The recent attack on Ashaka Cement Factory in Gombe, may have come because the Boko Haram terrorists had gone low on materials for manufacturing Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, hence, they attacked the factory and carted away lorry-loads of explosives-making materials, which they seem to have quickly put to use. As things stand now, Nigeria seems to be at crossroads over what to do to end this senseless war declared on the nation and the citizens by these ruthless, bloodsuckers called Boko Haram.
A greater percentage of the blame goes to our politicians who have been playing politics with human lives. Whether it is at the Executive level or the Legislature, the story is the same. Not even the hierarchy of the existing political parties, particularly the major ones, can be exonerated. It is a case of politics and politicking carried too far to the detriment of the peace and corporate existence of the country. At a time all hands should be on deck, with the country speaking with one voice against the agents of destabilization, what you see is a cacophony of voices, each canvassing for different viewpoints as solution to the menace of terrorism. Never before in the history of this great country have the people become so tacitly and overtly divided along ethnic, tribal, religious and ideological lines as we experience today in Nigeria.
And while our politicians are busy trading blames and running themselves down on the pages of newspapers, the terrorists are busy perfecting their strategies to actualise their desire to carve out an Islamic Caliphate in Nigeria and impose Sharia. This is the reason why some of the captured territories in the three Northeast states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, have had the names of some of their towns changed from their original names to purely Islamic names. For instance, Gwoza, a town in Borno State which was captured in July has been changed to Darul Hikma or “House of Wisdom,” while Mubi, a flourishing town in the North Senatorial District of Adamawa State was changed to Madinatul Islam, or “City of Islam” in Arabic.
The military appears to be helpless because going by the dictates of the constitution; they must subjugate and subordinate themselves to civilian authority in a democracy. Of course, the military is grappling with its own numerous problems, but it is sad that rather than helping out, our policy makers have, indeed, worsened their problems by engaging in unnecessary debates and foot dragging in matters that require prompt attention. This way, the civilian policy makers have caused the military more trouble thereby aggravating their predicament.
The cumulative effect of this official lethargy vis-à-vis the non-release or quick release of funds for salaries and allowances has greatly brought the morale of the soldiers to an all-time low. It will be very bad if there is a fight among these politicians during the electioneering period or the election itself in February and soldiers are called upon to restore peace, I am sure Boko Haram could convert this confusion to their immediate advantage. They could as well hide under the ensuing confusion and plot their way straight to Lagos, the heartbeat of Nigeria’s economy. If they succeed in getting to Yola, they will simply head for Makurdi, from there to Nasarawa State and Abuja. By so doing, they would have cut off Maiduguri from the bottom. Come to think of it, after all, it is the civilians that started this Boko Haram of a thing in the first place. Now, the monster has outgrown their capacity to dictate the tune and the military, the only saving grace, is battling to contain the turmoil.
Surprisingly, while the military is over-stretched and continues to be battered by critics, other security agents seem to have alienated themselves from the problem. At least, by virtue of their closeness to the people, other security agencies in the country could have been able to help especially by gathering massive intelligence to prosecute this war. Unfortunately, these agencies may have abdicated this responsibility while concentrating on other issues possibly because they are ill-equipped both in manpower and materials to perform such functions and render a helping hand to the military in the ongoing campaign.
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‘At a time all hands should be on deck, with the country speaking with one voice against the agents of destabilization, what you see is a cacophony of voices, each canvassing for different viewpoints as solution to the menace of terrorism’
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What is happening in Nigeria is very absurd. It is as if the security of the country has been consigned totally to the military. This is wrong. Aside from the military, other security agents including the current arm-chair operatives of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, NIA, should be involved in activities to nip this terrorism in the bud and curtail their havoc on the society. The NIA, the agency that is saddled with the responsibility of gathering external intelligence, does not seem to be alive to its duty. Few days ago, the Americans spoke about the discovery of a training base run by the Islamist militant group, ISIS, in Libya and were monitoring developments there. I doubt if the NIA had such information before now and if they do, what have they done? It is believed that the war machines being used by the Boko Haram terrorists were brought into the country from Libya through neighbouring Niger Republic and Chad. Obviously, I am sure those now undergoing training in Libya are Boko Haram terrorists that will soon be let loose on Nigeria. And we are all carrying on as if nothing is happening.
There is certainly an international conspiracy to this crisis, which is why the international community has been aloof all this while. Take the issue of the aircraft that was impounded with its arms cargo in Kano, last weekend. The aircraft’s destination was Chad, the operational headquarters of Boko Haram. That is suspect. We must properly equip our security agencies to enable them to adequately rise up to the security challenges facing the nation. Fighting terrorists like the Boko Haram requires good intelligence. That is, going behind their lines, infiltration, pre-emptive attacks and disruption of their supply routes and so on and so forth. This is why other security agencies in the country must work together with the military. The reason is that while the military comprising the Army, Air Force and the Navy may be less than 150,000 personnel put together, other security agencies have more numerical strength in their individual capacities, not to talk of when put together. What this implies is that the military is over-stretched. Therefore, other security agencies should rise up to the exigencies of the time. The country is at war and they must all get involved.
A lot may have gone wrong with the military we used to know, the worst, probably, being its politicisation. Quality training is usually the first casualty when Command Officers are not picked on merit or mostly lacking in combat experience as some Nigerian Generals get promoted only by writing examinations. The President and Commander-in-Chief needs to tell the military chiefs: “I give you two weeks to recover all lost territories otherwise you will be fired.” I am sure with that, the job will be done. The President should be seen to breathe on this people and show his annoyance over the current not-too-impressive handling of the terrorists’ war.
There is a job to be done and it should be seen to be done. This can be achieved only if the soldiers are promptly paid and given incentives, the sort of incredible incentives that are given to sportsmen and women. Even the fallen heroes should be given hero’s burials in a dignifying manner. The practice of paying a retired General a paltry 10 Million Naira as gratuity, while a Senator collects more than that per month, is obscene, to say the least. These are the iniquities of our democracy. In addition, the government should properly unravel the internal saboteurs who are creating confusion among the soldiers and misleading them at warfronts by diverting their attention from their original plans. This way, many of the soldiers have been ambushed and reduced to mince meat while the terrorists are having a field day. Now is the time to declare a total war on Boko Haram!
(Concluded)
