* As Japanese Govt, UNDP, introduce new courses for peace operation projects
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has blamed the over-ambition of young military officers who do not want to wait for their turn for a coup d’état in Africa.
The UNDP Team Lead, Governance, Peace and Security, Mr. Matthew Alao, made the submission shortly after the graduation ceremony of the Leadership and National Cohesion Course, which held recently at the Martin Luther Agwai International Leadership and Peacekeeping Centre, Jaji, Kaduna State.
Admitting that the military cannot be divorced from its immediate society, the UNDP team lead listed erosion of core societal values, religious beliefs and lack of education as some of the key reasons for the recent pace of military interruption in the government of West African countries.
Alao, who warned that the leadership deficit is taking a toll on Nigeria and should be addressed right from the family unit to the community level, also described Nigeria as currently very individualistic.
According to him: “We have lost it. Now it is all about I and my family and this is leading us nowhere. This is why this course is very critical at this moment.”
Alao added that the leadership course, which happened to be the brainchild of the past Commandant of the Peacekeeping Centre, Major General Obinna, was born out of worries about the spate of coups in the West Africa Sub-Region.
“They felt that providing leadership training to the middle-level military and civilians is an antidote to the coup. They felt that the quality of training and orientation on subordination was weakening in the military and political space of West Africa.
“They felt that UNDP, with the funding made available by the government of Japan, sponsored the course”, Alao added.
On the persistent coups and counter-coups staged in Africa by military officers, Alao said the fundamental problem the world is facing today is the lack of core values. “Our core values are fast breaking down. You will see agitation and expectation on so many issues that may not be reality.
“Most people don’t go to school. Some do go to school but do not have employable skills. This contributes to what is happening and because the military cannot be divorced from the society where it is situated, they also feel part of that agitation.
When that cry is going on, it speculates and overshadows the event. I think that is one of the reasons for coups. Then, over-ambition by young officers. They don’t want to wait for their turn. The idea of young people wanting to be there is another cause of coups.”
Adding: “Young people need to learn because if they don’t learn, we will continue to somersault. After all, this country was ruled by a 27-year-old. At a point, they delivered but they didn’t deliver well.
“If the military of those days had the necessary experience and requisite vision when Nigeria was still in the morning, they would have planned our future and laid the foundation and we wouldn’t be where we are today. We wouldn’t be clamouring for roads, infrastructure and all that.
“Supposing that people that found this country such as Chief Obafemi Awolowo, were able to do something up to the late 80s, Nigeria would have been better than it is currently The situation we are in now is dangerous”, Alao added.
He recalled that in the past, Nigerian states were flourishing with industries but everything collapsed during the Structural Adjustment Program.
