Ehimiaghe: Corruption in military is symptom of a broken system

Commodore Collins Ehimiaghe (rtd), who was part of Nigeria’s ECOMOG contingent to Liberia, told KELVIN EBIRI, that recent revelation of monumental corruption by military chiefs is a symptom of the monumental collapse and the failure in leadership.

Since its incursion into the Nigerian politics in 1966, the image of the military has been smeared by corruption…

You are quite right in all your observations considering the current revelation of humongous graft by very senior military officers in the last administration and, perhaps, before the last administration in the country. In fact, I believe many retired officers, including others in service are still in shock over these revelations. It is unimaginable to see star-studded generals being paraded as treasury looters. There is simply, no doubt, that there is something fundamentally wrong in the military.

Apparently, a few highly placed officers have done great damage to the image of the armed forces and the integrity of many good officers, men and women who serve the country in the army, navy and air force. So, in my opinion, I believe government must as a matter of great urgency and national security, look beyond the mere exposure, arrest and of course, prosecution of current culprits involved in the huge corruption scandal we are currently witnessing. They should do this by beaming their searchlight deeper into why and how a commissioned officer in the armed forces can act dishonourably after putting in more than two decades or three decades of military service. This is what government must do. Essentially, government needs to unearth the cause or causes of corruption in the military of senior officers.

Now, military service is like no other service in the world. It is about the deprivation of certain rights, discipline, integrity, honour, valour, exemplary leadership at all levels, loyalty to service and country and most importantly sacrifice, including the ultimate, which is life for the country if need be. Military service is not about comfort or accumulation of riches. The essential qualities of military service do not tally with wealth or vast ownership of properties; that cannot be the preoccupation of an officer who is ready to give up his life for his country. So, what this means is that if there are officers who are actually interested in wealth, such officers are not committed to the responsibilities of their office.

Is poor remuneration and welfare of military personnel responsible for the seeming avaricious tendencies of some officers?
Military service is not about welfare. It is about service. However, as human beings it is important that their welfare is considered. Because a demoralised officer cannot give his best. If we come to our level in Nigeria, from my own experience, there had always been adequate provision for the welfare of officers and men. But the problem had always been, is this welfare allowed to trickle down to the respective officers and men? and this is where the issue of corruption comes in, because for an officer, your pay is known in a particular rank up to the highest rank.

So it is possible for you to build your expectations on that, including how to take care of your family. Secondly, officers ought to be accommodated and that is why we have barracks and officers quarters. Of course, they are given transport allowance, car allowance and all those things are there on paper. But the issue is whether these welfare requirements are carried out as at when due and if these junior officers receive this welfare. That is the issue.

Instances of top military officers accused of corruption abounds. What has then happened to military’s attributes of honour, discipline and integrity?
What we are confronted with in the case of ex-service chiefs on trial for corruption and what we witness today are mere symptoms of the monumental collapse and the failure in the very important system in the military for developing leaders in the armed forces. There is something fundamentally wrong in the military system that has allowed it to produce high-ranking officers who are now involved and enmeshed in corruption cases. If you must understand, generalship is not about promotion and wearing of stars. To be a general in the armed forces is akin to being a cardinal in Rome.

It is the highest form of recognition in the military service. A four star general is like a Pope himself. A Pope cannot steal the offering of the congregation. How is it then possible for a real general to embezzle money meant for troops fighting an insurgence and dying in the process? More importantly, if indeed a general can steal, what could possibly be going on within the ranks of junior and middle level officers in the military officers corps? What exactly is going on in the military? This is the question only the president and commander in chief can answer.

From your experience, what do you think could be responsible for this propensity for materialism among some military officers?
You are asking me to assume the importance of a panel, because one man’s opinion will necessarily be bias and might not be enough. One of my favourite quotes in the world is one made by Grand Admiral Karl Donitz, he was the head of the Nazi German navy during the second World War and I quote: “we only learn by the true recognition and exposure of our mistakes”. Obviously, mistakes have been made in the past, somewhere along the line in the military regarding the officers corps.

The question however, is are we ready to recognise and expose these mistakes so that lessons can be learnt and appropriate recommendation made and implemented for correction? Or is this current government more interested in nailing officers that have worked for the last administration, and perhaps, in entertaining Nigerians with a circus filled with revelation of corruption and trial of senior military officers? Because the issue is far beyond what we see today. You can rightly ask, what are the issues? What I can just say is that the Nigerian military is long overdue for reform. No institution can give what it doesn’t have.

How are officers trained and how are they assessed on the job? Because if training is sound and assessment is effective, it will be difficult for any person with negative tendencies to pass through the military undetected. And thirdly, they must look at the issue of promotion and advancement in the military. Who gets promoted? And who gets certain appointment? Finally, they must look at the process of retirement of officers. Do you retire good officers just because you are being vindictive? And do you retain other officers because they are loyal to you and not the country? So, what crop of officers is retained at the highest level and what crop of officers are allowed to go? It is the head of the fish that determines the quality of the remaining part of the fish.

Is rot in the military a reflection of the larger society?
Something close to that. The military is part of the society called Nigeria and most logically, it is not going to act differently from the larger society. What we are seeing today is a reflection of what is happening in government and what is happening in society. But then, if society exists in this state, the military can take certain steps, considering their responsibility to service and the nation at large to insulate itself from the larger society.

The military is actually not supposed to be exposed to the society based on the fact that the military is contained in barracks and fields, which are far from the society. So, the military has the responsibility to itself and to the country to use its isolation to reform itself so that it can even produce leaders for the larger society in future.