Presidents Goodluck Jonathan has announced the replacement of Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd.) with Ishaya Dare Akau as the new Chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).
There was no reason given for the replacement. The statement announcing the replacement only said the move was in furtherance of the president’s efforts to continuously re-energise and reposition agencies of the Federal Government for optimal service delivery.
“President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has appointed Mr. Ishaya Dare Akau as the new Chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P),” the statement signed by Reuben Abati, the president’s media and publicity aide said.
“Mr. Akau, whose appointment takes immediate effect, replaces Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd.) Who served as Chairman of the SURE-P until today.
The new SURE-P Chairman hails from Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State and holds Bachelors’ Degrees in the Arts and Law.”
Akau comes to the job with years of experience as a high-level administrator in the nation’s public service. His record of service includes tenures as Chairman of the Kaduna State Universal Education Board and Chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission, Abati said further in the statement.
Jonathan thanked Agwai for his service to the nation and wished him well in his future endeavours.
But, some sources have blamed the sudden replacement of Agwai on the content of the lecture he delivered at President Olusegun Obasanjo’s 78th birthday barely a week ago.
Agwai, a retired general and former chief of defence staff had delivered a lecture titled: Imperatives of National Security: Framework for Development and Progress of Nigeria, at the ceremony which had in attendance, top members of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
During the lecture which took place in Abeokuta, the retired general had advocated for change, saying:
“The future is already here in the present, and for most leaders, and nations it may have come as a surprise or shock. In this new reality of chaos, uncertainty, interdependency, and opportunities, the challenges for leaders are greater and the need for a new type of skillful and competent leadership becomes more urgent.
The challenges being presented to the leaders of the present and the future are greater and can be divided into 3 components -changing challenges to leadership, changing social structure and changing economic dynamics.
The only constant factor in all the 3 components is ‘Change’ and that is part of what (informed me to introduce the Change Management in the Nigerian Army in 2004.) is to be addressed by the leaders of today and tomorrow.”
The lecture content may have been delivered innocently by Agwai, and he may have accepted to deliver a lecture at Obasanjo’s birthday simply to celebrate with the one who elevated him to the rank of chief of defence staff, but speculators hold that the fact that he was seen as rubbing shoulders with APC members and Obasanjo who recently shredded his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) membership card in public, may have irked the Jonathan into sacking him.
Agwai, was appointed chief of army staff by Obasanjo in 2003, and was elevated to the rank of full-star general and chief of defence staff by in 2006. He retired in 2009. He served as the deputy force commander of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone and force commander of the African Union-United Nations hybrid operation in Darfur.
