Monsur Dan Ali, New Minister of Defence; warns ‘Biafra Agitation’ is indices of Destabilization.
The new minister of Defence, Monsur Mohammed Dan Ali has warned that unless the federal government and stakeholders come up with a road map on how we think Nigeria will be secured, the country was currently facing many indices of destabilization.
Speaking against the new fire that is threatening to burn in the mould of violent Biafra protests across parts of the country, the minister said, “We should sit and barnstorm, and apply the outcome to societal benefit. Let’s return back to the system.
At the Ship house headquarters of the ministry of Defence where he assumed duties, Monsur Dan Ali vowed that troops rotation in the current fight against insurgency and other operations, would no longer be toyed with saying, “Let’s not take it as a joke. If the Chief of Army Staff is deployed to the war front without seeing the family, how would you feel?
“So also is the soldier you are sending there? Please for God sake, let’s make it maximum, one year. I will ensure that it is my cardinal principle that no soldier… unless, it is not possible, the maximum is one year.
Insisting that henceforth, all procurement for the military would be guided by due process, the minister said “Arms and ammunition, stock verification and accountability will be key. Also, jointness in operation is very important. If the army operates on its own, the Navy, the Air force does same, where is the jointness. Let’s work harmoniously; we can ever achieve our aim without that”.
On Boko Haram, he said, “The APC has promised even before the coming of the Buhari Administration that they would fight insurgency. They (terrorists) are on their way out. Even before the December deadline, they would be out”.
Continuing Dan Ali said, “The Commander-in-Chief in person of President Muhammadu Buhari has clearly, and has openly shown that he is ready to fight insurgency in Nigeria.
“The military is all about leadership. Whether you like it or not, the President is a military man and he has shown leadership. We, the followers must show leadership. And what is leadership if I may ask?
“Leadership is all about integrity, honesty and transparency. There cannot be a good leader without these three things. You cannot be a good leader if you don’t have integrity, you cannot be a good leader if don’t have honesty, so also, transparency. Forget about corruption. Corruption can never come near you if you have these qualities. So gentlemen, we should imbibe these three qualities”.
Describing his appointment as that ordained by God, the minister said, “We are all selected here by the grace of the almighty God. It is not because you are better than any other person in your locality or in your course. It is not because you are the best. So you should be answerable to the Almighty God who has honoured us and given us this leadership positions.
“Where is your integrity when your own Chief of Army Staff stood up and said his Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces has no WAEC, How? Please let us be sincere with ourselves. Because that very day, you should have stood up and said no. If you leave the job, is that the end of your life. If you leave the job there are other ways, better ways God can bless your life?
The minister said “Corruption is one of the key principles of the APC. Are we not fighting corruption? We are going to follow up the corruption issue with TSA.
“Unemployment is a major problem and that is why we are not secure today. You cannot be secured when people are hungry, when people are idle, when people are redundant. Unemployment is a serious problem in this country.”
END.
