WILL THE NIGERIAN ARMY EVER PRODUCE A FIELD MARSHALL?

WILL THE NIGERIAN ARMY EVER PRODUCE A FIELD MARSHALL?

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU[LAGOS,NIGERIA]

Multiple sources are in agreement that if the Nigerian Army ever dreamt of producing  a seasoned combatant that will rise to the peak of his military career as a Field Marshall ,The Boko Haram insurgency in the North Eastern parts of Nigeria provides a special platform for this..

Checks by The News office Des of The E.N.M.Paedia Express Multimedia Group of Lagos,Nigeria ,shows that the bar may now even have being too high for the current generation of likely combatants in the military high command due to several reasons.

The position of field marshall is no ice cream party afterall,The United states Army as powerful and as sophisticated as it is has never produced any till date save for a senior officer  that got  the mileage  while on secondment to the Philippines Army..

currently,there are three living Field Marshalls and they are in the Egyptian and Libyan Army. and they got this prestigious ranking while in active service :Hassan Al Tantawi,Abdelfattah Al Sisi and the Libyan Man of war Khalifa Haftar .

On the 25th of July,2018,it was reported by the online citizen media platform,naira land in Nigeria that President Muhammadu Buhari as Commander -in-Chief  of the Nigerian Armed Forces was seen  wearing a military uniform bearing the rank of a five star General ;The Field Marshall  but it would appear that this was honourary  rather than due to any form of combat prowess.

Ordinarily ,you have to serve your nation consistently over a period of about  40 years  and proving to be truly exceptional  in all ramifications and if the political will exists then an officer is ready to get the promotion to the rank of Field Marshall.

A field Marshall can issue purple cards  and can consult with officials ,usually his generals to decide whether  an official should be ejected due to poor performance on the battle field ,A field Marshall uses an insignia made in form of  a baton and they are usually appointed only in war time.

In most cases this rank  is given to the rarest of rare Generals ,studies show that it had existed in several nations army since 1185,when General Alberia Clement  was decorated as the  first Field Marshall  of the entire world by the then  French king Phillip Augustus .

On December 14th ,1944 ,The United States Congress  had created the rank of a General  of the Army ,the equivalent to that of the Field Marshall..

Arthur Wellesley ,The First  Duke of Wellington who lived between 1769 till 1852 was just  44 years  at the time of his promotion in 1813 according to the London Gazette he was the youngest non-royal officer to earn the rank in all of history at the time.

He was also the only Field Marshall to ever become the Prime Minister of Britain ...

PHOTO CREDITS :AFP