Is the recruitment exercise a once a year event, with a fixed quota of recruits taken in as the need may be?
There's no gainsaying that the recruitment process has to follow the guidelines as per the letter and spirit of the constitution. Unfortunately, section 217 of the Nigerian Constitution which states that "the composition of the armed forces of the Federation shall reflect the federal character of Nigeria in the manner prescribed in section 217 of this Constitution" - does not give any details, statistical or otherwise of exactly how the federal character or composition of the military is determined.
Understandably, given the demographics of Nigeria's ethnic groups, everyone wants to be represented and minorities do not want to be under-represented or see their ethnic rivals over-represented in the powerful Nigerian military. Since the religious divide is also part of the federal reality, there are foreseeable complications in sending say, soldiers from one part of the country to put down an insurrection in another part of the country, the East for example. Or in sending some battalions from Igboland (church men) to quell a rebellion in Kano or Sokoto, since that could be seen as a Christian crusade against Muslims. It could even be more complicated than that.
So there's much that can be said about "the federal character"
No doubt about it, in mobilising for the country's defence against external aggression, I guess that volunteers would report to some local mobilisation centres all across the country, everybody would be called upon to do their fair share and notions about "the Federal character of Nigeria" would remain the centre of gravity in the recruiting the country's fighters.
Right now, the circumstances are extenuating and it's significant that the recruitment is to fight the on-going war against Boko Haram in Boko Haram's main war zone which is Borno. We are to assume that one of the merits of the 250 local recruits is that they are more familiar with the local terrain and culture , compared with e.g. recruits from the Niger Delta...
On Monday, 25 July 2016 19:28:44 UTC+2, Kennedy Emetulu wrote:
….Okay, here is a breakdown that should make sense to any layman interested in this matter.The grundnorm of our nation is the Constitution. It is the most important law that governs us and every other law is deemed to be derived from it, and where not consistent with it, such law would be declared null and void to the extent of that inconsistency. Ditto any act.When you interpret the Constitution, you interpret it in accordance with the spirit and the letter of the Constitution.In interpreting it, there are technical rules, but you need not apply these if a literal interpretation will do.Now, apart from the Constitution and all the other statutes being the sources of our law, other sources of law are conventions. These are practices engaged in over time that they have become accepted as law (as far as no law disallows them). Conventions are sometimes applied to make the written law come to life, so to speak.I have quoted in my original piece the law that applies to recruitment in the Army. Of course, there is the Nigeria Armed Forces Act which deals with several aspects of service life, but the Constitution stipulates how recruitment should be done in section 217(3), which states: "The composition of the officer corps and other ranks of the armed forces of the Federation shall reflect the federal character of Nigeria".The Constitution did not put this there for fancy. If the idea is to leave recruitment fully to the discretion of recruiters, there will be no need for this section of the Constitution. Its purpose can be found in the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law can be found in the intention of the drafters. Those of you who are good students of history will know how the old ethnically-controlled Nigerian Army railroaded us into war and cost us a whole lot as a nation. The post-Civil War army and more crucially, the army under the constitutional authority of a civilian government is in word and in fact meant to be a national army. In ensuring this, the Constitution created a 'federal character' formula which gives a broad, but firm enough idea about how every agency of Government of the Federation (including the Armed Forces) must be organised and how it should conduct its affairs to reflect national unity and inclusiveness. Every other government agency at the other levels of government is also to apply this principle at their individual levels (states, and local governments). This is the spirit and the principle behind section 14(3) of the Constitution, which states: "The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies". You get that?Now, coming to section 217(3), it is that same spirit of section 14(3) that the Constitution expects to be reflected in interpreting the letter of the law. So, the question is how do the composition of the officer corps and other ranks of the armed forces of the Federation reflect the federal character of Nigeria? In other words, how do we do it? How have we been doing it before now? What convention or practice can we follow? What precedent in line with this can we look at? And the answer is simple: The Army recruits nationally, not regionally or state-by-state. Whether for the regular recruitment or short-service officers' course, it does so by opening application nationally in all states. Remember that this is not a case of recruiters not having discretion. The idea is to reduce the opportunity for discretion as much as possible by giving some constitutional guidelines. The challenge for the Armed Forces recruiters is to show that they are following the spirit and the letter of the Constitution by giving everyone equal chances on the basis of states. So, the first principle they've always adopted by convention is to give equal quotas to each state. There is no question of this state has more population or is bigger than this one or that one. Everyone simply gets an equal allocation, depending on how many the army is looking to recruit in that national recruitment cycle. After that, these equal numbers of recruits from each state are then mixed up within army units to also reflect this diversity within units (that is in their postings and working environment). Once this is done, they have met their obligation under the Constitution.Of course, the Constitution did not specify that this is how they should do it, but that is their own duty - to put specificity to the general idea enunciated by the Constitution and to ensure that in doing that they don't kill the spirit or the letter of the law. In other words, where the discretion comes is in everyday operation and