WHY SHOULD THE ARMY HEADQUATERS INVOLVE ITSELF IN THE POLITICS OF GMB WASC CERTIFICATE? The needless controversy over GMBs secondary school certificate had dominated the Nigerian political space in the last few weeks, as if it is the most important issue in the 2015 elections. The issue which started as a kite flown by the pdp and piloted by the infamous FFK spiralled like a snow ball and rocked the entire landscape like a tsunami. Of course it is a political tsunami of sorts which ended dramatically with devastating consequences for the pdp. It was like a case of a person who rode on the back of a tiger to wreck havoc and devour other people and when the tiger consumed all its victims, it turned round to its rider and demanded him to succumb to the same fate it foisted on other victims. Finally the tiger consumed the rider to end the drama. That is what the pdp did to itself in the just concluded secondary school certificate saga. It hatched the mischief that GMB did not attend any secondary school at all and spread the falsehood through the media across the nation and beyond. Politicians, political parties, lawyers and Nigerians from all walks of life poured in all sorts of comments on the issue. One can even say the issue dominated the campaign for two weeks with the pdp and Apc trading words and exchanging invectives. The parties and Nigerian citizens have the freedom to join the discourse on such political matters, but can we say the same for the military institution? The Army headquaters in the heat of this political imbriglio addressed a press conference through its Secretary, where it denied having the original secondary school certificate of GMB. As if addressing the nation on sucsesses recorded by the military in recapturing our territories lost to BH, the secretary was shown on tv in a belligerant manner flounting a piece of paper which he said was the only evidence of secondary school education GMB submitted to the army on enrolment. He read from that paper that GMB passed some subjects and failed others as stated in the testimonial he was reading from. As i watched this show of shame unfold in the Tv which was transmitted live to the whole world via satellite, i asked myself a couple of disturbing questions. Why did the military involve itself in a volatile political debate or better still who dragged the military into politics? The only part of GMBs case that affected the military was a solemn deposition in an affidavit GMB submitted to INEC stating that the originals of his credentials are in the custody of the military. He did not address a press conference or make a public show of this assertion. It was a matter he addressed in the formal manner through the official channel of communication with the relevant authorities. INEC did not join issues with the Military or GMB on the certificate or the deposition in the affidavit in respect thereof. My contention is that if the army became aware of GMBs claim that his credentials were in their custody and they desired to contest the claim, they should have formally and in compliance with the rules of official channels of communication, written to the INEC denying the claim or even to swear a counter affidavit in a court of law challenging GMBs deposition in his affidavit and formally submit it to INEC. Instead, the military like the pdp did, made a public show of the issue. The secretary of the army board brought out official documents from the records of an officer who served the army in the highest attainable rank and without a demand from any authority, reeled out classified information that could only be in GMBs graded or sectret file to the entire world. What is the army trying to prove and in whose interest or at whose behest did they stage the press conference? I know in the civil service it is a serious breach of the rules to divulge official information from govt records to the public without authority. It is a dismissable offence that also renders the culprit liable to a criminal prosecution for the offence of breach of the Oath of secrecy punishable under the Oath of Secrecy Act. I dont know the position of the rules in the military but i will like to believe that it should apply. even with greater force and should attract aheavier punishment than the civil service. In conclusion, it is my respectful view that the military as an institution and its officers should insulate themselves from politics and resist political influence or manipulation by politicians. They must not create circumstances that will erode the confidence of the citizenry in its military. There is already a crisis of confidence in the manner the war against terror is being prosecuted. We dont need to have a negative image of the military on the political scene at this crucial stage of our democracy.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 07:59:26 +0000
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