Ministerial screening: Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazau may be Defence Minister

Ministerial nominee and former. Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazau may be Defence Minister judging from his CV and the questions he addressed during screening on the floor of the senate.

He first took time to reel out his intimidating military qualifications – antecedents, courses and involvements.

He debunked the claim by a senator that Nigeria has no defence policy, saying he was indeed contacted some months ago to be part of a committee to review the document.

He also said that the reported N1000 allowance for soldiers fighting Boko Haram was really poor

Fulani herdsmen crisis

What is important is how to balance preserving nomadic culture and the issue of identifying land suitable for grazing

Threat of desertification and erosion causes crisis between Fulani herdsmen and farmers

There is desertification in he north and erosion in the south, so everyone is moving towards the centre

Recruitment

‘Despite our challenges the military is still attractive; we always have large turn-out during recruitment

‘On being combat ready, yes the military is combat ready’