Henry Ayoola: Spread of Service Chiefs Appointment, Best Nigeria Has Had Since 1999

Major General Henry Ayoola (Rtd), the former Commander of Operation Safe Haven in Jos, Plateau State, has said that the current spread of the appointments of the new Service Chiefs was the best that has been seen in the country in a long time, and it will help to engender togetherness in the nation.

This statement was made in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday.

Ayoola, while expressing his opinion on the new appointments, said, “Somehow, this spread is the best I’ve seen in a long time. I think there was deliberate effort to use this appointment to engender unity of the nation which is something we need so badly, because for the past years, the cohesion amongst us has been shaken, has been tested, and I think it’s a very critical step that has been taken to try to bring us together and bring a sense of belonging to every part of the nation.”

When he was questioned about the regions that seemed to have been underrepresented in the appointments, he explained, “It’s a very difficult balance to strike usually within the system. By the time you get to choosing service chiefs, you can only choose from the major generals, you’re not going to go below the major generals. So, if by stroke of coincidence or whatever that certain parts did not have enough major generals at that level of the appropriate seniority at the time service chiefs are being appointed, you’re not going to manufacture one just because you want to satisfy some kind of spread. You’re going to look at those within the seniority bracket that is appropriate at that time, because you’re not going to do something that is going to upset the system.

“So, it starts with how the people have grown within the system. We’ve seen it before where there were even some local governments that did not have a single major general in the nation. It’s not anybody’s fault, that one is a combination of several factors. There’s nothing anybody can do about that because it’s not as if anybody is monitoring between second lieutenant and major general to know whether your own people are being represented or not because like I said, it is a function of many things. If your people didn’t pass their promotional exams, what’s the army going to do about that? If they didn’t do well in their courses, there is nothing the army is going to do about it. So, all of those things that trim the system to make it a pyramid, there is nothing really anybody can do to deliberately stage-manage that. But when it now comes to choosing service chiefs, you’re only going to deal with the bracket of senior major generals in the system at that time.”

Speaking on the past service chiefs who were resigned, he said, “I don’t think there is anything new about that. I’m sure the immediate past service chiefs themselves were expecting it. It is a normal routine indeed for these kinds of changes to take place once there is a new administration.” He said that since it is a normal routine for changes to be made in new administrations, the officers were prepared for it.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Monday, had approved the immediate retirement of all Service Chiefs, the Inspector General of Police, and the Comptroller-General of Customs and Advisers from their service, and immediately announced their replacements.

Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi

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