By Bashir Mohammed
Kano
A former Military Administrator of Kaduna state, Brigadier-General Lawal Ja’afaru Isah (rtd), has advised Nigerian military authorities to engage the services of reputable psychologists and experts in Human Resources Management from the academia to examine the psychological status of soldiers fighting Boko Haram.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service monitored in Kano Isah said examining their psychological status had become imperative in the face of the mutiny staged by some soldiers in the Boko Haram battle field, stressing that “once such is done, the commanders in the field would get to know the grievances of officers in the lower rank.”
He said all over the world, Nigerian soldiers were known to be brave and absolutely loyal to their superiors, adding that they were highly trained and acquired the professional expertise to confront any challenge.
He also counseled the Nigerian military authorities to thoroughly investigate what led to the mutiny by soldiers fighting Boko Haram in Maiduguri, and that the outcome of such investigation could be used in curbing mutiny by soldiers in combat situations.
He said: “With my experience in the army I can attest to the fact that Nigerian soldiers are absolutely loyal to their superior officers. We were known for that and it is a fact one cannot deny.”
Recalling his experience at the United Nations, Isah said Nigerian soldiers had played a spectacular role in various peace keeping operations with no cases of mutiny or disloyalty ever reported, and that with their professional acumen Nigerian soldiers had assisted their American counterparts at the time the ill-fated war in Somalia was getting tough for them.
“The psychological status of our soldiers should always be examined anytime they return home after serving in various theatres of war. Their colleagues had fought and died and they never returned. They can be upset and become psychologically jittery.”
