ON THE UNHEALTHY CONCENTRATION OF NIGERIAN ARMED FORCES TRAINING/LEARNING INSTITUTIONS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA – A SITUATION THAT IS AGAINST FEDERAL CHARACTER PRINCIPLE AND ONLY ENCOURAGES DISUNITY AND THE CALL FOR DISINTEGRATION
April 22, 2021 | News
While the establishment of training and learning (degree awarding) Institutions for the various Security Operatives that make up the Nigerian Armed Forces dates far back as the pre and post-independence period in Nigeria, but never in the history of Nigeria's political leadership, have we seen a Government like that of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration,
ON THE UNHEALTHY CONCENTRATION OF NIGERIAN ARMED FORCES TRAINING/LEARNING INSTITUTIONS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA – A SITUATION THAT IS AGAINST FEDERAL CHARACTER PRINCIPLE AND ONLY ENCOURAGES DISUNITY AND THE CALL FOR DISINTEGRATION
While the establishment of training and learning (degree awarding) Institutions for the various Security Operatives that make up the Nigerian Armed Forces dates far back as the pre and post-independence period in Nigeria, but never in the history of Nigeria's political leadership, have we seen a Government like that of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, which is bent on instigating animosity, disunity, hatred amongst it populace with the way they govern, and establish these Security-related higher learning Institutions. It is as if the President Buhari-led government has an agenda, and is bent on laying the foundations for that agenda, looking at the way they concentrate these institutions amongst other things in Northern Nigeria. Without any regard or respect for the Federal Character principle, or the people in the Southern parts of the country.
How else would we explain the fact that within the few years of the President Buhari-led administration, we have had more concentration of these armed forces higher learning/training Institutions in Northern Nigeria, than we have seen in the entire country’s history? Let us take a look at things.
We have the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), located in Kaduna, which was founded in February 1964. Then we also have the National Defence College (NDC), formerly known as National War College (NWC), which is located in Abuja, and is regarded as an apex military training institution of Nigeria for Senior military officers of Nigeria Armed Forces, established in 1992. There is also the Nigerian Police Academy, located in Wudil, Kano State, which officially took off simultaneously in 1988 at two temporary campuses; the Police Training School Challawa, Kano, where cadet Inspectors were trained; and the Police College Kaduna, where cadet ASPs were trained. The Two campuses were merged and relocated to its permanent site in Wudil, Kano, after it was formally commissioned on the 2nd April 1996 by the then Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, with the expectation that the Academy will be affiliated to the Nigerian Universities for degree awarding courses.
We can see the development between 1964 to 1996. But under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, we now have the Nigerian Army University in Biu (NAUB), a Nigerian Public tertiary institution located in Biu, Borno State, which was established in 2018. Mind you, the said Nigerian Army University Biu was created through the idea of a Nigerian Senator, Mohammed Ali Ndume, and which according to them, was in response to the Boko haram insurgency in North-East of Nigeria. The Act to establish it was passed in 2018.
We also have the Technical Supply School (TSS), which was first established in 1977, then renamed Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in 2008, but was upgraded to University status in 2018 by the Buhari administration, as Nigeria Airforce University. The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) also known as the Nigeria Air Force University, is a military school approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to run undergraduate and postgraduate courses in 2018/2019. It supports the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and civilian communities by the provision of basic training on Aeronautics, aerospace engineering mechatronics engineering, and avionics. It is located in Nigerian Airforce Base, Kawo, Kaduna State, Northern side of Nigeria.
Then also in 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the establishment of an Air Force University in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Northern Nigeria. According to the Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Prof. Sulaiman Bogoro, he explained that the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Centre in Tafawa Balewa would be renamed as the New Air Force University. This is different from the earlier established Air Force Special Operation Command in Bauchi.
One then begins to wonder if the other parts of Nigeria like the Southern parts, where insurgency and other criminal activities like kidnapping and banditry have increased in recent times, are not part of Nigeria anymore that deserves the establishment of some of these institutions for security assurance. Are some parts of the country more important and deserve more attention in the area of Security presence, than other parts? In the Nigeria entity owned by President Buhari and his Northern people? Why use the proceeds from the crude oil, condensate and natural gas from the South-South of Nigeria, to establish new, and upgrade existing military learning/training Institutions exclusively in the North?
With such partiality, neglect of some parts of the country over and above other parts, why won't there be agitations and the demand for the disintegration of Nigeria? Why won’t the majority of the people in the Southern parts of Nigeria be dissatisfied with the way the Nigerian project is being run/governed by the Buhari-led Federal Government? Do they think the Southern people of Nigeria are fools? I mean, if Nigeria is supposed to be one nation, then why can't the Buhari-led government rule the entire country with such oneness, love, concern, and empathy for others? Was President Buhari supposedly elected to rule and govern only Northern Nigeria? This is a very unhealthy situation that is not helping the unity of the country at all.
