COAS, Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya commissioning a quick impact project
By Chidi Omeje
The civil-military relations in Nigeria today is fast improving and daily gaining traction as the Nigerian Army under the able superintendence of Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya, the Chief of Army Staff, is not leaving any stone unturned to ensure that military operations are pro-people and personnel adhere strictly to codes of conduct and rules of engagement.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Army also recognizes the importance of corporate social responsibility – what it terms ‘Quick Impact Projects’ – and is always ready to deepen its relationship with the civil populace through community relations approach. In order to win the hearts and minds of Nigerian people, especially people in the communities where troops were deployed for internal security operations, the Army has had cause to embark on a number of quick impact projects and humanitarian services aimed at ameliorating their sufferings and hardships occasioned by the crisis in their area.
The Nigerian Army is known to have built clinics and provided medical outreaches, constructed or refurbished schools, roads and bridges and sunk boreholes and cleared gutters, and so on, for various communities across the country where they are either deployed or domiciled. The whole idea of Nigerian Army’s CIMIC activities and efforts is just to make life better for the Nigerian people.
Without doubt, there has always been occasional reports of misuse of power or overzealousness of military personnel, especially at the lower cadre level, however, the conscious effort of the authorities to reassure the public of its commitment to professionalism by prompt sanctioning of erring personnel, are not lost on the people.
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And to assure the public of its determination to stamp out incidences of human right abuses by overzealousness military personnel, Human Right Desks was instituted to investigate reported cases of such infractions. A case in point was the vexatious mistreatment of a National Youth Service Corps member by a female officer which trended in the media recently. On receiving the report, the military authority promptly arrested while a Board of Inquiry (BoI) was set up which tried her and duly punished her for the offense against a civilian. The prompt action of the military authority in such matters underscores its determination to match words with action in matters that has the capacity to strain the cherished relationship with the civil populace. There are still a lot of rooms for improvement in this all important relationship but surely it is waxing stronger.
Military-Media Relations
A critical dimension in the whole gamut of civil-military relations is the relationship between the military and the media. The media acting as the watchdog of the society and all the institutions in it, including the military, see it as a constitutional obligation to report every activity of the military. In carrying out such responsibility, the media often come into direct confrontation with the military who as a fighting force, most definitely do not like to put every of its activity or operation into public domain. Therein in lies the point of disagreement between the two groups, because each believes in its own modus operandi and sees the actions of the other as meddlesomeness or imperiousness.
Even at that, the relationship between the military and the media is one of the pillars of civil-military relations. This supposition is underpinned by the fact that both institutions – media and the military- are significantly indispensable in the progressive running of any society. They indeed play different roles and might see things from different point of view but in the matters of national security, peace and progress, they must understand, promote, protect and appreciate each other as partners in progress and co-stakeholders in the overriding task of nation building.
It becomes therefore most imperative to seek ways that will bridge the communication gap between the two critical institutions, to push further the search for enduring partnership and by extension, civil-military relations. The Department of Civil Military Affairs and of course, the Directorate of Army Public Relations were created not only to inform the public of the activities, developments and operations of the Nigerian military, most often via the media, but to also to serve as the go-between for the military and the general public. Both departments have been faithful in carrying out those noble objectives, supported by the purposeful leadership of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya.
Nigerians are upbeat that the current momentum in the civil-military relations will be sustained especially as the country gears up for the upcoming general elections. It is expected that both the military and the civilian populace understands the importance of healthy civil-military relationship in a democracy. It is even more important to mainstream this indispensable relationship in view of the multiplicity of internal security challenges assailing the country for which the Nigerian Army is at the forefront in battling.
This perilous time therefore calls for all hands to be on deck to ensure the quickest restoration of peace and security across the country.
*Chidi Omeje is the Publisher of Security Digest
