Caricamento
Trova il tuo prossimo book preferito
Abbonati oggi e leggi gratis per 30 giorniInizia la tua prova gratuita di 30 giorniInformazioni sul libro
In the Name of Victor: Confronting Errors with the Truth
Di Okechukwu Oko e Terver Malu
Azioni libro
Inizia a leggereLunghezza: 181 pagine2 ore
- Editore:
- AuthorHouse
- Pubblicato:
- Nov 21, 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781491826331
- Formato:
- Libro
Descrizione
In the Name of Victor: Confronting Errors with the Truth is an autobiography of a fine officer and a true Nigerian who represents everything good about the Nigerian Army. In his own words, General Malu has remained true to typehonest, unbiased and brutally frank. The book delves into his early years from growing up in a small village in Benue State to his cadet training days at the Nigerian Defence Academy, and his historic rise through the ranks to become Nigerias eighteenth chief of army staff.
Informazioni sul libro
In the Name of Victor: Confronting Errors with the Truth
Di Okechukwu Oko e Terver Malu
Lunghezza: 181 pagine2 ore
Descrizione
In the Name of Victor: Confronting Errors with the Truth is an autobiography of a fine officer and a true Nigerian who represents everything good about the Nigerian Army. In his own words, General Malu has remained true to typehonest, unbiased and brutally frank. The book delves into his early years from growing up in a small village in Benue State to his cadet training days at the Nigerian Defence Academy, and his historic rise through the ranks to become Nigerias eighteenth chief of army staff.
- Editore:
- AuthorHouse
- Pubblicato:
- Nov 21, 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781491826331
- Formato:
- Libro
Informazioni sull'autore
Samuel Victor Leonard Malu was born in Katina-Ala Benue State on January 15th, 1947. He began his education in Sankera then proceeded to Sokoto after which he enrolled in the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1967; he was commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 1970. Malu commanded various units in the Nigerian army most notably ECOMOG force commander in 1996, general officer commanding 2nd mechanized division , commander Lagos garrison command and Chief of army staff in 1999. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), the highest medal in the republic of Liberia for his valuable contributions to the restoration of peace in the war torn country. He is also a member of the national institute for policy and strategic study (mni) and a recipient of the Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFR).
Malu retired from the army in 2001 after thirty one years of service. He has published: Super power intervention in third world: strategic lessons for Nigeria. He currently lives in Abuja with his wife Esther.
Co- Author
Terver is an entrepreneur, brand manager, and writer for the Abuja City Inquirer. He is an economics graduate with years of experience in finance, media, and entertainment. He currently lives in Lagos where he runs a media and entertainment agency.
Correlati a In the Name of Victor
Anteprima del libro
In the Name of Victor - Okechukwu Oko
AuthorHouse™ LLC
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: 1-800-839-8640
© 2013, 2014 Terver Malu & Okechukwu Oko. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
Published by AuthorHouse 01/20/2014
ISBN: 978-1-4918-2634-8 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4918-2632-4 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4918-2633-1 (e)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013918474
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
CONTENTS
Foreword
Chapter One
• Early Years: My Parents
• Education
Chapter Two
• The Making of a Soldier:Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna, 1967
• First Military Posting
• My Family
• Samuel the Gentleman
• The Challenges of Soldiering—Coup d’Etat
Chapter Three
• War in Liberia
• Sitting In Judgment
Chapter Four
• Tenure as Chief of Army Staff—May 29, 1999
• The Commander & I
• General Timothy Shelpidi
• The Military Pact with United States
• The Odi Debacle
• The Oputa Panel
Chapter Five
• Disengagement from the Army—Presidential Villa, Abuja—April 24, 2001
• My Retirement
Chapter Six
• Closing Thoughts
• My Village—October 21, 2001
Bibliography
About the Author
This book is dedicated to the memory of my late father, Malu Adoor, and to my mother, Adue Malu, my beautiful wife, Esther, and my children. It is also dedicated to all the commanders and soldiers who contributed to my achievement in the army. Above all, I dedicate this book to God Almighty.
FOREWORD
In the Name of Victor: Confronting Errors with the Truth is an autobiography of a fine officer and a true Nigerian who represents everything good about the army. General Victor Malu’s rise in the army bears eloquent testimony to his untiring drive for excellence and unwavering commitment to professionalism. Though his formative years were in the era of military involvement in politics, he detested politics and rejected every attempt to lure him into that profession. It is to his eternal credit that he did not succumb to the clamor for political appointment, preferring instead to remain loyal to his calling and training. In an era in which politics and the military became so intertwined, it was refreshing to find a soldier who refused the seduction of political power and the temptation of materialism. He was too far committed to the army, too much of a professional, and far too driven to allow politics and naked lust for power to get into his way. He has turned out to be one of the iconic symbols of professionalism.