Mind you, it was reported that it was the decision of the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai (Rtrd), and the former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (Rtrd), to situate the Nigerian Army University and the Nigerian Air Force University in their respective hometowns. The Army University was established in 2018 in Biu, Borno State, where Buratai hails from, while the proposed Air Force University will be located in Bauchi, where Abubakar is from. The Army University has already been approved by the National Universities Commission even as the Federal Executive Council back then, gave its nod for a N2bn take-off grant for the University which would be accessed from Tertiary Education Trust Fund. Less than a year later, however, the said former Chief of Air Staff decided to replicate Buratai’s feat.
This development, however, has been greatly criticized by some notable Nigerians. Human Rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), described the establishment of Universities in the hometowns of the then Service Chiefs as an abuse of office. Falana said it was unfortunate that Service Chiefs were taking actions in contravention of the Federal Character principle. He said, “The Nigerian Defence Academy already exists and it awards certificates. The same NDA is not well funded and yet the military is establishing new universities in the hometowns of Service Chiefs. Interestingly, NDA, the Army University and the New Air Force University, and other military institutions are concentrated in the North. This is against the Federal Character Principle.” Top military officers who spoke to newsmen back then on the condition of anonymity, also said the establishment of the new military universities was not only the height of nepotism but abuse of taxpayers’ funds.
In the words of a brigadier general, who spoke to newsmen on condition of anonymity: “What the service chiefs are doing is nothing but a waste of taxpayers’ money. It is even worse that the Federal Government is allowing them to do this at a time when we need to curb waste. It’s even worse that our troops fighting insecurity are told there is not enough money for equipment but there is money for new military universities. The Service Chiefs have been in office for over four years and have turned themselves into politicians, taking projects to their hometowns like constituency projects.”
Another top military officer said: “We already have AFIT in Kaduna which teaches aeronautics and other professional courses. The sad thing is that the army university is even offering courses like Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and Arabic when it should be strictly specialized courses. Even conventional public universities are complaining of lack of funds. Is this the best time for the military to establish new military schools?”
The crux of the matter is that President Buhari has not only demonstrated not to have any vision for the population of Nigerians in the Southern parts of the country, but he has also created division with his bad governance. In fact, he can best be dubbed as the worst civilian President in the history of Nigeria. The establishment of the stated Universities under his watch is aside from his practice of all the important national Security portfolios in the Nigerian Armed Forces to only Northerners since he came into office. Why won’t there be agitations and calls for secession here and there? Let me sound a warning that this country is owned by both the majority tribes and the minority tribes of Nigeria on an equal basis. As such, no President should come and be making the people think otherwise.
Zik Gbemre.
April 22, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
While the establishment of training and learning (degree awarding) Institutions for the various Security Operatives that make up the Nigerian Armed Forces dates far back as the pre and post-independence period in Nigeria, but never in the history of Nigeria's political leadership, have we seen a Government like that of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, which is bent on instigating animosity, disunity, hatred amongst it populace with the way they govern, and establish these Security-related higher learning Institutions. It is as if the President Buhari-led government has an agenda, and is bent on laying the foundations for that agenda, looking at the way they concentrate these institutions amongst other things in Northern Nigeria. Without any regard or respect for the Federal Character principle, or the people in the Southern parts of the country.
How else would we explain the fact that within the few years of the President Buhari-led administration, we have had more concentration of these armed forces higher learning/training Institutions in Northern Nigeria, than we have seen in the entire country’s history? Let us take a look at things.
We have the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), located in Kaduna, which was founded in February 1964. Then we also have the National Defence College (NDC), formerly known as National War College (NWC), which is located in Abuja, and is regarded as an apex military training institution of Nigeria for Senior military officers of Nigeria Armed Forces, established in 1992. There is also the Nigerian Police Academy, located in Wudil, Kano State, which officially took off simultaneously in 1988 at two temporary campuses; the Police Training School Challawa, Kano, where cadet Inspectors were trained; and the Police College Kaduna, where cadet ASPs were trained. The Two campuses were merged and relocated to its permanent site in Wudil, Kano, after it was formally commissioned on the 2nd April 1996 by the then Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, with the expectation that the Academy will be affiliated to the Nigerian Universities for degree awarding courses.
We can see the development between 1964 to 1996. But under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, we now have the Nigerian Army University in Biu (NAUB), a Nigerian Public tertiary institution located in Biu, Borno State, which was established in 2018. Mind you, the said Nigerian Army University Biu was created through the idea of a Nigerian Senator, Mohammed Ali Ndume, and which according to them, was in response to the Boko haram insurgency in North-East of Nigeria. The Act to establish it was passed in 2018.
