Resumo de My Command - PRESIDENT, OLUSEGUN OBANSANJO

Write your abstract

here.

I remained at my station in kaduna until i was
posted

to

take over what was then know as 2 Area Command. 2
Area

command was by then virtually a one battalion

formation.

this second battailon was less than seven hundred
men

strong and had fewer than a hundred rifles on
charge,

with

fewer than twenty rounds of ammunation per rifles .

There

was one machine gun, i mortar,no recoilles rifle
and

one

set of clothing per soldier.The battalion had one
land

rover and two trucks issued to it. At the same
time,

the

relationship between the soldiers and the civilian

population was strained almost to breaking point.
This

was

caused by the authoritarian behaviour and high-

handedness

of some soldiers .

My first task was that of restoring
mutual

confidence and trust amongst the soldiers and
between

the

soldiers and the civilians.I discovered that apart
from

group affinity and loyality, language was the
second

cause

of friction, suspicion and fears among the

soldiers .The

action of a few of the officer did not help, but
rather

worsened the situation.I instructed that English,
which

is

the nations official language would be the medium
of

communication through out the units. All soldiers
were

also

ordered to sleep in their barracks and to desist
from

any

act of molestation of civilians . Offenders were

severly

punished . Corporal punishment was not
excluded;infact,

it

was very effective.I remember the story of a
sergeant

who,

without permission, drove to Lagos in an Army Land

Rover to

see his "brother" without regards for, and over the

heads

of all his superior officers in his unit and the
Area

Command in Ibadan.

The case was reported to me. I had the
sergeant

formally charge for conduct prejudicial to good
order

and

military discipline and for use of a government
vehicle

on

an unauthorised journey.His remanded the case to
me.

the

sergeant was marched before me; and after his
charge

had

been read to him,he pleaded guilty. The sergeant
was

then

severly punished in accordance with military
law.That

put

an end to such act. Within a short time, mutual
trust

and

discipline were restored among the soldiers and
trust

and

understanding were generated between soldiers and

civilian

population.

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