The minister of information, Labaran Maku, is in trouble for daring to warn the military against intervening in the ongoing political logjam as top military officers have frowned against such ‘ill-advice’ from a civilian.
With feelers coming from the military, the “talk-talk” minister may have advised a wrong audience as not fewer than seven top military officers have kicked against his reckless speech.
“The minister was talking rubbish. Thank God for democracy, who is he to be talking, addressing our service chiefs that way? When last did he hear any coup plot in this country? Is he having any security reports that alleged any coup plot? If yes, we challenge him to bring it out otherwise, he should keep silent,” a top military officer said.
It would be recalled that while handing over to the new defence minister, Gen Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, Maku who had been supervising minister for the ministry advised the military against interrupting democratic.
He had said: “We are heading towards an electoral phase in Nigeria this year, and there have been a lot of utterances from within and outside the country relating to the unity and future of Nigeria.
“The past experiences have not helped the country. We all know that, maybe, without those military interruptions, Nigeria would today be at par with India, Malaysia and others. So interruptions have not helped the country. And we pray that after 14 years of democratic rule, the Army, the Armed Forces would continue to remain loyal to the constitution, the commander-in-chief, and to our democratic system.”
Also condemning Maku’s careless talk, a top officer said: “Maku should learn how to say what and where. As the Information Minister, he should not be adding more problems to the ones on ground. Since 1999, the Armed Forces had parted ways with politics; we are facing our professional jobs and if anyone is advising us against any interruption of the government now, such an individual is advised to stop talking balderdash.”
