By Fola James
The claim by Nigeria’s chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai that he never traveled abroad until he became a general may be untrue after all.
Burutai, on Tuesday while speaking to top Army commanders claimed that “The first time I travelled outside of this country, I was already 50 years and a general, so I don’t mind if I live the rest of my life here.”
But facts check by the magazine has revealed that the four-star Army General who was made COAS by President Muhammadu Buhari when he became the leader of Africa’s most populous country in 2015, has attended several military training abroad since he joined the Army in 1983 as a cadet officer, including the Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka and National Defence College, Mirpur, Bangladesh, according to Wikipedia.
Only a few past and present military officers in the country did not travel out of the country or attend military schools abroad.
President Buhari and other top military officers attended various military schools abroad, including the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot , United Kingdom, UK.
But speaking on Wednesday on the EndSARS protest and the need to beef up security across the country against miscreants and hoodlums, poised to hijack the protest for their own selfish ends, Burutai said nothing would stop the military from bringing peace to the country, even in the face of clamour for Visa ban on some military top brass, believed to have ordered soldiers the shooting of protesters in Lekki last week.
Before President Buhari became military heads of state in December 1984 he had attended several military trainings abroad. Not let out also, are other military leaders who have ruled the country, including Generals Aguiyi Ironsi, Yakubu Gowon, Murtala Muhammed and Ibrahim Babangida.
