Since the return of civil rule in 1999, we have had eight Inspector-Generals of Police till date.
They
are Musiliu Smith (1999-2002); Mustapha Adebayo Balogun, March 2002-
January 2005; Sunday Ehindero, 2005-2007; Mike Mbama Okiro, 2007-2009;
Ogbonna Okechukwu Onovo, 2009-2010; Hafiz Ringim, January 2010- 2012;
Muhammed D. Abubakar, 2012-2014; and Mr. Suleiman Abba, 2014- till
date.
A
keen observer will note that in some cases, some Inspector-Generals of
Police even introduced new uniforms, during their tenure.
Similarly,
from 1999 till now, we have had seven Chiefs of Air Staff. They are Air
Marshal Isaac Alfa (1999-2001); Air Marshal Jonah Wuyep (2001-2006);
Air Marshal Paul Dike 2006-2008; Air Marshal Michael Oluseyi Petinrin
(2008-2010); Air Marshal Mohammed Diko Umar (2010-2012); Air Marshal
Alex Sabundu Badeh (2012-2014); and Air Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu
from January 2014 till date.
From 1999, we have had nine Heads of
Service of the Federation. The post is a creation of the constitution.
They are Mr. Abu Obe,1999-2000; Mahmmud Yayale Ahmed, 2000-2007; Ms
Ebele Okeke, 2007-2008; Ms Ammal Pepple, June 16 – June 15, 2009; Mr.
Steve Oronsanye, June 16, 2009 – November 15, 2010; Prof. Oladapo
Afolabi, November 16, 2010 – September 2011; Alhaji Isa Bello Sali,
September 30, 2011 to March 2013; Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji, March 25, 2013
to August 2014; and Danladi Kifasi, August 19, 2014 till date.
All
things being equal, Kifasi will retire in December next year when he
clocks 60. He has served as a member of the governing board of the
Central Bank of Nigeria.
I am told that Kifasi is highly
imaginative and hard-working. Poor soul. According to the pioneer
Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, established in
February 2004, Dr. Goke Adegoroye, who retired as permanent secretary
of the Federal Capital Territory two years ago, there are over 150,000
federal civil servants (mainstream) as of now.
The Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation was established on April 1, 1977, as a
merger of the Nigerian National Oil Corporation and the Federal Ministry
of Mines and Steel.
It also supervises the upstream and
downstream oil development and is charged with regulating and
supervising the oil industry in Nigeria. It has nine directorates. They
are exploration and production, refining and petrochemicals, commercial
and investment, finance and accounts, corporate services, gas and power,
engineering and technology and business development.
From 1999
to date, we have had eight Group Managing Directors for the NNPC. From
March 17, 2010 when Goodluck Jonathan became acting President till he
was finally sworn in as President, on May 6, 2010, following the death
of Umaru Yar’Adua, five Managing Directors of the NNPC have served under
the current President. Likewise, the current Minister of Petroleum
Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has appointed four GMDs for the NNPC
since she came to the Ministry on April 16, 2010. They are Dr. Jackson
Gaius Obaseki, May 1999- November 2003; Funso Kupolokun, November 2003-
July 2007; Abubakar Yar’Adua, August 2007- January 2009; Dr. Muhammed
Sanusi Barkindo, January 2009- May 2010; Ladan Shehu, April 2010 to May
2010; Austen Olusegun Oniwon, May 2010- June 2012; Andrew Leah Yakubu,
June 2012- August 2014, and now Dr. Joseph Thlama Dawha from August 2014
to date. Dawha joined the NNPC in 1988. All things been equal, he has
less than five months to serve. The NNPC has a Board of Directors of
which the Minister of Petroleum is the head. The board was constituted
on July 17, 2012. It was again reconstituted with the same membership
last week. Interestingly, from 2012 till now, the board has met only
once.
From 1999 till date, we have had seven Chiefs of Naval
Staff. They are Vice Admiral Victor Kare Ombu (1999-2001); Vice Admiral
Samuel Olajide Afolayan, 2001-2005); Vice Admiral Ganiyu T.A. Adekeye,
(2005-2008); Vice Admiral Ishayalko Ibrahim 2008-2010; Vice Admiral Ola
Sa’ad Ibrahim, 2010-2012; Vice Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba, 2012-2014;
and Vice Admiral Usman Oyibe Jibrin, January 2014-till date.
