Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Serving
Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC) formerly known as the
Latter Rain Assembly, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to set a
stringent standard for the appointment of Service Chiefs.
He said Buhari should ensure that
no ethnic nationality should have the monopoly of holding offices to the
exclusion of other nationalities that have capable hands.
He made this call yesterday when
he delivered a national live broadcast on the state of the nation entitled:
“Resetting Nigeria on the Path of Predictable Progress.”
Following the rumoured crisis in
the Presidency, Bakare further warned that the President must not undermine the
Office of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
He said any President that failed
to maximise the VP’s office does so at his peril because the vice president,
according to the provisions of Section 18(a) and Section 25(b) of the Third
Schedule, Part 1 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, ‘is the chairman of the
National Economic Council and the deputy chairman of the National Security
Council.
He added, “To this end, I appeal
to Mr. President to take a serious look at the composition of the service
chiefs and set stringent standards and objectives below which no service chief
must fall, otherwise they risk replacement. It is a call for leadership by
measurable objectives.
“Any service chief that cannot
create harmony on the battlefield based on trust across service lines, across
coalition and national lines, and across civilian/military lines had become
obsolete and should go home.
“Therefore, the Vice President
must be empowered to lead the socio-economic thrust of an integrated national
security strategy that rewards enterprise, discourages crime, and ensures that
every Nigerian has an honest opportunity to make a living.
“The first step towards securing
our nation is revisiting the philosophical foundations of its security
governance to prioritise the security of the governed above that of the
government
“The need to return to true
federalism through devolution of powers cannot be over-emphasised. State
governments must be empowered to provide security alongside federal structures.
“The true test of leadership in a
federal system is the willingness of the central government to empower the
federating units. It must be a case of first among equals.
“The federal government must,
therefore, stop being afraid of empowered states and local governments.
“We must embrace multi-level
policing in the spirit of true federalism, setting in place appropriate
constitutional checks and balances to prevent abuse. Not to act swiftly, or to
do otherwise, can only be counterproductive to our stability and progress.
“By such exemplary leadership,
the President must bring the political elite to the roundtable of brotherhood
and compel them by astute politics and the force of leadership to put an end to
the politics of banditry and to work for, rather than against, the interest of
the nation.
“As a matter of urgency, Nigeria
should create a Presidential Commission for National Rebirth, Reconciliation
and Reintegration that should be able to build bridges among the diverse
interest groups in the country, thereby putting an end to agitations and
forging true nationhood.
“In addition, we must rejig our
foreign policy by designing a two-pronged foreign policy thrust defined as the
Southern Foreign Policy Thrust and the Northern Foreign Policy Thrust,” he
said.
“The Southern Foreign Policy
Thrust that would be referred to as the Trans-Atlantic Thrust, would embark on
astute diplomacy with such countries and regions that have greater cultural
influence in Southern Nigeria, including the United States of America, Great
Britain, Russia, Israel, South America, the European Union with special
attention to France and Germany while the Northern Foreign Policy Thrust, which
might called the Trans-Saharan Thrust, would lead diplomatic relations with
Sahelian Africa, the Maghreb, the Horn of Africa, North Africa, the Arabian
Peninsula, the Middle East, and the Persian Gulf.
“This would aim to leverage
cultural diplomacy and political-economic cooperation to combat insurgency and
ensure the recalibration of Northern Nigeria.
“As a matter of urgency, create
police forces at the state and community levels under the control of the
respective state and local governments and reform the Nigeria Police Force into
a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) focused on investigative policing,
intelligence gathering, as well as interstate, inter-zonal and national
security as the main law enforcement agency of the federal government.
“We propose the creation of a
Directorate of National Intelligence (DNI) headed by a Director of National
Intelligence who shall report directly to the president and shall also sit on
the National Security Council.
“The role of the Director of
National Intelligence shall be to provide unbiased, nonpartisan intelligence,
while the National Security Adviser, who is a political appointee, shall
support the president in decision making based on intelligence provided by the
DNI.”
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