We also have the Technical Supply School (TSS), which was first established in 1977, then renamed Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in 2008, but was upgraded to University status in 2018 by the Buhari administration, as Nigeria Airforce University. The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) also known as the Nigeria Air Force University, is a military school approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to run undergraduate and postgraduate courses in 2018/2019. It supports the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and civilian communities by the provision of basic training on Aeronautics, aerospace engineering mechatronics engineering, and avionics. It is located in Nigerian Airforce Base, Kawo, Kaduna State, Northern side of Nigeria.
Then also in 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the establishment of an Air Force University in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Northern Nigeria. According to the Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Prof. Sulaiman Bogoro, he explained that the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Centre in Tafawa Balewa would be renamed as the New Air Force University. This is different from the earlier established Air Force Special Operation Command in Bauchi.
One then begins to wonder if the other parts of Nigeria like the Southern parts, where insurgency and other criminal activities like kidnapping and banditry have increased in recent times, are not part of Nigeria anymore that deserves the establishment of some of these institutions for security assurance. Are some parts of the country more important and deserve more attention in the area of Security presence, than other parts? In the Nigeria entity owned by President Buhari and his Northern people? Why use the proceeds from the crude oil, condensate and natural gas from the South-South of Nigeria, to establish new, and upgrade existing military learning/training Institutions exclusively in the North?
With such partiality, neglect of some parts of the country over and above other parts, why won't there be agitations and the demand for the disintegration of Nigeria? Why won’t the majority of the people in the Southern parts of Nigeria be dissatisfied with the way the Nigerian project is being run/governed by the Buhari-led Federal Government? Do they think the Southern people of Nigeria are fools? I mean, if Nigeria is supposed to be one nation, then why can't the Buhari-led government rule the entire country with such oneness, love, concern, and empathy for others? Was President Buhari supposedly elected to rule and govern only Northern Nigeria? This is a very unhealthy situation that is not helping the unity of the country at all.
Mind you, it was reported that it was the decision of the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai (Rtrd), and the former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (Rtrd), to situate the Nigerian Army University and the Nigerian Air Force University in their respective hometowns. The Army University was established in 2018 in Biu, Borno State, where Buratai hails from, while the proposed Air Force University will be located in Bauchi, where Abubakar is from. The Army University has already been approved by the National Universities Commission even as the Federal Executive Council back then, gave its nod for a N2bn take-off grant for the University which would be accessed from Tertiary Education Trust Fund. Less than a year later, however, the said former Chief of Air Staff decided to replicate Buratai’s feat.
This development, however, has been greatly criticized by some notable Nigerians. Human Rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), described the establishment of Universities in the hometowns of the then Service Chiefs as an abuse of office. Falana said it was unfortunate that Service Chiefs were taking actions in contravention of the Federal Character principle. He said, “The Nigerian Defence Academy already exists and it awards certificates. The same NDA is not well funded and yet the military is establishing new universities in the hometowns of Service Chiefs. Interestingly, NDA, the Army University and the New Air Force University, and other military institutions are concentrated in the North. This is against the Federal Character Principle.” Top military officers who spoke to newsmen back then on the condition of anonymity, also said the establishment of the new military universities was not only the height of nepotism but abuse of taxpayers’ funds.
In the words of a brigadier general, who spoke to newsmen on condition of anonymity: “What the service chiefs are doing is nothing but a waste of taxpayers’ money. It is even worse that the Federal Government is allowing them to do this at a time when we need to curb waste. It’s even worse that our troops fighting insecurity are told there is not enough money for equipment but there is money for new military universities. The Service Chiefs have been in office for over four years and have turned themselves into politicians, taking projects to their hometowns like constituency projects.”
Another top military officer said: “We already have AFIT in Kaduna which teaches aeronautics and other professional courses. The sad thing is that the army university is even offering courses like Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and Arabic when it should be strictly specialized courses. Even conventional public universities are complaining of lack of funds. Is this the best time for the military to establish new military schools?”
The crux of the matter is that President Buhari has not only demonstrated not to have any vision for the population of Nigerians in the Southern parts of the country, but he has also created division with his bad governance. In fact, he can best be dubbed as the worst civilian President in the history of Nigeria. The establishment of the stated Universities under his watch is aside from his practice of all the important national Security portfolios in the Nigerian Armed Forces to only Northerners since he came into office. Why won’t there be agitations and calls for secession here and there? Let me sound a warning that this country is owned by both the majority tribes and the minority tribes of Nigeria on an equal basis. As such, no President should come and be making the people think otherwise.
Zik Gbemre.
April 22, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes