In one of my previous Article “The Capitulation of The Nigerian Federal Government Under Boko Haram” published By Sahara Reporters on 15th November 2012 , where I warned the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan not to succumb and not to fail to display spirit of vigilance and daring. I warned that administration not to accept the offer of negotiation then particularly, when the current president, General Muhammad Buhari (retd) was picked as the Chief Representative of Boko Haram and the condition given by Boko Haram was suspicious to negotiation. Though, I came heavily on ex-president Goodluck Jonathan as a result of the prevailing circumstances then, but it is even worse now under this administration.
The security of a country is important to its economic and industrial progress. Nigerians are travelling abroad en masse not because of the money they will make there alone, but because of security and peace of mind.
There is no doubt that one of the problems besieging Nigeria is security. The fight against Boko Haram alone is taking its toll on Nigeria as a country with considerable amount of money, lives and resources going down the drain. The Avengers of Niger Delta have reduced their activities and peace has now returned to the region because their demands were clearly articulated and there was no behind the scene political movement on their demand.
Nigeria fought against Biafran Republic only for three years and finished the war when Major General Effiong (retd) surrendered to General Yakubu Gowon (retd) in a short ceremony at Dodan Barrack, Lagos, in 1970. That was the end of the brotherly war of Nigeria that claimed many lives.
War against Boko Haram has been going on for over eight years now without an end in sight. It is now becoming a permanent feature in this country. Unfortunately, the Boko Haram menace is metamorphosing to another crisis in Fulani herdsmen/Myetti Allah crisis pervading the country now. But that can be easily crushed once the politicians behind them withdrew their support.
The armed robbery menace and kid or man napping is on the increase now. Nigeria has been rated the third terrorist country in the world due to activities of Boko Haram.
Definitely, one of the essential ingredients to economic growth (Tourism) cannot thrive in a situation where there is lack of security of lives and properties. There can be no industrial revolution where there is no peace.
The increment in Armed Robberies and kid napping in the country could be attributed to the over stretched activities of the security operatives particularly, the army since it is clear that our police officers are not well equipped to provide sufficient security and the weapons that the enemy is using are more powerful than their weapons.
So, we can say that 85 percent of the security problems in Nigeria is created by Boko Haram and therefore, I will confine myself to how we can defeat Boko Haram. My trajectory on this is predicated on the fact that if we can defeat Boko Haram, the pressure on the Army will be reduced and they will be able to support other security operatives across the country to bring peace and tranquility.
We must have read or heard about the attack in Metele where many soldiers from the Nigerian Army 157 task force Battalion were killed. According to various reports, the numbers range from 23 to 200. The DHQ gave 23 but one of the soldiers who survived gave the number of dead as 200. I remind myself of the Civil War when Major Chukwuma Nzeogu fell into the hands of the Federal troops in 1967 , the Biafran Leader, Late Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu denied it even on Radio and Television. Even the most revered revolutionary, Late Fidel Castro of Cuba denied the death of Che Guevara the brilliant revolutionary that was assassinated by the CIA in Congo war. So it is natural for DHQ to say fewer people died to minimize the damaged that the death has caused. They called it Damage Control.
Why is it that it appears that Boko Haram is winning the war?
- Lack of sufficient weapons to fight is a Major problem in this battle. We are told by the soldiers on the field who survived that faulty Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) and lack of aerial support from the Air Force contributed to the problem. According to him the APC on ground cannot run for 10 to 15 minutes without over bearing or stopping in the bush, The Anti- Aircraft Artillery (AA) has the same challenges. He said they cannot shoot for three minutes without stoppages and whereas Boko Haram shoot for more the two straight hours without stoppages. He further stated that they lack equipment and that soldiers have overstayed in the battlefield.
- The morale of the soldiers are also very low as the soldiers monthly allowances are not regular, in short they are underpaid. There were arrears to be paid.
- I believe there are Boko Haram sympathizers amongst the politicians and the Army. These are the people that are giving intelligence reports to Boko Haram and giving them the courage. “The hand is that of Esau but the voice is the voice of Jacob”. It is a fundamental issue.
- Lack of Synergy between the land Army and the Air force.
The Military headquarters through the Director of Defence Information has asked us to ignore all the allegations. However, how can we disregard it? When it was apparent that soldiers were attacked in their base and our soldiers died in the heat of the battle and the Military Headquarters are not able to give credible reasons on how the terrorists seized the initiative and so daring to attack the Army base.
Nigerian fought the three years civil war without borrowing money from anywhere when Late Obafemi Awolowo was the Finance Minister under General Yakubu Gowon. Nigeria successfully fought against the Maitasine in the 80s and destroyed them completely.
Why is Boko Haram’s case different? Can we defeat them and completely obliterate them from the face of the Earth? Yes we can.
President Muhammadu Buhari has been given one billion dollars on request to prosecute the war. Where is the money? The Defence Headquarters has come out to say that they have not received money from their Commander-in-Chief, President Muhammad Buhari.
There are two solutions to defeat Boko Haram. One is . . .
To be continued.
Niyi Aborisade is the National President, National Movement For Positive Change (NMPC).
