There is tension among generals in the army as plans have been concluded for an imminent shake-up in army formations and would likely be announced today.
The names of the officers with new postings have already been presented to the Army Council by General Ihejirika.
After the recent retiring of top officers, some generals had asked to stay longer than their age ranking, but their requests were turned down by the Army Council. This brought about accusations in some quarters that the Presidency was paving the way for Major General Kenneth Minima to become the Chief of Army Staff when Ihejirika leaves, even though those in the know did not take the accusation seriously.
It is also been revealed that some generals with godfathers have been lobbying to be appointed as commanders of choice brigades. However, they would not know their fate until the appointments are made.
‘‘Let me tell you something, nobody knows who goes where because the chief [of army staff) is keeping the list close to his chest. if anyone tells you generals so so and so have been posted to so so so place, it is a tissue of lies. Another thing I would tell you is the new appointments would be presented to the Council tomorrow [today] and once it is approved that would be final,’’ a military source said.
Some of the newly-promoted generals would be asked to join the kitchen cabinet of the army chief in prosecuting the war in Mali where Nigeria is playing a leading role in the military intervention.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan has stepped up efforts in mobilizing funds from international donors to prosecute the war in Mali.
Funding of the ongoing military intervention in Mali would be a tripartite project to be shared among the United Nations, ECOWAS and each of the participating countries. To ease the burden, President Jonathan was in Ethiopia to meet some international donors over the funding.
The Acting Minister of Defence, Dr Olusola Obada, speaking through her Special Assistant, Femi Adefila, said “the African-led International Support Mission to Mali [AFISMA] would not be funded by Nigeria alone; it is a tripartite funding by the UN, ECOWAS and every country participating. You are aware that the ECOWAS wrote to the UN through the AU for approval before we moved in and so the UN would be involved in the funding.’’
A military source disclosed that a Nigerian, Major-General Shehu Usman Abdulkadir was appointed the force commander for AFISMA because of the confidence Gen Ihejirika has in him. Gen Abdulkadir was the Chief of Army Standards and Evaluation, a job which he is said to have performed credibly well in.
Major Gen SU Abdulkadir was born on January 27, 1958, in Kaduna but he hails from Lapai in Niger State. He was commissioned on June 16, 1979 as a regular combatant. He became a colonel in April 2000 and rose to the rank of brigadier general on April 3, 2005 and promoted major general on April 3, 2008.
The French’s 2.000 troops who were ahead of ECOWAS in Mali, have recorded a huge success. They have sent the terrorists away, liberating the two cities they had held captive. Yet, France said Africa would be allowed to take the lead in the war and Nigeria was chosen by the ECOWAS to lead the military assault on the terrorists because of the role she has played in Liberia and other countries of recent.
Meanwhile, Kogi State governor Captain Idris Wada has offset the medical bills of the Mali-bound soldiers who were attacked in Kogi by unidentified gunmen.
The governor stated this yesterday when he paid a visit to the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, where eight of the injured soldiers were still receiving treatment.
Wada described the attack as unwarranted.
Represented by his deputy, Yomi Awoniyi, the govermor stated that the incident that led to the death of two soldiers in the attack was unfortunate. He said the state government commiserated with the families of those that lost their lives in the attack.
The chief medical director, Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, Dr. Eleshin Gbadebo, said the attacked army officers were rushed in with various degrees of injuries but were now in stable condition.