No country retires over 100 Major Generals without crumbling – Sadeeq Shehu warns

Former Spokesperson, Nigerian Air Force, Sadeeq Shehu has hinted at the possible repercussions of retiring over 100 Major Generals from the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

Over 100 Generals in the army, comprising Major Generals, Brigadiers General and some Colonels were recently told to proceed on retirement by the military authorities.

The signal which gave July 3, 2023, as the deadline for the officers to retire from the service, cuts across the Army, Navy and Air Force and follows the appointment of new service chiefs by President Bola Tinubu.

Speaking on the matter, Sadeeq who was on Arise Television program on Friday, faulted the process of promoting officers into Major Generals.

According to him, it is not ideal to have over 300 Major Generals for the president to pick from, citing the consequences of others that would be forced to proceed on retirement.

He noted that retiring about a hundred Major Generals may have a way of crumbling the Nigerian military.

He said, “If you follow the structure of the military pyramid, whoever is the president and commander in chief, you have already given him a few numbers of top quality officers that he can choose from.

“A situation where the president comes and he has over 300 Major Generals to pick from, you have not helped him.

“The problem is not the president himself. Infact, if you look at the literary meaning of section 217 on the appointment of service chiefs, as it is now, the president can even pick a Colonel and say this is my service chief. He picks whoever he wants.

“The structure of the Nigerian military is bloated, no other country can afford to retire 100 Major Generals without crumbling their military”.