Burutai: Why Buhari Made Me Army Chief

By Tosin Olatokunbo

Ambassador designate General Tukur Burutai (rtd) has been talking since he was retired by President Muhammadu Buhari, two weeks ago, as Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, COAS. The military uniform somehow prevented him from saying his mind for more than 35 years that he was in the army. But no more, the garb is off, and the former army chief have been talking, a situation described by many as normal for somebody trying to adapt to civilian life.

The erstwhile soldier has revealed how President Muhammadu Buhari picked him as COAS despite the high wire jostle by other military commanders for the top position.

Burutai who has been dragged before the International Criminal Court, ICC by the civil society groups in the country, for alleged human rights violation while serving as COAS, said President Buhari appointed him as a reward for his father’s loyalty to the president.

That may have also accounted for why the president failed to sack him despite clamour by many Nigerians, considering the insecurity that pervaded most part of the country, particularly the north where Boko Haram and bandits held sway, many say.The immediate past Army chief is one of the longest serving COAS. He held that position for more than five years.

Burutai said the president chose him because of the relationship between his father and Buhari.

Buratai who spoke during a gala night organized by the 29th Regular Course Association in Abuja, said his late father, a non-commissioned officer in the Royal West African Frontier Force and a World War II veteran who fought in Burma, loved Buhari and that the president appointed him as a prize for the loyalty of his father.

Buratai said, “My father was an ardent lover of the President and my appointment as COAS, therefore, was a price or reward for that gesture by the President.

“Of course, and as you have been told severally, we (the President and I) met in Njemena and he saw me and felt I was the right person to be COAS at that very crucial and critical moment of our history.

“And I am happy that we have discharged our responsibilities diligently, professionally and loyally, and I will continue to discharge my responsibilities to him and of course to our country and our people.

The former army chief was appointed by the president in 2015 alongside other service chiefs, who were penultimate week retired and later appointed as non-career ambassadors by Buhari. They are now awaiting confirmation by the Nigerian Senate.