Clement Adeyi, Osogbo
The Olowu of Kuta, Osun State, Oba Adekunle Makama, has cautioned the National Assembly and Nigerians against the recent call for the removal of the nation’s service chiefs.
Oba Makama declared that what the country needed in the current insecurity challenges bedeviling it was a holistic appraisal to find lasting solutions but not the removal of service chiefs.
“The nation cannot afford to take a step forward and two backward in the fight against the insurgency,” the monarch said.
The monarch also harped on the need to develop the Sambisa Forest for mechanized farming.
He expressed worries that leaving the forest fallow for too long would pave way for insurgents’ return to the enclave where they would continue their deadly activities.
The traditional ruler described the call for the sack of service chiefs as hasty and transferred aggression to the service chiefs despite their sacrifice to defend the territorial integrity and the internal security of the country.
While stressing that the security architecture of the country needed overhauling for optimum performance, he called on the citizenry not to blame the military alone for the lapses.
“The Senate and House of Representatives’ motions that the service chiefs should resign or be sacked is not the best way to appreciate their efforts. The danger inherent in such motions is that it will not only demoralize the officers and men who would feel let down by such decision, those coming to take over from them may be reluctant since it is the same military, considering the monumental impact the present military leadership has made towards professionalism in the Army that we’re not talking about,” he said.