You dont have any excuse again — Ex—Chief of Army Staff tells Service Chiefs to End Banditry, Violence
Former Defence Minister General Theophilus Danjuma has urged Nigeria’s Service Chiefs to take decisive action against banditry and senseless killings, demanding a swift return to peace and security.
Speaking at the Abuja launch of Major General Solomon Udounwa’s (rtd) book, “Big Boots: Lessons from My Military Service”, Danjuma emphasised that there is “no excuse” for the ongoing insecurity plaguing the nation.
As the event’s chairman, he praised the author’s dedication to military excellence and underscored the urgent need for an end to the violence affecting the country.
“The primary issue we face today is security,” Danjuma declared. “We must eliminate this crisis and halt the killings immediately. For those still in service, there are no excuses—absolutely none.”
Reacting, Chief of Defence Staff General Christopher Musa assured that the military remains dedicated to restoring peace throughout Nigeria.
He emphasised that the armed forces are steadfast in upholding the core values of service, integrity, and honor that define their mission.
He said: “Let me at least also mention to our distinguished chairman that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is positioned, is willing, dedicated and committed in ensuring that we restore peace and security in our own dear country.
“We shall not be deterred. There are going to be challenges, yes, but that’s why we’re here. I want to assure you that we have learned a lot from your record; very, very distinguished senior officers that have modeled us all through the years. We cannot afford to fail and we will not fail”.
Maj.-Gen. Udounwa (Rtd) stated that his motivation for writing the book was to share his experiences with the younger generation of military officers.
“I was motivated by a lot of factors. The first one is that the military profession thrives on experiential learning. That is to say, younger generations of military officers and soldiers require the experiences of those who served before them to learn whether it’s issues of strategy, administration, operational management, and the rest.
“So if you don’t document your experiences, that could be lost and then those coming behind you might not be able to learn from all the exposure and all the training that you had while in service.
“So, my book is going to be of interest to serving personnel, to military historians, to the academia, for people who are interested in national and international security affairs, and for the general public. That was the motivation”.
He continued, “I hope the younger generation of officers who are still serving will learn from some of the challenges I faced, and how I was able to navigate through them. I hope they will learn that to serve in the military requires discipline, requires professionalism, requires integrity, requires character, requires courage, and so many other virtues that an officer must display while undertaking his duties”.
He explained that the book’s title, “Big Boots”, was inspired by the size of his feet and the boots he wore during his military service.
“I faced bullies in primary school. But the day I decided to unleash my big feet on one of the bullies, it ended that reign of terror. And then, when I joined the military, because my feet are very big, I was also given ‘big boots,’ which went with me everywhere I served, and which I used in trampling on terrorists and every other threat to our national security,” Maj.-Gen. Udounwa said.
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