Some retired Army generals, who spoke to Jounalist  in separate interviews, called for transparency in military spending.

A former Chairman of the South-East Security Committee, Major General Obi Umahi (retd), in an interview with our correspondent, called for a national security emergency that could effectively tackle the security situation, saying war was too important to be left to military generals.

Umahi said, “Issues of security should not be left to generals alone. It should go beyond general-ship. Are votes allocated to the armed forces not subject to the audit? We no longer run a closed military system. It doesn’t work anywhere else in the world. Security budget is open to scrutiny.

“All of us know that we are still in a very tight security situation. We all know that the security situation is still very poor and that is not to say the armed forces are not doing their level best, but it’s just that there may be a need for a total revisiting of the strategy.

“Security issues should involve the entire nation. It is no longer an affair that should be left to the security agencies. I have said before that there should be a national security emergency, where a body is set up involving all the stakeholders, and everybody can make suggestions.”

According to the retired general, the Federal Government has shown that it cannot see the whole gamut of the security situation.

He added, “It requires help, and security is for all of us, so we should all be partakers.”

Asked to assess the Commander-in-Chief’s handling of insecurity, Umahi noted that Buhari needed to expand his security information network.

“Every leader acts based on the information at his disposal. That is why I made the suggestion earlier that there should be an expansion of his sources of direct information. When there is a national security emergency, then there will be a wide range of opinions he will get from various parts of the country to help him address the security situation in Nigeria,” he said.

Number of deaths frightening –Gen Jemibewon

Similarly, a former military governor of the Old Western State and former Minister of Police Affairs, Major General David Jemibewon (retd), decried the number of casualties recorded by the military at the hands of insurgents, bandits and other criminals.

Twenty military officers lost their lives in three months after three crashes involving Nigerian Air Force jets.

The NAF spokesman, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, on March 31, said an Alpha-Jet aircraft involved in the anti-terror war against Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province lost radar contact in Borno State.

Two officers were on board the missing jet, which was later declared crashed and the whereabouts of the two airmen unknown to date.

Decrying the rising insecurity in the country, Jemibewon told Journalists , “It’s frightening to the extent that people get scared now to even travel to their villages. I think it has a great effect on many issues—travelling, production, and so on.”

Asked if military casualties had any effect on the morale of other troops, he said, “Of course, it would! When troops go out and they lose a member, it affects morale, and where the good effect of training comes out is how they absorb the effect of the casualty.

“It’s like any family; when one loses a member of the family, however irresponsible he is, one feels touched, particularly given the circumstances under which he was lost. Though death is death, when it is from a sickness, you can sort of understand. But when it is in an accident, because of the tragedy and suddenness of the situation, it is more painful.

“Personally, one doesn’t feel happy with some of the things one reads and if they are true, I think we need to do something to curtail the effect it has on people who have faced great tragedy. I am not sure that anybody with my background can be happy with the situation.”

According to the retired general, something urgently needs to be done to reduce the amount of killings in the country. He urged the Federal Government to look into the allegations made by Monguno.

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“I think those who are in control are in the best position to know whether there is a need for enquiry or not. But then, for people like us who are outside the circle of authority, we can only make proper comments along those lines, if we actually have facts leading to the statement that we are trying to examine.

“What is the evidence that this money was actually given out? For what purpose was it given out? What result were we expecting, if it has been properly applied? At the end of the exercise, did we get the result we expected? How was the money spent?

“If you have spent something based on a calculation you have made and you don’t get the result you want, then that’s a failure, in my view. These are the things I would need to know. And as for those actually making allegations that the money was not appropriately appropriated, there may be a need to ask them questions,” he said.

When contacted on the telephone, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (retd.), was in the best position to talk on the matter.

“Since we have a Minister of Defence, who is open to talk, I would suggest you ask him about this,” he said.

Also, when contacted, the Special Assistant to the Minister of Defence on Media and Publicity, Mohammad Abdulkadri referred our correspondent to the Defence Headquarters for comment.