As Coup plots continue to spread across the African continent with Gabon as the latest country on the block, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81 Division Nigerian Army (NA), Major General Mohammed Takuti Usman, on Wednesday tasked Nigerian soldiers to always remain loyal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the constituted authority.
Speaking against the backdrop of the most recent coup executed by Gabonese Military officers on Wednesday, the GOC urged the soldiers to be professional and exhibit total loyalty beginning with the President down to the highest level of the nation’s Armed Forces.
General Usman, who was addressing officers and men at the 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala in Abeokuta, Ogun State, warned that the Nigerian Armed Forces would not condone disloyalty and there is enough room for any soldier to quit rather than being a mutineer within the system.
Flanked at the briefing by the Commander, 35 Artillery Brigade, Brigadier General, Mohammed Tajudeen Aminu, the GOC acknowledged that some challenges do exist currently, but said such were not peculiar to the Brigade Command.
According to him; “While we are looking at the challenges and how to solve them, you have to be disciplined soldiers, you have to be loyal soldiers. When I say loyalty, your loyalty must start with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces who is the President.
“That’s first, and then down the ladder. Loyalty to the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, down to your Brigade Commander. You have to be loyal. There is no room for soldiers who are not loyal to the constituted authority, no. If you are not going to be loyal, then, leave, go and do other work.
“But the Armed Forces cannot stand it if you are not loyal. Discipline, loyalty, and top professionalism. We are bearing arms so that other people can sleep well and go about their normal activities.
“You also have to be hardworking. If you go on any course, make sure you do your best and be among the best. Once you have all these, you will grow in this job.”
General Usman, after commissioning the Quarter Guard project at the Barrack, also visited the Alake and Paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, who promised support for the GOC and the Nigerian army at all times.
Amplifying the key role that the Armed Forces play in nation-building and the general development process, the GOC said if there were no soldiers, Nigeria would not be peaceful and a safe country to live in.
