effect.
According to the memo, the development aims at preserving and upholding the tenets of the military profession which values hierarchy and service discipline.
Copied to the Army, Navy, and Air Force Headquarters, the memo said; “It would be recalled that the President and, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently appointed new CDS and Service Chiefs on June 19, 2023.
‘’In order to preserve and uphold the tenets of the military profession which values hierarchy and service discipline, it is important that all officers whose officer cadet courses run seniority above that of the current Service Chiefs disengage from the Service.
“Consequently, I am directed to respectfully request services to direct all officers with seniority on commission above that of NDA Regular Course 39 to submit their applications for voluntary retirement from Service with immediate effect.
“I am to add that affected officers are to submit their applications to their respective Service Headquarters no later than Monday, July 3, 2023.”
In line with the age long military tradition, there is always sweeping retirement across the three services that affects officers senior to the new Service Chiefs.
The practice is that whenever juniors are appointed as Service Chiefs, those who are ahead of them would naturally proceed on retirement being that senior military officers cannot be subordinate to their juniors in Service.
General Lucky Irabor who was the Chief of Defence Staff; Lt General Farouk Yahaya – Chief of Army Staff; Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo – Chief of Naval Staff; and Air Marshal Oludayo Amao – Chief of Air Staff were all retired on June 19, 2023 by President Tinubu.
Their replacements as the new CDS and Service Chiefs are Maj General Christopher Musa – Chief of Defence Staff; Maj-General Taoreed Lagbaja – Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla – Chief of Naval Staff; and Air Vice Marshal Hassan Abubakar – Chief of Air Staff.
