Nigeria should deploy military to tackle pandemic, says Gbajabiamila

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has called for the military to be deployed to tackle coronavirus spread in the country.

Gbajabiamila said this in Abuja on Monday at a capacity-building workshop/retreat organised by the House Committee on Defence in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, and the Centre for Strategic Research & Studies of the National Defence College.

He said, “I was watching CNN and it suddenly occurred to me…the question was: do we deploy the military to defend this country at this moment against coronavirus? (In the United States) the National Guard is out already and the military has been deployed, or is being considered to be deployed.

“Here in Nigeria, we have straitjacketed the military. The traditional role of the military, as we understand it, is warding off external aggression; that is when we call the military. We are forgetting that foreign or external aggression can be in several cases.

“In America, coronavirus is external aggression because it came from a foreign country. It is a public debate and they have called the military.”

The Speaker said in fighting the virus it could mean that the military would have to get better technology which would could lead to a more lethal attack.

Gbajabiamila said, “It is an attack on their soil, that is what Americans will say. So, they had to call for the military. So, when we begin to talk about the military, we have to expand the borders – expand the use of the military. Rather than straitjacket the military, we must consider an amendment that in this day and age, foreign attack can come from anywhere.”