A day with Nigerian ex COAS

When he joined the Nigerian Army, as a human, he would not have anticipated getting to the top, especially coming from the part of the country which had not produced a Chief of Army Staff (COAS) close to 20 years before he enrolled in the army. But it came to him to head the Nigerian Army, over 40 years after nobody from his part of the nation had held the position. And so after completing his training at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), and got commissioned into the armed forces, his dream of serving his fatherland with all enthusiasm became even stronger. He put in his uttermost best in every unit and command he was posted to and was recognized by both his seniors and juniors as humble, dedicated and hardworking officer. But when he was denied his promotion from the rank of Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel despite his dedication to service, he became demoralized and wondered what on earth would have been responsible for that. Not wanting to be discouraged, he decided to inquire from the Department of Military Secretary, why he was not promoted and was told it may be as a result of vacancy and nothing more. Even though he was not too happy with the development, he continued to work harder and eventually got promoted. After scaling that hurdle, he got promoted subsequently when due until he got to the rank of Major-General and appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC), and also held other offices at the Army Headquarters. But he got the shock of his life when as a Major-General, he was posted to the Defence Headquarters as a director instead of a chief. And to add salt to injury, the officer he was posted to work under, was his junior in service, a situation he did not find funny and decided to go to the then chief of army staff for an explanation. On getting to office of the COAS and knowing why he was there, the chief immediately told him that he was posted there because he was professional in his field which was not true. But all the same, he accepted his fate and decided to work even harder as the director of engineering. While in that position, he constructed more accommodation quarters for officers and soldiers and opened up other infrastructures for the Defence Headquarters to the admiration of officers and soldiers. While there, his good work was discovered by the powers that be and he was appointed to the exalted office of the Chief of Army Staff. This is the story of Lieutenant-General Onyeabor Azubuike Ihejirika, former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) as told by himself at a dinner organized in his honour to mark his exit from the army after about 38 years in service. The dinner held at the Army Headquarters Command Officers Mess, Abuja, Gen. Ihejirika, attested that hard work pays and charged officers and soldiers to continue to work hard in whatever area they find themselves as there was reward for hard work. Dressed in a black suit and accompanied by his wife, Gift, the former service chief, when called upon to make his speech thanked the organizers of the event but noted that the live band invited to play at the occasion were only there to provoke his dancing skills as they continued to tempt him to mount the stage with the kind of old school music that reminded him of the good old days. But after all the pleasantries and jokes, he pointed out that but for the fact that he had been forced to make a speech, he would have ordinarily thanked the organizers of the dinner and called it a day. He made it clear that he was only giving his speech to encourage officers and soldiers on the need to work hard and put in their best in whatever area they found themselves and the need for them to remain absolutely loyal to the system. Hear me After years of experience, certainly I have one or two things to say. “I have been placed in such a way that I have gone through thick and thin and all the vagaries you can think of. But one thing that remained steadfast was my courage and loyalty. Military job is business for those who are courageous, and also those who are loyal. It is a business of sacrifice. Why do I say so? Many of you here would not know that I once missed my promotion at a time I knew I should not. I thought it was just there and that was when I missed my promotion from Lieutenant-Colonel to Colonel, after being a directing staff at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, earning dagger and having commanded a unit and taken the unit to a successful exercise that was when I missed my promotion. But rather than discourage me, it further encouraged me. What did I do? I went to the military secretary department, the department in charge of handling such things. I went to the relevant officer and told him sir, please go through my file and see if there are some areas that I could make amends. The officer, late Major-General I. I. Hassan, at the time, told me he had gone through my file and he didn’t find anything wrong per say. He said it would have been as a result of vacancy or oversight or whatever it is but that I should continue working hard. I left his office happy that I have not been told that something had gone wrong. At another point, having been a General Officer Commanding (GOC), and a chief at the Army headquarters, I was appointed a director at the Defence headquarters. It was a very nice rank for any Major General but incidentally, the officer I was made to serve under, was running a junior seniority to mine. But my office was a specialist office, director engineering, which can only be occupied by an engineer. Because I had served in the military secretary department myself, I realized that the chief and those who assisted him in my posting must have had some trouble trying to find a place for me and that was the only available place and it further encouraged me And What do I do? “Officers were sending me text messages saying do this, do that, sir protest and all of that. But I said what do I do? I went to the COAS, I saluted and said sir, but before I could talk he said oh, Ihejirika, I know you have seen the posting. I said thank you very much sir for the posting and he said, you see, you are an engineer we have to take you there. “It was while at DHQ, that I opened up those new areas, like Dike Park, New Officers’ Quarters and so many other projects that brought me into limelight. “So, I encourage every officer to try to prove himself in every appointment you find yourself. That is the only way forward. “And this brings us to the issue of loyalty. As we stay here wining and drinking, not to spoil your appetite, I always remember that there are soldiers, officers who are on self-imposed hunger strike. They don’t have time to take a bite on any food because they are eye ball to eye ball with the enemy. That is the current situation facing some of our officers and our soldiers and they deserve every encouragement they can get from Nigerians and the international communities. Incidentally, it is our international friends that are more sympathetic to us because they have gone through problems like these in the past. So Nigeria will also pass through this problem and come out stronger You must be loyal to all your superiors. You cannot be loyal to your chief and disloyal to your GOC or to your director. Loyalty is continuous, if you skip one, you miss it. If you are not loyal to the Chief of Army Staff, you are not loyal to the president, you have no business being in the army. It will be a very honourable thing for you to say I am done with this job. If because of posting or because of appointment or because of promotion you become disloyal, what do you think of the soldier and the officer who is putting his chest between the bullet and we? So what sacrifice is greater than the other? I therefore, want to encourage all of us here but to remark that the armed forces of this country have come a long way. Things are not as bad as it is being reported. The kind of cooperation in the services that I witnessed during my tenure in office is far much better than what existed before I was appointed. And I can see that what we have today, will even be far much better. And the operations that are on-going there is serious cooperation going on. I just have to say this because it is important to know that the services are very cohesive. I could talk more on loyalty and courage but like I said before, it would have been better to dance it. My wish for the service chiefs who have displayed ratio of honour tonight in giving me this highly befitting ceremony, is only to wish you God’s guidance and I pray for your successful tenure and also make myself available at anytime to you. Gen. Ihejirika, displayed his dancing steps with his wife while the band played more old school tunes.