Except you are a serving or retired military officer, you are not qualified to be the Nigerian president. That is the thinking of one of the members of the military ruling class that has held Nigeria's democracy hostage, one-time military governor, now senator, General David Mark.
A senator on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Gen. David Mark, heaping a great insult on the civilian politicians, declared that the best person for the job should be someone with a military background. Mark said in an interview with our correspondents in Abuja during the week that anyone lacking this qualification should not be allowed to be the nation’s president. Citing United States as an example, Mark who is the chairman of Senate Committee on Police Affairs, said the world’s leading democracy, which he described as “the mother of all democracies,” had been ruled by presidents who served in the military.
In his contention, the possession of a military background ensures that the candidate is well groomed and adequately prepared to assume the position.
“Do you know the history of America, the mother of all democracies? Who among the presidents did not wear uniform? Go and look at the percentage. Do you know one of the things that would have worked against Clinton was that he did not wear uniform? If I have my way, I will say whoever does not have a military background should not be made president,” he said.
Asked why, he retorted, “You civilians don’t have the requisite training.”
When Saturday Punch pointed out to him that the US had never been ruled by serving military men, Mark said there was no difference.
He said it was wrong for retired military officers to be disqualified from public office by virtue of their background, noting that nothing placed civilians at a better advantage than military men in politics.
He said, “So, what’s the difference? I am a professional soldier and that is my choice. But because of that, you think you should disenfranchise me? That is wrong,” he stated.
He also stated that journalists should be made to undergo military training because that would imbue them with confidence in every area.
“It gives you the confidence that you need and makes you to be everything. Today, I know about my car more than my driver does. I can do more repairs on it and so on. That is one of the things we were trained on in the military. We are well trained more than other people. I can tell you that a staff sergeant in the army is better than a university graduate in this country. That is the truth.
“If you give me a graduate and a staff sergeant, I will pick the sergeant because I can train the sergeant.
“Yes, because military training is the best. That training gives you boldness. You people think we are just zombies.
No. Your commander gives you reasons for giving you an instruction. Go to the War College, you will see civilians there. They go to Staff College. It is because of the training.”
Mark was one of the senators who supported the constitution amendment bill, which was recently thrown out by the National Assembly. He was a member of the Mantu-led committee that recommended third term for President Olusegun Obasanjo. During the reign of the self-styled president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, he was one of the few officers alleged to have played a prominent role in the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, believed by many to be the freest and fairest election in the nation’s political history.
