Despite escalating insurgency across the country, no fewer than 500 senior military officers, including Major-Generals, Brigadier-Generals, Rear Admirals, and Air Vice Marshals, have been forced into early retirement following the changes of service chiefs under the Muhammadu Buhari and Bola Tinubu administrations.
The mass retirements, spanning the Army, Navy, and Air Force between 2015 and 2023, stemmed from the long-standing military tradition of disengaging senior officers who are either senior to or of the same course as newly appointed service chiefs.
The move, according to the military, is aimed at maintaining discipline, hierarchy, and operational efficiency within the services. Data collated from media reports indicate that over 500 top officers have quit the services in the past eight years. However, military insiders asserted that the affected Generals numbered approximately 900 or more. The PUNCH could not immediately confirm the figure as the military authorities could not be reached to authenticate the claim.
The first wave of retirements occurred shortly after former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed new service chiefs in July 2015. They include Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai as Chief of Army Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar as Chief of Air Staff, and Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as Chief of Naval Staff.
Over 100 senior Army officers, mainly Major Generals and Brigadier Generals, were forced to retire, while the Navy lost over 20 senior officers, including Commodores and at least one Rear Admiral. A second phase was recorded in 2021 after Buhari replaced all the service chiefs and appointed a new set-Air Marshal Isiaka Amao (Air Force), late Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru (Army) and Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo (Navy).
That exercise saw about 123 generals exit the Army, while over 50 senior Air Force officers, and another 50 naval officers also left service. The Army again witnessed another wave in May 2021 following the death of Gen. Attahiru, which led to the appointment of Gen. Farouk Yahaya, who was junior to several serving generals.
His emergence triggered the voluntary retirement of over 20 generals from Courses 35 and 36. Under President Tinubu, the pattern has continued. Two weeks after he assumed office, the President, on June 19, 2023, appointed new service chiefs, prompting mass retirements across the services.
The appointment of late Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, and Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, as the heads of their respective services, led to the untimely retirement of 51 army generals, 49 top Air Force officers, and 17 naval officers.
Last Friday, Tinubu executed a shake-up in the military leadership. Gen Olufemi Oluyede replaced Gen Christopher Musa as CDS; Maj-Gen Waidi Shaibu becomes the COAS; Air Vice Marshal Sunday Aneke takes over as CAS, while Rear Admiral Idi Abbas assumes office as CNS. The Chief of Defence Intelligence, Maj-Gen Emmanuel Undiendeye, retains his position.
Under the latest development, about 60 top officers are expected to disengage from service should the military tradition continue. Reacting to the situation, General Ishola Williams (retd.), faulted the arbitrary sacking of the service chiefs and the forced retirement of other top officers, describing this as a mirror of the military regime.
“Once the government replaces the service chiefs, it means that the set of the former service chiefs will have to retire because they cannot serve under their juniors. And this has been happening all the time. And I don’t know why we cannot change this. It is very bad. They are copying the military regime. If you hold a job at that level, somebody should tell you that in three months, you are going to leave. But to just make an announcement and tell the person, ‘you are leaving now, is abnormal,” he said.
Williams suggested a system of appointment where the chief of defence staff would be the principal staff officer to the President, to whom other service chiefs would report, while other commanders would report to the service chiefs. He argued that this would institute a natural order of succession within the army.
“When you are doing posting, you post the next senior officer. So, the chief of army staff and everybody know that this is supposed to be the next chief of army staff. Or you say, it’s going to be one of the senior commanders, who are also senior officers. But what they are doing now doesn’t speak well of the Armed Forces at all,” he added.
