Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and the Pan Niger Delta Forum, have lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for the removal of the service chiefs and the appointment of new ones.
Wike said in a statement by the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim, that although the appointment was belated, it showed the President was listening to calls for their sack.
He challenged the new appointees to see their appointments as an opportunity to re-engineer the
nation’s security architecture, which has suffered tremendous setback in the last five years.
Also, spokesman for PANDEF, Ken Robinson, in a statement welcomed the appointment of new Service Chiefs and the sack of their predecessors, saying the sack was long overdue.
He stated, “Though the sack of the erstwhile service chiefs was long overdue, we commend President for finally responding to calls by well-meaning Nigerians. We congratulate the new service chiefs while hoping that they would discharge their duties and responsibilities professionally, without biases and tendencies in the best interest of the country.”
But the Middle Belt Forum warned the new service chiefs not to follow the footsteps of their predecessors.
MBF also expressed delight over the retirement of the service chiefs.
National Publicity Secretary of the forum, Dr Isuwa Dogo said in an interview in Jos on Tuesday, that the newly appointed service chiefs should not to follow the footsteps of the sacked service chiefs whom he accused of allowing insecurity to fester in the country.
Dogo said, “The retirement of the service chiefs is overdue. While I commend the President for the action because they have done their best, we hope that the situation they left behind in terms of insecurity will not continue.
“Nigerians want to see a change in the kind of monumental insecurity that characterized their tenure.
“They should tame the killer herdsmen such that within the next six months, the new service chiefs should be able to return the country to safety paths such that the citizens can travel on the roads again without fear of being killed or kidnapped by gunmen”
The House of Representatives also hailed the President, but said the new service chiefs were not magicians.
Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu, in a statement on Tuesday, said the executive arm of the Federal Government had finally listened to the demand of Nigerians.
The House’ spokesman, however, noted that the new service chiefs would spend “a new energy”, with a different focus, strategy and tactic.
Kalu added, “As Nigerians, we should not expect them to be magicians and the messiahs. What we should expect from these ones is the need to put the people first as they process their own decisions.”
Also, the Chairman of the House Committee on Army, Abdulrazak Namdas, urged the new service chiefs to immediately draw a new and comprehensive strategy that could address the growing security crises in the country.