BMO salutes Buhari’s pragmatic approach over appointment of new Service Chiefs

President Muhammadu Buhari’s pragmatic approach to tackling the security challenges in the country is commendable as it guarantees success in the efforts to restore lasting peace to the country.

According to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke and sent to the The DEFENDER, this has culminated in his choice of new service chiefs based solely on merit.

“President Buhari has since 2015 left no doubt about his readiness to take the right and proper steps to address the threats posed by terrorists and other criminal elements, contrary to the warped impression that opposition elements always sought to put in the public domain.

“It is against this background that we view his decision to appoint new service chiefs to continue from where the previous ones have stopped.

“As the President said in the statement announcing the new appointments, we acknowledge that the tenure of the former military chiefs was one with ‘overwhelming achievements’ in our efforts at bringing enduring peace to our dear country in spite of the challenges.

“These are men that came on board at a time the country was at a grave risk of losing a substantial part of its territory to jihadists who already were in control of a number of local council areas spread across three states in the northeast, which they called a caliphate, and where they had established an alternative governance structure”.

The group says it believes the immediate past service chiefs deserve all the accolades they are getting from people like the Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, who said that the ongoing rebuilding and resettlement initiatives in the State were made possible by the combined efforts of Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai and Air Marshall Abubakar Sadique as Chiefs of Army and Air staffs respectively, with the contribution of other service chiefs, the Nigerian Police and volunteers.

“They are leaving with their heads high and we commend them for serving the country to the best of their capacity”, the group added.

BMO pointed out that the new service chiefs were coming on board at a time President Buhari has promised to inject new momentum to efforts to stem the tide of insecurity in the country.

“We want to reiterate the fact that in selecting the new service chiefs, the President did a review of the service files of the new helmsmen of the armed forces.

“We invite Nigerians to note that this is a clear case of merit being used as the major determinant of these new appointments, and this is clear from the testimonies of those who know the exploits of the new Chief of Defence Staff, Major-General Leo Irabor; Chief of Army Staff Major-General Ibrahim Attahiru; and the Chief of Air Staff Air-Vice Marshal I.O Amao during their respective tours of duty at the forefront of the war against insurgency.

“So we join discerning Nigerians in welcoming the new appointments as well-thought-out and a reflection of the President’s intention to inject a new momentum to efforts to make the country safer”

The group reassured Nigerians that President Buhari is not oblivious of the new security threats in some parts of the country and would not hesitate to give the new service chiefs marching order on terrorists and other criminal elements.