Why Nigerian Military Is A United Force – Ex-CDS Irabor
Immediate-past Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, has explained why the Nigerian Armed Forces are a one united family, which enjoys unity and bond not found in any other sector.
Irabor spoke at a reception organised by the Defence Headquarters DHQ) shortly after a Pulling Out Parade after 37 years in Service and 29 months as CDS, held in his honour in Abuja on Friday.
He said, “the friendship and unity that exist within the Armed Forces, you can’t find it anywhere and that is why you can’t play politics with the military because from the 774 local government areas of this country, everyone is represented.”
He said contrary to belief, no military personnel takes any special injection but for the training and indoctrination, which comes from the regimentation.
The former CDS said: “The military is a family for those who may not know. It is a family. I have answered so many questions on we being given an injection. What is that injection? There is no injection. The injection is training and discipline. They also said we operate like a cult, the process alone, there is nothing wrong if I say we are in a cult but it is a good cult. In the training establishment when I was a cadet, we spent three years but two years later, it became a five-year programme. When it was three years, the admission was every six months and when it became one year, the admission became every year.
“For you to finish a three year program, it means that you will have five sets of your seniors and five sets of your juniors. The bonding that comes with it, you can’t find it in any other place and that is why you think it’s a cult. The values and traditions are transmitted from one generation to the other. When you get to the field, you see yourself as brothers. I want to use this opportunity to make an appeal to our friends and the citizens, the investment in members of the Armed Forces is such that other sectors need to take a cue from. There is no commander that goes to war with those he claims are his kinsmen.”
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