If like most Nigerians, you wonder what brings about the sudden change in the Nigerian military and security leadership, the reason may be mostly political.
The change announced by President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday may be “motivated more by politics than security concerns. The changes brought in new defense chief of staff, as well as new heads of the air force, navy, army, police, and intelligence services.
Usman Mohamed, professor of political science at the University of Abuja, said President Jonathan could be trying to solidify his grip on the country’s security ahead of next year’s elections.The change, I think, has come about very suddenly and unexpected to the country for two reasons. The first reason is political, and the political reason is stronger than the security reason. For political reason, soon after the president had announced to the ruling PDP (People’s Democratic Party) southern governors that he was going to contest, 24 hours after, we saw change in the service chiefs. That is very significant because of the election that is coming up,” he said.
The move comes days after Nigeria’s electoral commission solidified the timeline for next year’s general elections and as Mr. Jonathan signaled to party leaders that he intends to stand for election.
