By Jibrin Baba Ndace
On Thursday, April 9, 2015, two days to gubernatorial and Houses of Assembly, members of National Peace Committee for the 2015 General Elections,led by former military head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar visited the Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja.
Other members of the committee on the courtesy visit were Professor Ibrahim Gambari,former foreign affairs minister who was also Nigerian Permanent Representative at United Nations, John Cardinal Onayaken, Catholic Bishop of Abuja, Business Mogul Aliko Dangote, Sen Ben Obi,Special Adviser to President Jonathan, Inter Party Affairs , Primate Nickolas Okoh, Primate of Church of Nigerian, Anglican Communion, Justice Roseline Ukeje, former judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Priscilla kuye, former President Nigerian Bar Association, NBA among others.
The National Peace Committee, which has Sultan of Sokoto, Abubakar Saad and Bishop of Sokoto, Mathew Kukah as members played a significant role in dousing tension the general elections. Apart bringing President Goodluck Jonathan of PDP and General Muhammadu Buhari of APC, now President-elect together, they also reached out to other critical stakeholders to ensure peaceful elections. The visit to the Defence Headquarters was one of such effort.
The high powered delegation was received by the Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh with other Service Chiefs namely Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lieutenant General Kenneth Minimah, Chief of Naval Staff, CNS, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, Chief of Air Staff, CAS, Air Marshal Adesola Amosun and other principal staff officers at the Defence Headquarters.
In his remarks, the Leader of National Peace Committee and former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), commended the military for providing adequate security in ensuring free, fair and violence free elections. He also commended the Armed Forces for liberating many communities in Nigeria from terrorists.
Speaking on behalf of the Committee, former Foreign Affairs Minister, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, commended the Military for exhibiting maturity and professionalism during the last Presidential and National Assembly elections on March 28, 2015.
Gambari who is an international defence and security expert emphasised that the Nigerian military has been responsible for enforcing peace in other countries including Sudan, Rwanda, Sierra Leone,Liberia among others.
The military, Gambari said ‘have distinguished’ itself and have ‘proved’ its ‘professionalism’. He commended the military for liberating the people of the North east and ensuring that they were able to exercise their franchise.
This unique event which served as moral boosting to officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces offered the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh a window to reassure Nigerians of the commitment of the services to democratic values and ethos; of the respect of the services to democratic institutions; of their firm belief in democracy and above all of their loyalty to Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Badeh who has always emphasised that he is a product of democracy and a homegrown General, said the era of military rule was gone forever.
He said that the military leaders are the product of democratic governance and would therefore not embark on any activities that could jeopardize democracy in Nigeria.
He said: “The era of military rule is gone forever in this country. In fact if there was military rule I am not sure if I could have been here. We are the armed forces of Nigeria and not that of any political party and will be subordinate to the constituted authorities”.
“We want to say that Nigerian Armed Forces have been participating in the past elections and there was no much misgiving. We as service chiefs were beneficiaries of democracy because we were confirmed by the National Assembly.”
Badeh also commended the efforts of the Peace Committee and expressed gratitude that the roles of the military in the whole electoral processes are being recognized and appreciated emphasised that the Nigerian military is not for any political party, but an institutions for all Nigerian.
He said: “The Armed Forces is indeed very proud that members of the peace committee are here to give us a part on the back for what we have done. I want to again thank you for recognizing what we have done in the North East.”
At every given opportunity, the CDS has maintained that Nigerian military remained committed to deepening democracy in the country. In an interview with Nigerian Defence Magazine, Badeh said: “military remains a strong arm of our democracy”. Indeed, Badeh’s abiding faith in democracy in Nigeria is in line with his vision as Chief of Defence Staff, which is, “to enhance effective co-ordination of the Armed Forces to meet the security aspirations of a united democratic Nigeria.”