General Victor Malu displayed the epitome of professionalism and integrity in a period when both were in short supply. One of his endearing qualities in his addiction to the truth. He will always speak the truth no matter the political fallout or consequences. His tenure as chief of army staff did not blunt his impulse to speak the truth. If anything, General Malu found a higher platform from which to encourage and challenge fellow soldiers to be true to themselves and the nation. Faced with intense political and administrative pressures, he remained steadfast in his commitment to the truth and refused to bend or break under any circumstances. Candor, integrity, and genuine respect for fellow human beings are central to his being and, indeed, form the core of his life. These virtues served him well as he soldiered on to become Nigeria’s eighteenth chief of army staff.
General Victor Malu in all his activities, public and private, has acted not out of expediency or even necessity, but out of moral correctness. He prizes integrity so much that he rejects anything that compromises either. A man of impeccable integrity and unassailable credential, he was consistent and implacable in his quest for excellence. He is arguably the most dedicated Nigerian ever to wear the Nigerian military uniform. He had deep and far-reaching insight into the way the army operates and undertook the task of transforming the army with utmost sensitivity and professionalism. As chief of army staff, he provided leadership, discipline, and a sense of order to an army that was teetering on the brick of collapse. During his tenure as chief of army staff, discipline and subordination to civilian authority—the hallmark of true professionalism—began to percolate through the rank and file of the Nigerian army. He sought to change the army not by rhetoric, platitude, and cliché, but by action. His principled stand on issues of national interest gained him a tremendous following. He was revered by his comrades in arms and respected by citizens.
When politics adversely affected the military, the basic command structure and esprit de corps of the military became palpably brittle. The task fell on General Malu to burnish the decadence that had engulfed the army. The military General Malu envisioned was professional, well-trained, and not influenced by politics. He was therefore determined to educate, and if necessary shock, the military out of illusion of power. He listed a set of rules for the army to follow and was extremely effective in articulating the ideals of professionalism. He vehemently pushed and vocally proclaimed the idea of the army as an institute that would be immune to politics and ethnic allegiance. He understood, perhaps with far more clarity than most soldiers, the role and place of the army in a constitutional democracy.
As chief of army staff, he pursued professionalism with commendable focus and implacable tenacity. A competent, dedicated, and engagingly articulate soldier, General Victor Malu made valuable and inestimable contributions to Nigeria’s quest for a truly professional army. He pushed the concept of professionalism to its absolute extreme and focused almost obsessively toward achieving the goal. Under his watch, professionalism, once a tarnished and diminished virtue, regained its appeal. He undertook the process of reforming the Nigerian Army with compassion and seriousness of purpose. General Victor Malu skillfully and dutifully undertook the difficult task of deciding what professionalism meant and tried to create, as practicably as possible, an environment that enabled soldiers to become true professionals.
Honest, fair but firm, and unafraid to speak the truth to power, he performed his duties guided by principle, love for country, and respect for mankind. He was disciplined, thorough, focused, and never sought personal adulation or public acclaim. He never tried to cozy up to the powers that be; he simply did his job and let his competence speak for itself. He worked with relentless attention to rules and traditions of the army to ensure that the army recaptured it lost and failing ideals. His devotion to duty, insatiable sense of discipline and order, and capacity for fairness have been for many years the driving force behind the army’s quest for excellence and professionalism. Confident but not cocky, didactic but not haughty, he commanded respect and even guarded affection because of his work ethic. General Victor Malu did not demand respect from his troops; his mere presence commanded respect. His ability to rise above ethnic sentiments and treat all human beings fairly inspired confidence in his troops.
He assumed the position of chief of army staff in full awareness that the position would bring him face to face with politics. He accepted, consistent with his training and discipline, the subordination of the military to civilian authority but rejected with all his might the sacrifice of professionalism at the altars of political expediency. General Victor Malu was not interested in becoming a chief of army staff who was liked by the powers that be, but was chiefly concerned—almost obsessively concerned—with raising a professional fighting force. With extraordinary dexterity and poise, he sought creative ways to improve the army’s effectiveness and efficiency to superior orders.
