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Insecurity: Common Sense Demands That Service Chiefs Be Removed – Shettima

December 14, 2020

Shettima, on the floor of the Senate, has repeatedly moved a motion for the service chiefs to be fired.

A former Governor of Borno State and serving senator, Kashim Shettima, has again called for the removal of the service chiefs, stating that common sense dictates that they should go.

Shettima, on the floor of the Senate, has repeatedly moved a motion for the service chiefs to be fired. 

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In an interview with Arise TV on Monday, Shettima said that he keeps agitating for the removal of the security chiefs because they are no longer effective.

He also shared his belief that no one is indispensable hence the need for the service chiefs to be replaced with people who have new ideas and fresh perspectives on how to tackle the security issues in the country. 

He said, "Why I was agitating for the removal of the security chiefs has to do with the fact that they have given their best but their best is no longer good enough. Shehu Shagari had three service chiefs in his four years of stewardship.

"Obasanjo in his second coming started with Victor Malu, he had Alex Ogbemudia and subsequently he had Martin Luther Agwai before he had Azazi as his Chief of Army Staff.

"Jonathan and Yar'Adua started with General Yusuf. Subsequently, they had Abdulrahman Bello Dambazzau, then Azubuike Ihejirika and then Kenneth Minimah. In eight years, they had four service chiefs. 

"The current Chief of Defence Staff is course 25. He is in his 41st year of service. Is he so indispensable? The current Chief of Army Staff is course 26. The current Major Generals did not meet them in the NDA. Are they so indispensable?

"Nobody is indispensable. And the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We believe that morale is high; there is the need for an injection of people with new ideas, with fresher perspectives to come and address the issues.

"By June next year, Course 35 is going without reaching the pinnacle of their careers. So justice, equity, fairness and even commonsense demands that these service chiefs should go."