Naija-Life

The garrison commander of Ibadan is dead.This is not news. while the event has been attended as expected by varying reactions depending on which side of the political divide one camps, the death of Adedibu throws up very important lessons for those who straddle power in this country and hope to stay in power for 100 years [apologies to mr V Ogbulafor].

1. You cannot live forever, the fun stops here!

2. A bad legacy is soon forgotten

3. Hw sad that people rejoice at a human death!

ecclesiastes 1:1 …all is vanity

This article is provided by member Emeka Awa of www.effikoland.com. Permission to reproduce is granted provided credit is given to the original article.

Introduction:
Oil was first discovered in the U.S. in 1859. At the beginning of the 20th century it supplied only 4% of the world’s energy; decades later it became the most important energy source. Today oil supplies about 40% of the world’s energy and 96% of its transportation energy. Since the shift from coal to oil, the world has consumed over 875 billion barrels. Another 1,000 billion barrels of proved and probable reserves remain to be recovered.

Discovery of oil in 1908 at Masjed Soleiman in Iran initiated the quest for oil in the Middle East. The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) was founded in 1909. Today, 66% of global oil reserves are in the hands of Middle Eastern regimes: Saudi Arabia (25%), Iraq (11%), Iran (8%), UAE (9%), Kuwait (9%), and Libya (2%).

The most crucial factor in the politics of the Middle East has been the perennial conflict between the state of Israel and her Arab neighbors. When the British mandate over Palestine ended in 1948 and the state of Israel was declared, the Arab nations decreed that the tiny country would not exist. Led by Egypt, they attacked Israel, after heavy fighting, the UN imposed a ceasefire. The Arabs were armed by the Soviet Union while the Israelis were armed by the western powers. This set the trend for decades of conflict and militarisation of the region.

As early as 1950, the Arabs had realized that oil could be used as leverage with the west.
In 1951, Iran nationalized its oil fields initiating the Abadan Crisis. The politics of oil nationalization has involved Western governments using coups and covert actions to prevent foreign regimes from taking control of Western run oil companies in these respective countries. Iran and Venezuela are two important examples. In 1953, Iran’s Premier Mohammed Mossadegh was overthrown by a CIA/MI6 covert action known as Operation Ajax. The goal was to prevent Mossadegh from nationalizing the Anglo-Iranian oil company which later became British Petroleum.

FULL ARTICLE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT www.effikosecured.com

This is part of a project written as part of a dissertion on the history of the Nigeria Defense academy.

Permission to copy is granted in so much as credit is given to the original source. The full dissertion can be downloaded at www.effikoland.com

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CHAPTER ONE

1.1 THE CONCEPT OF MILITARY EDUCATION
The history of a military academy such as the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) is rooted in the history of structured military education and as the latter is rooted in the history and nature of armed conflict, an overview of the history of armed conflict is indispensable to this project. A brief outline of the earliest origins of war and the circumstances which have prompted statesmen and leaders throughout history to wage war will be attempted here.
Warfare is as old as man. The earliest primates fought over fruits and berries, and possibly over women. Undoubtedly, those clashes were less sophisticated than a bar room brawl and the outcome were often as inconclusive as that.
As the human population grew, communities grew, and began to hunt for resources in numbers. Large hunting parties would go after meat and fruits for the tribe while the women and children camped near sources of fresh water. This is probably the stage where large scale fighting between humans first started. Tribes fought over the proceeds of hunts and particularly productive fruit trees.
At this point in human history, warfare was nothing more than a mass brawl which in contemporary military terms is known as a melee. The weapons used were only as sophisticated as stones and clubs. This changed rapidly though.
Beginning in Mesopotamia, states produced sufficient agricultural surplus that full-time ruling elites and military commanders could emerge. While the bulk of military forces were still farmers, the society could support having them campaigning rather than working the land for a portion of each year. Thus, organized armies developed for the first time. These new armies could help states grow in size and became increasingly centralized, and the first empire, that of the Sumerians, formed in Mesopotamia1.
As human communities grew increasingly sophisticated, the reasons for conflict accordingly expanded. Economic reasons were chief of these. Trading disputes and acts of criminal competition often drove clans to wage war against each other. Another reason was personal aggrandizement. Military leaders who led their communities to victory in war could expect generous office and awesome power. The legendary founder of Babylon Nimrod was famed as a hunter, leader, warrior and pioneer. He led his people to victory over neighbouring tribes and then established the city of Babylon. Needless to say, he was the ruler of that city.

From 1000BC, as states grew in size and the implications of war expanded, military planners began to develop tactics and weapons which would increase the likelihood of victory. Chariot mounted bow men emerged, followed by advanced tactics.
The first dateable recorded sea battle occurred about 1210 BC: Suppiluliuma II, king of the Hittites, defeated a fleet from Cyprus, and burned their ships at sea4
In the Far East, the Chinese under the Chou dynasty 1122 -1121 had begun to develop a well organized and powerful military. Concepts of military planning were introduced to Chinese society during the Warring States period; during this time Sun Tzu penned the world’s oldest military treatise - The art of war.

By 500 BC, the strategic concept of war had made great advances. Military philosophers like Sun Tzu and Chanakya were redefining the way generals thought. Sun Tzu wrote that:
“Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.” 7
He is thought of as the father of military philosophy.