As force commander of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), he functioned at a terrifyingly high rate of effectiveness and achieved a great deal within a short time. His toughness and capacity to deal decisively with problems enabled him to bringing peace to a troubled nation and helped Liberia return to civilian rule. He waged a brilliant campaign that disarmed the warring factions in Liberia that ultimately led to the restoration of civilian rule. He received international acclaim for his role in ending the Liberian conflict and for his fairness in dealing with the warring factions. To Liberians, he is a fine and no-nonsense African soldier
who indelibly left his footprints on the sands of time.
Just about everything good about General Victor Malu was imparted by his parents. His work ethic is a result of his upbringing. He was raised by a man of iron will who emphasized discipline, hard work, and respect for authority. It is therefore not surprising that he prized honor and integrity so much that he rejected anything that compromised either. He was the apotheosis of professionalism and candor and pursued excellence with relentless vigor and passionate intensity. Unwavering patriotism remains the driving force behind his actions, private and public. Victor acts out of devotion to duty and love for country, at times at great personal expense.
With General Victor Malu, what you see is what you get. He is a simple man who speaks truth at all times. This attitude has gained him friends, and has also incurred the wrath of many. It is difficult to find people who are neutral or indifferent about him. You either like him or hate him. The public got the most striking evidence of his bluntness when he voluntarily appeared before the Human Right Investigation Commission headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Chukwudifu Oputa. He candidly answered all questions put to him and gave full account of his stewardship as the chief of army staff. Demonstrating his chronic commitment to principle, he refused to do anything that would compromise the armed forces. His rank and accolades serve as testament to his devotion to country and professionalism.
The tales about General Victor Malu’s brilliant military career are intriguing, but it is his commitment to principle and steadfastness that makes this book a valuable must read for anybody interested in the truth. This book offers valuable lessons in courage and a timely reference point for those who wish to make a career in the army. From his stories, especially his commitment to professionalism, some future soldiers, may, perhaps, find a model. General Victor Malu can take great comfort in knowing that there are still men like him wearing the uniform of the Nigerian Army. There are also many more other Nigerians who, by reading this book, will find inspiration to join the army and dutifully serve their country.
When it is all said and done, historians will place this great soldier and an even greater human being where he rightfully belongs: in the pantheon of great Nigerians.
AA Abubakar, GCFR, CSG
General
Former Head of State, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
CHAPTER ONE
Early Years: My Parents
The central figure in my house was my father, Malu Adoor. He was a disciplinarian who insisted on a better life for his children, especially me, his first child. My father was by all accounts a poor man. He had no formal education and did not have many materials things. What he lacked in worldly possessions, he made up for with strong will and determination. He was determined to give his children the best and inculcate the right values. My father lived by moral precepts. He taught us not only by shouting and spanking (he did that quite often) but by the power of example. He taught us that, through hard work and perseverance, one can overcome any and all obstacles. Failure to him was not an option. He believed that weakness portents failure and must be met with force. My father believed that a man had no right to cry. If I cried, which I did often, I instantly received further beating from my father. I was taught early in life to take my punishment without displaying any emotion. Whenever we heard our father’s voice or footsteps, we quickly dried our tears and put on a cheerful face.
My father’s disdain for laziness led him to believe that any errant behavior had to be forcefully contained before it became a habit. That philosophy impelled him to adopt a draconian approach to problems. There was nothing spanking could not address. The rod would never be spared to save the child. Rather, the rod should always be called in aid, as an ally, to correct a child. This philosophy probably explained why my siblings and I generally regarded my father as a very strict man. My father acted out of paternal conviction that, whenever he spanked me for violating his rules, he would tell stories about relatives who had not done well in life because they behaved like me. The aim of such cautionary tales was to help me appreciate the nexus between noncompliance with rules and failure. My father stressed discipline and self-respect, while my mother insisted on love, humility, and kindness. I picked as much as I could from each of them.
On the whole, my father lived a fulfilled life. He never let lack of materials things affect his outlook on life. He remained optimistic, hoping and praying that his tomorrow would be better than his today. He handled life
Hai raggiunto la fine di questa anteprima. Registrati per continuare a leggere!
Pagina 1 di 1
Recensioni
Recensioni
Cosa pensano gli utenti di In the Name of Victor
0Valutazione: 0 stelle su 5
0 valutazioni / 0 recensioni
Cosa ne pensi?
Valutazione: stelle su 5