IBB says military is no threat to democracy

Former Military president Ibrahim Babangida said yesterday that the nation’s democracy faces no danger from the military due to the officers training and exposure to the tenets of democracy.

 Babangida spoke in Abuja at the National Defence College (NDC) Graduation Lecture of Course 20/20th Anniversary Celebration.

The former military leader, in a paper, entitled: “The Creation of National Defence College: 20 Years After’’, noted that the college’s curriculum had exposed participants to the tenets of democracy from its inception in 1992.

He said the college had inculcated in military and paramilitary personnel, core values and ethics that supported democratic rule.

“I can say without equivocation that our democracy faces no danger from the military.This is because the curriculum of this college has exposed participants to the tenets of democracy from its inception.
Therefore, long before Nigeria returned to democratic rule, military officers, who passed through this college, were prepared for service under civilian leadership and control.Thus, by the time international partners were falling over themselves to give lessons in civil-military relations, most senior officers in the Armed
Forces had learnt this at the college,’’ Babangida said.

The military president said the college has raised a critical mass of senior officers, who are committed to democracy and that itself facilitates national development.

Babangida, who said his administration built a temporary site for the college, stressed the need for a permanent site to ensure that the college becomes a world-class institution.

The Minister of State for Defence, Mrs Olusola Obada, urged security agencies to be proactive in combating security challenges in the country.

Obada urged the participants to use skills and knowledge acquired at the college to contain terrorism, kidnapping, human trafficking and other crimes.

The Commandant, Rear Adm. Thomas Lokoson,   said the college’s graduation lecture was to expose the graduating officers to new horizons of imagination, creativity and service in the interest of the country.

It was reported that 130 participants graduated.

Some participants came from Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger and Sierra Leone.

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