By Sadeeq Shehu
First, I join many well-meaning Nigerians to acknowledge and appreciate the service of the outgoing Service Chiefs for their contribution to national security, and to wish the incoming Chiefs a successful tenure of duty as they take on the demanding responsibility of leading the Services at this critical period in our nation’s history.
As someone who has spent a good part of my professional life within the security and defence architecture, I believe moments of transition offer valuable opportunities for public understanding of how the system works — beyond the rumours, whispers, and speculative commentaries that often accompany such changes.
The recent changes within the military high command, whether fortuitous, coincidental, or deliberate, come shortly after unconfirmed reports of a rumoured coup and alleged arrest of a group of officers. I have my own opinion and views on the issue.
I will, for now, resist the popular temptation of interpreting it through the prism of “the witch cried at night and the baby died in the morning.”
However, based on comments I have seen or heard, and in line with my tradition of promoting general security awareness and institutional literacy, I will be offering a short series of explainers today to help place matters in proper perspective:
1. Explainer 1: Is the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI) a Service Chief?
2. Explainer 2: What happens to senior generals when their junior is appointed Service Chief?
3. Explainer 3: Do Service Chiefs have a fixed tenure under Nigeria’s extant laws and regulations?
And, as always, I will conclude with a few humble recommendations on how the system can be made more transparent, structured, and professionally predictable.
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Sadeeq Shehu is a former Director, Nigerian Airforce, Former Special Assistant to the President on Disaster Management and an adjunct Professor at George C Marshall European Centre for Security Studies, Germany,