in the natural course of service. For instance, it's the army and like in any other walk of life, people will die in service, people will be sacked and so on. So, you don't expect that in such a large organisation you would be looking for persons from states affected to provide immediate replacements. You will also expect that in recruiting, a difference in one or two between states should not raise too many eyebrows as far as the balance is still generally there.To show that the drafters of the Constitution were keen that this policy is religiously followed, they specifically gave the National Assembly the power to set up a permanent oversight body under section 219(b). The Constitution says that body "shall comprise such members as the National Assembly may determine, and which shall have power to ensure that the composition of the armed forces of the Federation shall reflect the federal character of Nigeria in the manner prescribed in section 217 of this Constitution". Note that in constitutional interpretation, the use of "shall" is imperative, not discretionary or optional.So, as we speak, there is a body in the National Assembly already set up in line with section 219(b). It could be any of the Defence or Armed Forces Committees or any other body the National Assembly may determine. Whatever it is, it's their sole duty to ensure that the composition of the armed forces of the Federation reflects the federal character of Nigeria in the manner prescribed in section 217 of this Constitution.The problem we have here is that the Army has acted against convention, against precedent and against the spirit and letter of the Constitution by recruiting for the first time only in one state (Borno) from where we are now told 250 men have been added to the Nigerian Army. That is highly irregular. When the National Assembly looks into this in exercise of its power under section 219(b), it is not going to be determining whether the recruited boys are good enough to join the army or whether they have the skills or whether they should be compensated for the great work they have done; it will be looking at it strictly as directed by the Constitution, which is whether the composition of the armed forces of the Federation is reflecting the federal character of Nigeria in the manner prescribed in section 217 of our Constitution. Though the records show that Nigeria has 100,000 soldiers in active service, you don't have to know how many men and women are in uniform to see that the new 250 recruitment from Borno will naturally shoot up their numbers. I personally don't know what the oversight body will discover. For instance, it may well be that the war has cost Borno members of the Armed Forces so many lives that the additional 250 would just be making up for that loss. Of course, not only Borno indigenes in the army are fighting Boko Haram and dying, but I'm just saying. The point is this type of irregular recruitment triggers a parliamentary investigation and that is all I've asked for in my piece.…
From: Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com>
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com >
Sent: Sunday, 24 July 2016, 22:25
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: RECRUITMENT OF FORMER CIVILIAN JTF MEMBERS INTO THE NIGERIAN ARMY IS UNLAWFUL
--Re- "RECRUITMENT OF FORMER CIVILIAN JTF MEMBERS INTO THE NIGERIAN ARMY IS UNLAWFUL."It's a startling headline indeed. Sounds like a new decree. " FROM NOW ON, RECRUITMENT OF FORMER CIVILIAN JTF MEMBERS INTO THE NIGERIAN ARMY IS UNLAWFUL – signed, Your Supreme Commander.By now everyone's read the news item referred to: "250 former Civilian-JTF join the Nigerian Army""This should worry all peace-loving and law-abiding citizens, home and abroad." ( i.e. reading about this little local recruitment "should worry all peace-loving and law-abiding citizens, home and abroad."Since the 1999 law was promulgated, this is probably not the first time that local concessions have been made in executing that law and abiding by its spirit of an equal share in the big Nigeria, every region, locality, being granted an army entry quota , based on some type of proportionality.As if the recruitment threatens the peace, really or potentially. Was it not a peace-loving recruitment?Trust Kennedy Emetulu to throw some more dust on another molehill he has so painstakingly erected and since it all boils down to criticism of the most senior patron saint and protector-in-chief of Fulani Herdsman, Emetulu wouldn't mind at all, if we all quack in unison, "Yes, we agree".Agree with him.From here to infinity.Whilst his recommendations are reasonable,- a portal to further training, education, his beef with just this one example is exaggerated.After quoting chapter and verse of the holy Nigerian Constitution, his conclusion ( last paragraph): "This type of sectional recruitment must be totally discouraged."What we're actually talking about is a paltry 250 people who were inducted into the army. Nothing to cry about so loudly that a mere 250 brave ones of a particular ethnic group out of ten thousand of various other ethnic groups that will / are also being absorbed into the great (big) Nigerian army were given this opportunity locallyAfter any war, the demobilisation and the reintegration of former combatants into civilian life, is never easy; it's even less easy for a nation with a cash-strapped economy – it means that demobilised soldiers, join the army of the unemployed, unemployment being the fuel that feeds the fire (an army of discontent) that is liable to (if they could succeed) take up arms against the government ...it's not an unusual problem that after a war in which volunteers take to arms in order to defend themselves and their people, some of the young, able-bodied who would otherwise be unemployed and have already shown an aptitude/ a calling for a military career, would gladly opt for joining the army if given half a chance, and those who have other career possibilities would explore those. The Nigerian Military has one of the finest cadres of doctors, engineers,...During the extended RUF war in Sierra Leone, offers of further education was one of the bargaining chips with members of a militia group known as the West Side Boys who had kidnapped five British soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment, resulting in the much glorified Operation Barras...When the RUF War (1991-2003) came to an end , some of the Kamajor militias were integrated into Sierra Leone's national army which at some point under Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah had been replaced by ECOMORG Forces under Nigerian command, after Johnny Paul Koroma deposed President Kabbah in 1996...
