Incorporate past service chiefs in security architecture, group tells Buhari

Following worsened security situation across the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to integrate Tukur Buratai, former chief of army staff, and other immediate past service chiefs into the nation’s security architecture.

According to the Patriotic Front of Nigeria (PFN), Buratai and other former military heads “still have a lot to offer the country in this critical point of our existence”.

The group said the nation must tap into its wealth of experience now more than ever, adding that failure to do so could further exacerbate the tension in the country.

In a statement signed by Alhaji Lateef Alli, its national secretary, a former house of teps member, the PFN said it would be uncharitable for them not to be a part of the security architecture in the country.

While admitting that the retirement of the ex-servicemen brought the nation to its current state, Alli called on President Buhari to make amends by incorporating them into the military before things get out of hand.

Read the full statement below:

The Patriotic Front of Nigeria is issuing this press statement in light of the recent happenings across the country regarding the security of lives and properties.

The situation indeed calls for concern from all well-meaning Nigerians and stakeholders. It is on the heels of this patriotic duty that the Patriotic Front of Nigerhass calling on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, to, as a matter of urgency and national interest, incorporate the immediate past service chiefs into the security architecture in the country.

We hold the firm conviction that the immediate past service still have a lot to offer the country in this critical point of our existence occasioned by the recent upsurge in acts of religious and ethnic tension across the country.

We wish to use this medium to remind President Muhammadu Buhari of the enviable track records of the former service chiefs, particularly the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai ( Rtd).

Our position is hinged that recent events across the country have thus indicated the enormous sacrifices of the immediate past service chiefs that culminated in ways too numerous to mention in addressing the various security challenges in the country at the time.

We must consequently admit that the immediate past service chiefs know more and quite more than many know. Therefore it would be uncharitable for these individuals not to be a part of the security architecture in the country.

The danger of refusing to leverage on their wealth of experience remains that the country would continue to grapple with insecurity as experienced in most parts of the country in recent times.

The Patriotic Front of Nigeria wishes to reiterate that the change of service chiefs at a time like this was indeed a strategic error given the peculiarities of the time.

This fact we must admit and consequently do all within our means to ensure that those with the requisite knowledge, experience and capacity are incorporated into the security architecture in the country without delay.

The Patriotic Front of Nigeria calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to act in the country’s overall interest before things get out of control. As the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he has the constitutional mandate to decide the membership of the security architecture in Nigeria.

Consequently, the Patriotic Front of Nigeria is calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to incorporate the immediate past service chiefs into security architecture to leverage their experience in addressing the security challenges across the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari wishes to be reminded that the urgency of time requires proactive actions. And this request, in our considered opinion, would be beneficial to the country at large.