OBJ, a shame to the military — DHQ

The Defence Headquarters has
described former President
Olusegun Obasanjo as an
embarrassment to the military
institution.
The Defence Headquarters made
the comment in a statement
posted on its Facebook page while
reacting to a statement credited to
the former President that the
General Elections were postponed
to enable the President to use the
Service Chiefs for tenure extension
in an electronic mail on Monday.
The Defence authorities accused
the former President of politicising
serious national security and
military issues.
It was said that while Obasanjo’s
intentions remained unclear, his
motives for making such utterances
were less than noble.
The statement stressed that
Obasanjo’s claims were false.
It was also said that it was rather
surprising that Obasanjo opted to
ignore the assurances by the
Defence authorities in a statement
that the military would continue to
be apolitical.
The military said that while it had
the desire to accord some respect
to Obasanjo and his views, the
statement credited to him did not
reflect the standard of discipline
expected from a former General of
his status.
The Defence authorities said that
the world had moved beyond the
mentality of Obasanjo, insisting
that the military personnel of today
were better equipped in the area
of training, education and exposure
to have a better appreciation of
democracy and its importance to
national prosperity.
“The Defence Headquarters has
noted the remarks of a former
President, Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo, as reported in the media
stating his views on perceived
state of the armed forces and the
roles being allegedly played by the
military in the nation’s political
process in recent times…
“It is however noteworthy that
most of his utterances lately
indicate an attitude of playing to
the gallery or indulging in
politicisation of serious national
security or military affairs. For
instance, the comments credited to
Chief Obasanjo alleging that the
postponement of the General
Elections was to enable President
Jonathan to use the Service Chiefs
to plot a tenure extension is to say
the least, very surprising.
“It is surprising indeed, considering
the fact that the retired General
chose to ignore the clarification
and emphatic assurances of non-
partisanship of the military as
declared in a DHQ statement on the
position of the Armed Forces in the
ongoing political activities. His
motive as usual remains unknown
but it is certainly less than noble or
well intentioned. We dare say
again that Chief Obasanjo’s
assertions are false.
“Much as the military desires to
respect the old General and his
views, it has become necessary to
point out that his conduct and
unguarded utterances of late have
fallen short of the standard of
discipline expected of an individual
who has had the privilege of
service in the military and risen to
the status of a General.
“The behaviour of retired General
(Chief) Obasanjo has been so
unbecoming and continues to
constitute a serious
embarrassment to the military
before all who have reasonably and
rightly adjudged the essence of
military background in terms of the
high value and standard it tends to
contribute to statesmanship.
“We feel constrained to remind the
old General that the world has
moved beyond that parochial and
self-adulating reasoning and
mindset which he seems stuck to.
Indeed, he needs to be told that by
virtue of their better training,
exposure, education, assessment
and environment, the military
personnel of today are already far
beyond his level in their
appreciation of democracy and its
indispensability for the stable and
prosperous society which Nigerians
cherish,” the statement read in
part.
It was further said that the military
institution bequeathed to the
country had developed beyond
where he left it and was more
committed to the maintenance of
the ethos of service of the military,
valour, subordination to civil
authorities and adherence to non-
partisan discharge of their
responsibilities.
The DHQ stressed that the military
was not inept and could not have
been misused in the manner
presented by the former President.
The statement added that the
military had such a strong belief in
democracy and its structures and
institutions that it would not do
anything to undermine it.
It challenged Obasanjo to indicate
genuine interest in the growth and
sustenance of the nation’s
democracy.
The statement urged Obasanjo to
improve his understanding of
complex issues involving the
military and to encourage the
services rather than imputing
ulterior motives to security efforts.
“The Defence Headquarters will
like to encourage Chief Obasanjo to
be genuinely interested in the
growth and sustenance of Nigeria’s
democratic credentials. He is also
enjoined to endeavour to improve
in his understanding of intricate
issues and try to encourage the
military rather than continue with
this tendency to indulge in
imputation of ulterior motives to
every effort, all for the purpose of
discrediting well-thought-out
policies or decisions related to the
military’s roles in the polity.
“The support of all well-meaning
elderly Nigerians remains vital in
the onerous duty of working for the
stability, defence and peace of our
country under duly constituted
authorities in a democratic
environment,” the statement
added.

Hmmmmm OBJ is now a problem to GEJ