• Ezeoba, Badeh head naval, air staff
PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday made changes in the leadership of the military, appointing out-going Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, as the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
The President also announced new Service Chiefs for the Navy and the Air Force, appointing Rear Admiral Dele Ezeoba, a member of Course 22 of the NDA as the new Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) and Air Vice Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh as the new Chief of Air Staff (CAS).
In a surprise move, Jonathan re-appointed Lt.-Gen. Onyeabo Azubuike Ihejirika, member of Course 18 of the NDA, to his former position as Chief of Army Staff (COAS).
Ibrahim is from Kwara, Ihejirika is from Abia, Ezeoba (Delta) while Badeh is from Adamawa.
According to a statement by Presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, “President Jonathan thanks the outgoing service chiefs for their meritorious and commendable service to the nation and wishes them well in their future endeavours.”
The appointments finally laid to rest the continuous speculations and campaigns in the media that have largely been driven by politics and personal interests. But in arriving at the appointments, Jonathan defied pundits who were rooting for different persons for the plum leadership of the military.
Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin, the out-going CDS, left his position on account of formal retirement. Petinrin had applied to proceed on retirement after the two years of his office as CDS on September 8, 2010. Based on that, Jonathan granted him an extension, which expired yesterday.
For the out-going CAS, Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar, he is a victim of the political power-play in which his geo-political zone would rather risk the position of Chief of Air Staff than losing the appointment of Minister of Defence, which has been allocated to them.
And despite his acknowledged achievements towards transforming the Air Force, he could not be appointed the CDS because the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), is from Sokoto State and the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar, is from Zamfara. Air Marshal Umar is from Kano State, the same geo-political zone with Dasuki and Abubakar.
There has been a groundswell of opinion that since the position of CDS rotates among the three services - Army, Navy and the Air Force - it is the time for the Navy as they have been short-changed since the return to democracy in May 1999.
Air Marshal Al-Amin Daggash handed over to Admiral Ibrahim Ogohi as the first naval officer to occupy the position. Admiral Ogohi handed over to Gen. Alexander Ogomudia, who handed over to two other Army Generals - Martin Luther Agwai and Owoye Andrew Azazi. Gen. Azazi then handed over to Air Chief Marshal Paul Dike. Air Chief Marshal Dike handed over to Air Chief Marshal Petinrin. So, it was essentially felt that the dearth of naval leadership of the Nigerian military should be corrected.
The new appointments came as a surprise as none of the new appointees featured in the public postulations in the run-up to the campaign for the positions. For one, Admiral Ibrahim stayed out of the fray as he was away on leave until his return to Nigeria about two weeks ago. For Gen. Ihejirika, it is a vote by the President for him to continue on a familiar terrain.
The appointments may mean that the feared massive retirements in the services is out of the question as it is only the Air Force that would have minor retirements at the top. This is because for the Army, Gen. Ihejirika retains his position. For the Navy, Admiral Ezeoba is directly next in seniority to Admiral Ibrahim. For the Nigerian Air Force, the attrition will only affect few officers, especially course mates of Air Marshal Umar whom the President retained at both Headquarters, Nigerian Air Force and Command Headquarters.
But the implication of the appointments in the military is that as much as there will not be noticeable attrition of very senior officers as in past appointments, there will be stagnation in ranks, especially for officers of brigadier-generals and their equivalents in the services who would face the problem of lack of vacancy for promotion and positions.
For Admiral Ezeoba, his trajectory in the Navy is historical as for a long time, he remained the only surviving member of Course 22 as most of his course-mates died in the Ejigbo, Lagos C-130 aircraft crash in September 1992.
Until his appointment as Chief of Naval Staff, Ezeoba was the Chief of Administration, Defence Headquarters. Air Vice Marshal Badeh, who hails from Vimtim, Mubi North Local Council of Adamawa State, was until his appointment the Air Officer Commanding, Training Command, Kaduna.
The new CDS, Ibrahim, was born on June 15, 1955. A graduate of the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna and the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, he trained with the Royal and Indian navies. Vice Admiral Ibrahim is a navigation and direction specialist. He holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU). He was at the Royal College of Defence Studies, the United Kingdom (UK) as a member in 2002, where he, in addition obtained a Master’s degree from the Department of War Studies and Public Policy at the Kings College, University of London.
Admiral Ibrahim had tours of duty on Nigerian naval ships in various capacities and is decorated with the Command of Sea Badge for successful command at sea on various Nigerian naval ships.
He was a Directing Staff and a Chief Instructor at the Department of Maritime Warfare, Armed forces Command and Staff College, Jaji. He was Secretary to the CNS before being appointed to command the naval operations base, Nigerian Naval Ship BEECROFT in 2001.
In 2003, Admiral Ibrahim served as Commander, Naval Task Group, Operation HARMONY in the Eastern Naval Command, Calabar, before he went to the National Defence College, Nigeria, as a Directing Staff later the same year. He left the National Defence College for the Naval Headquarters as Navy Secretary in August 2005. He returned to the College as Director, Curriculum and Programmes Development in May 2006. It was from this appointment that he headed back to the Naval Headquarters as Chief of Administration and subsequently Chief of Training and Operations. In February 2009, he was appointed Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command, the appointment he held till his elevation as the CNS on September 8, 2010. He was subsequently elevated to the position of CDS yesterday.
Vice Admiral Ibrahim is decorated with the Distinguished Service Star (DSS) and the Golden Jubilee Medal.
The hobbies of Ibrahim, who is happily married and has children, include jogging, reading and photography.
No comments:
Post a Comment