Similarly,
from 1999 till date, we have had eight Chiefs of Army Staff. They are
Lt. Gen. Victor Malu, May 1999- April 2001; Lt. Gen. Alexander Ogomudia,
April 2001- June 2003; Lt. Gen. Martin Luther Agwai, June 2003- June
2006; Lt. Gen. Owoye Andrew Azazi, June 2006-May 2007; Lt. Gen. Luka
Nyeh Yusuf, June 2007- August 2008; Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau,
August 2008- September 2010; Lt. General Onyeabo Azubuike Ihejirika,
September 2010-2014; and now Lt. Gen. Kenneth Tobiah Jacob Minimah,
January 2014 till date.
The Chief of Defence of Staff is the
highest military officer in the Nigerian Armed Forces. The position was
established for the first time under the 1979 Nigerian Constitution with
Gen. Julius Alani Ipoola Akinrinade as the first occupant. Akinrinade, a
war hero, is from Yakoyo near Ile-Ife in Osun State.
From 1999
till date, we have had seven Chiefs of Defence Staff. They are Admiral
Ibrahim Ogohi 1999-2003; Gen. Alexander Ogomudia, 2003-2006; Gen. Martin
Luther Agwai, January 2006-May 2007; Gen. Andrew Owoeye Azazi, May
2007-August 2008; Air Marshal Paul Dike, August 2008-September 2010; Air
Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin, September 2010-October 2012; Admiral Ola
Ibrahim, October 2012- January 16, 2014, and now Air Marshal Alex
Sabundu Badeh January 16 2014 to date.
From 1999 to date, we have
had six Chief Justices of the Federation. They are Muhammadu Lawal
Uwais 1999-2006; Salihu Modibo Alfa Belgore 2006-2007; Idris Legbo
Kutigi 2007-2009; Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu, 2009-2011; Dahiru
Musdapher, 2011-2012; Aloma Mariam Muktar, 2012 to date.
All
these appointments clearly define who really we are. These career
appointments made in the last 15 years alone have a ceiling on the
number of years one has to spend in the service before one retires or
one is kicked out. In the case of the judiciary, seniority takes
precedence.
All the appointments were made by the President.
In
some cases, he made the appointments, in consultations with the
National Assembly or the Council of State. He does not need
consultations before appointing anyone as the Group Managing Director of
the NNPC neither does he need to consult anyone before appointing
anyone as the Head of Service once he is a Permanent Secretary.
But
there is nothing in the law or in the procedure of appointments, which
says anyone less than two years left to serve, must be appointed head or
anyone who is the most senior.
And there is no law that says the
President cannot appoint someone that has at least four to six years to
serve before retirement, so that he or she could carry out the
necessary reforms before he or she retires. Changing service chiefs
constantly, like we change police uniforms, is amazing.
Why
must a new President distrust serving Service Chiefs to the extent that
he has to appoint his own, bearing in mind that since 1999 till date
only one political party has been in power in the centre.
We
all know that in the military tradition once you appoint a junior
officer as Service Chief, all his seniors automatically retire. Let us
imagine how many trained and experienced officers that have suddenly
left the service in the last 15 years – their careers suddenly cut short
and their families in total penury, in a country of their own which
they once served proudly.
Human nature being what it is, someone
who has less than a year to spend in the office, however competent or
patriotic one could be, will be more concerned or worried about his
retirement plans than bringing any tangible inputs into the service,
more so when pensioners in Nigeria are treated like endangered species –
neglected and humiliated. A service is not a laboratory where you
perform annual experiments with new reforms and with different
headships.
The problem is that we don’t allow the system to grow.
And a system does not grow over night. It has to be systematic and
gradual. If we don’t allow the system to grow, then, we must expect all
kinds of corruption, misconduct and irregularities within the system,
hence the numerous gigantic and difficult problems that have now plagued
us.
I have limited myself to the civilian government and the
appointments made from 1999 till date because a civilian government is
supposed to get things right.
Of what use is a dead service to the growth of a nation?
Eric Teniola is a former director at the Presidency
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