The return of female officers and other matters

They all looked the same. Their uniform was the same like it used to be except this time when you looked closely something was different.

The Brigade of Guards decided to up its game and have an equal number of men and women. Before now, women were scarce in the ranks of the elite troops that protect the president. However, this time around when the brigade of guards staged a parade to welcome the visiting Presidents of Benin and Togo the same day, the women were on equal number of the men in the parade. They formed their own rows while the men had theirs with the colour party between the two.
They captivated all photojournalists, and reporters too, who were surprised at the number of women now in the ranks of the guard’s brigade presidential parade. Do not get me wrong, these parades can be tiring as they get to stand sentry sometimes for hours before the guest arrives. In the course of the wait, some of them faint while some get weak in the knees.

A brigade commander said that they decided to up their game on the participation of women, giving them more rigorous training to withstand the rigor. The parade had 96 soldiers in total. According to the popular parlance “what a man can do a woman can do even better”, the brigade decided to increase its inclusion of women. More are being trained and will be showcased in the course of time, the commander told reporters who inquired about the new development.

Does this signal the beginning of something new that perhaps may spread across board? I have no idea. But I gathered that a female special assistant to the president who had noticed the few slots occupied by ladies on the guard had called them out and this had instigated the change.

Well, it was a beautiful sight to behold with the ladies on parade doing their thing. They reminded me of the so-called “Jonathan’s
Queens,” the first set of female cadets to be admitted into the prestigious Nigerian Defence Academy during President Goodluck Jonathan’s time. They were celebrated and invited to some functions when available with most people calling them the Jonathan queens. They are set to pass out in September this year.
At the graduation ceremony for Course 24 participants at the National Defence College in Abuja, on Friday, President Muhammadu Buhari wowed guests, proving he’s stronger than what most people give him credit for. Mr. President stood all through while presenting certificates to all 130 participants. The audience, including me, had expected that the president would take a break considering his age. After handing out the certificates the president jocularly turned to his friend and former Head of State Abdusalami Abubakar and made a gesture as if to say “I told you I can do this”.
The audience roared with laughter. From my vantage point, my eyes and ears were everywhere listening to comments by those sitting close by, some of whom were wives of the participants. They had actually come hoping that cash rewards would be given to some of the officers, especially those who received awards for outstanding performance.
Well, as you already know by now, change is change and Nigeria is broke. Just to be clear, the president does not make public donations.

I love to see officers in their uniforms, starched and almost without wrinkles, especially the Navy white uniform. You see, it’s something else when that beautiful garb is won by a pot-bellied officer (pun intended). We expect that officers look agile and fit most of the time. So please excuse me for adding that some of the very distinguished officers need to return to the gym and put themselves in order (ehmm you see I love your job too).
On the other side of things, after telling Nigerians that the management of the economy was the responsibility of the government, last week government finally consulted with financial experts to find ways to reflate the economy that is in “technical” recession.
“We have to understand that the attitude of this presidency is to consider the management of the economy as a government responsibility.
It is not something that this government believes should be done by bringing in some of the private interests into the economic team to take a decision that they will be directly involved in.
“So our stand is that the management of the economy is the government’s responsibility,” Laolu Akande, the vice president’s spokesman, said last month.
Well, last week we were told that government’s Economic Management Team changed strategy and decided to consult with some economic and financial experts from the private sector to consider strategies that will help reflate the economy. What changed? Reality struck.
Just as I was about to hit the send button, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara arrived at the Presidential Villa for a meeting with the President. When accosted by journalists and quizzed on the ongoing budget padding scandal the Speaker said in the laws of Nigeria, padding is not an offence.
Friends what in Pete’s name is padding?

I do not want to talk about it here; I just couldn’t resist the temptation of dabbling. The questions surrounding this particular controversy are enormous and call to question the integrity of the
already passed appropriation. I rest my case!

 

Elizabeth Archibong