PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari’s extension of the tenures of  Service Chiefs is not only an endorsement of their services since the past 31 months of this administration it is also a call to work harder in securing the nation. Speculations had been rife that the President was about to retire some, if not all the Service Chiefs, which include the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Gabriel Olonishakin, the Chief of Army Staff (CAS), Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas and  Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar.

These were the military top brass called upon by the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Buhari, to anchor one of his priority cardinal programmes for the country – keeping Nigerians safe from internal insurrection and external aggression. The nation has in recent years been scourged by both threats. Internal security challenges used to be topped by militancy and armed criminality in the oil-rich Niger Delta, which undermined the economy.

The internal threats escalated with the advent of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, the coming of armed herdsmen who have been attacking communities in most parts of the Middle Belt and the South, and also cattle rustlers who have operated in the Upper North. Boko Haram is a cross-border band of insurgents who derive a lot of their resources (fighters and weaponry) to threaten Nigeria from neighbouring countries.

That we made a lot of progress in achieving some quiet in Niger Delta is a sign that the Federal Government’s “stick and carrot” engagement on that front is working so far. We encourage this to continue, including ensuring that agreements reached with stakeholders in the region are upheld to avoid undue flares of armed confrontations.

But on the issues of Boko Haram insurgency and attacks by armed herdsmen, we call on the Federal Government and the Service Chiefs of our military forces to put in more efforts to achieve the desired result of protecting Nigerians from militant outlaws. After being declared “technically defeated” by the Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed in December 2015, the Islamic terrorists seem to have recently made an ugly resurgence, with ambush attacks on our soldiers and military posts. Suicide bombings in Maiduguri and other towns in the North East have become more frequent of late. Armed herdsmen are operating with impunity, almost unchallenged.

We hope the extension of their tenures will spur the Service Chiefs to rededicate themselves to the task of keeping Nigerians safe from these armed predators. They must justify the confidence reposed on them by the President.

We also call on Nigerians to support our military because no armed forces can succeed without the support of the civilian populace they are defending.