On Sunday, 24 July 2016 01:02:55 UTC+2, Kennedy Emetulu wrote:….RECRUITMENT OF FORMER CIVILIAN JTF MEMBERS INTO THE NIGERIAN ARMY IS UNLAWFULI have just read about the recruitment of 250 former Civilian JTF members into the Nigerian Army. This should worry all peace-loving and law-abiding citizens, home and abroad.First, let me make one thing clear. The members of the Civilian JTF are patriots and national heroes who must be compensated for the gallant work they've done and are still doing with the Nigerian Armed Forces to combat Boko Haram. But whatever the form the reward must take, it must not and should not have included a special recruitment into the Nigerian Army in the manner it has been done. The membership of the Nigerian Army is not a reward to anybody for whatever they have done for Nigeria. The Nigerian Armed Forces are collectively the greatest symbol of our national unity and recruitment into their ranks is constitutionally and lawfully determined.Section 217(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) states: "The composition of the officer corps and other ranks of the armed forces of the Federation shall reflect the federal character of Nigeria". In giving effect to the above, section 219(b) of the Constitution states that the National Assembly shall "establish a body which shall comprise such members as the National Assembly may determine, and which shall have power to ensure that the composition of the armed forces of the Federation shall reflect the federal character of Nigeria in the manner prescribed in section 217 of this Constitution".So, clearly, the drafters of the Constitution, being very much aware of the volatile history of our Armed Forces and the fragility of our ethnic relations, envisioned and sought to create a truly national institution. They did this not only by specifying in the Constitution the character of the composition of the Armed Forces, but they also mandated the National Assembly to ensure that this is so at all times. These constitutional mandates for composition and active oversight by the National Assembly do not give any room for derogation.The Armed Forces also very much aware of this have traditionally followed the principle in practice by ensuring that its recruitment is done nationally through a national recruitment process that requires equal quotas from all states of the federation and a mix of recruits, officers and other ranks in units. This recruitment of the Civilian JTF members is the first time the Army will recruit only from one area/region/state. This is a bad precedence. It must not be allowed to stand.Of course, as I stated earlier, I fully understand that the state must show gratitude to the Civilian JTF members, but should recruitment into the Army be the answer? I mean, it's obvious that all those who joined did so, because they simply needed a job, not because they set out to choose the military as a career. They did not take up arms to fight Boko Haram because they wanted to join the military; they did primarily to protect themselves, their families and their communities. Naturally, in the harsh economic situation and in the state of unemployment in the country, it would have been unconscionable to throw back these guys into their neighbourhoods without proper compensation, but the compensation should not be joining the Army.What the authorities should have done was sit down with them to first find out what they really want to do. I'm sure there are many of them who would have wanted to further their education. Those should have been given scholarships to pursue education. Then there would be those who possibly want to learn a trade or pursue a business. Those too should have been supported along those lines. Then those who choose to join the military should have been prepared for the next national recruitment into the army as part of the process already in place in line with the federal character mandate in the Constitution. They should not have been given any special recruitment dispensation to join the Army against the law. If the above policy I suggested had been followed, we would have had a better programme of reward and compensation for the boys, something more meaningful than just dumping them in the army as recruits. They would have been more useful to Nigeria with such a diversified reward system that would have likely guaranteed them a brighter future than throwing them in as recruits of the army, irrespective of their individual talents and dreams.In all I state above, I have not dealt with the danger this poses to the nation communally. I mean, there are people murmuring already that these recruits are actually Boko Haram militants being brought into the Army through a backdoor as some kind of settlement. Then there are those who say this is Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai recruiting mostly members of his own ethnic group or people from his region into the Army through the backdoor. While I do not believe the charge of them being Boko Haram militants, we cannot ignore the fact that these are people all from the area that the present Chief of Army Staff hails from. What kind of Army are we creating if people can be recruited this way in blatant disregard for the Constitution? What happens tomorrow if civilians join to help the army in other sections of the country to contain a similar insurgency in their region? Would we also be recruiting those persons into the Nigerian Army the same way? Where will that lead us?I think the National Assembly should invoke its constitutional powers immediately and begin to look into this recruitment. It must immediately investigate the present composition of the Nigerian Army along the lines of its mandate under section 219(b) to ensure that the composition of the armed forces of the Federation reflects the federal character of Nigeria in the manner prescribed in section 217 of our Constitution. This type of sectional recruitment must be totally discouraged.Kennedy Emetulu…..
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