By the 10th century BC, organized military instruction was developed extensively by the Greek state of Sparta. In antiquity Sparta was a Dorian Greek military state, originally centred in Laconia. The Spartans trained their citizens from birth to become warriors. This process involved both physical and leadership command training. As a city-state devoted to military training, Sparta possessed the most formidable army in the Greek world, and after achieving notable victories over the Athenian and Persian Empires, regarded itself as the natural protector of Greece. The Spartans fought in a tight formation called the phalanx. They used longer spears than had been seen before and wore more armour than others. When confronted with the massed infantry tactics of the Persians in the Persian Wars, the Spartans emerged victorious despite far smaller numbers.8
The impressive military standing that Sparta achieved inspired later states to give heed formal training for their armed forces. The Romans began training legionnaires in the skills of war. Romans of noble blood also received instruction in fighting skills and military command. In this regard, the tutors relied on examples drawn from Greek military history.

The father of modern strategic study, Carl von Clausewitz, defined military strategy as “the employment of battles to gain the end of war.” Hence, he gave the pre-eminence to a triumvirate of “arts” or “sciences” that govern the conduct of warfare; the others being tactics, the execution of plans and manoeuvring of forces in battle, and logistics, the maintenance of an army.
By the 15th century, European leaders had recognized the need for training of military personnel to conduct organized warfare. As French statesman Georges Clemenceau said, “War is too important a business to be left to soldiers.”

Political leaders therefore sought institutions capable of training not only field generals but thinkers and leaders of nations. This led to the establishment of modern military universities.
The RMA Sandhurst was formed in 1947, from a merger of the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich (which trained officers for the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers from 1741 to 1939) and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. Following the ending of National Service in the UK, the RMAS became the sole establishment for initial officer training in the British Army as the Mons Officer Training School in Aldershot was closed.
The Royal Military College opened its doors in 1802; coincidentally the same year as Saint Cyr and West Point. Amongst the current Military Academies only the Dutch Military Academy is older

1.1 BRIEF HISTORY OF NIGERIAN MILITARY
The Nigerian military began as a detachment of the British colonial regiment. With the conquest of Lagos in 1861, the British administrator of Lagos, Captain J. Glover RN raised in 1862 a force of 100 men known as the Lagos constabulary11.
After the royal Niger Company was granted a charter which enabled it to establish its government over the delta and the valleys of the Niger and Benue, it raised the royal Niger constabulary. This force grew from 150 men in 1886 to 1000 men at the end of 1889.
The title of constabulary as applied to these forces belied the fact that they were essentially military forces trained along military lines, officered by military officers, equipped with artillery and used to fight colonial wars12. An important step in the development of a modern army was taken in 1897 when the British government needed a more effective military force to counter French incursions in parts of northern Nigeria already claimed by Britain. Consequently col. F.D. Lugard was sent wit a team of officers to raise two battalions which they did in the same year. By December 1898, 1 battalion had 907 other ranks while 2nd battalion had 800 other ranks13.

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References:
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/history
ibid
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/medi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_warfare
ibid. column 7
Sun Tzu, The art of war
ibid
Encyclopaedia Britannica
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/strategy#column-nine
Sam c Ukpabi. The origins of the Nigerian army. Zaria 1987 p48
Sam C. Ukpabi. The Nigerian armed forces –growth development and potentials – a historical perspective
Rhodes Hoses. Oxford. Lugard papers private diary s96
Sam c Ukpabi. The origins of the Nigerian army. Zaria 1987 p48
A. Haywood and F.A.S Clark. The history of the West African frontier force 1964 p88
Robin Luckham. The Nigerian military, Cambridge 1975 p163
Sam C Ukpabi. Mercantile soldiers in Nigerian history. Zaria. 1987. p127
ibid
The Nigerian armed forces –growth development and potentials – a historical perspective

For more than a month, the media has been awash with a brewing constitutional showdown
Over the legality and morality of the withholding by the FG of funds held in the excess crude oil revenue
Account of the federation.

What is the excess crude oil account?
The 1999 CFRN created a consolidated revenue account for the Federation of Nigeria. This account is to be funded from
budgetary allocation as approved by the National assembly or by means of any law enacted for the same purpose by
any act of the National assembly. Therefore every year, the National assembly enacts an appropriation Act which the
uninitiated call the budget. This act sets the benchmark prices for the primary source of government income for every year.
In setting this benchmark, the presidency and the N. Assembly are generally conservative and cautious, so the price is usually off
the previous year’s highest price by as much as 50 dollars a barrel.

As a contingency net, the NA created the excess crude oil account and directed that all revenue from crude oil above
the budgetary benchmark should be paid into that account. Meanwhile all disbursements to the tiers of government continues to be
effected through the consolidated revenue fund of the federation.
For more reading, visit www.effikoland.com/lounge or get a copy of the constitution of the 1999 constitution. See also AG federation Vs AG Abia and ors

Ordinarily, since there is no constitutional/statutory provision for such sums, the 23 tiers of government are supposed to find reasonable modalities for sharing the money. However, since 200,
In a very characteristic move, then President Olu Obasanjo froze the account and declared that the governors lacked the ability to manage it even if it was to be given to them.
Among those who have been in the forefront of the campaign by the governors
is the semi-literate governor of Adamawa state. At a recent visit to the Revenue allocation commission, he threatened to sue the FG and compel sharing of the funds

The question now arises, what is the logic behind the two opposing sides. That of the FG was stated by Professor Charles Soludo who said that release of the funds would dump too much cash into the economy, causing inflation (I don’t necessarily agree ‘cos the governors simply funnel the funds abroad to Swiss banks)

On the other hand, the governors say that if the 5billion dollars currently in the account isn’t shared, they may find it difficult to deliver on the miracles they promised to deliver in the 2007 elections. (Don’t laugh, this is a serious matter).

The other part of this article to be published later.

Hello everyone. I just moved into Maitama District, Abuja. I have very funny neigbours. Just wait until tomorrow when I bring you the gist!

Cheerz!

The frenchman is known for false gallantry, the british for comic gallantry, the dutch for wine courage and the American for arrogant intelligence.

What does it mean to be a nigerian?