After months of incessant taunts from Boko Haram insurgents, following audacious attacks on major towns in three northern states and their subsequent declaration of an Islamic caliphate over that area, the exploits of the Nigerian military in routing the fundamentalists from Chibok and the killing of several insurgents, are a heartwarming development. The seizure of Chibok was devastating to the psyche of the military and a serious embarrassment to Nigeria. Its recapture ignited hopes that all is not lost, after all, to reclaim occupied territory, halt Boko Haram’s devious caliphate and restore peace to northern Nigeria. Equally re-assuring, is the decimation of insurgent forces and their seeming disarray, which has forced hundreds of them to surrender. In addition, the terrorists have had to contend with loss of weapons, as they fled. The good news notwithstanding, peace is still a long way for the three frontline north eastern states in particular and the entire northern belt of the country. Good news therefore, from Chibok, but the battle continues.
The recapture of Chibok comes as the federal government seeks to further extend emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe due to expire next Thursday, November 20. Certainly, Nigerian troops are assured of the continued support of the government and the citizens in the onerous task of sustaining the sovereignty of the country and checkmating any territorial ambition of any group under whatever guise. However, for emphasis, no one is under any illusion of a short campaign to rout the insurgency, so the soldiers are encouraged to keep their patriotic verve to secure an enduring victory. The Chibok onslaught may have turned the tide against the group, but it is an invitation to the military to turn the heat on the blood-thirsty bigots and scale up operations before they regroup. The campaign against Boko Haram demands more bite, so the troops must not waver.
Nigerians now expect the military to redouble its effort to retake all other towns and villages currently under the control of the insurgents whose main ambition is to be identified with a territorial space within the Nigerian geographical entity. It is just as well that Defence Minister, Lt. Gen Aliyu Gusau Mohammed (rtd), announced Monday, that the country had commenced the re-engineering of its defence and security posture to cope with global and domestic threats posed by Boko Haram and other international terror groups. Nigeria has no territorial space to cede to any insurgents.
Amid the euphoria created by the recapture of Chibok, a number of critical issues germane to the continued credibility of the military manifested. For instance, is it true that the town was recaptured by local vigilantes aka Civilian Joint Task Force, which supports the counter-insurgency in the north-east? There ought not to be any contradictions, claims and counter-claims on operational issues in a clearly defined space. This does not in any way vitiate the military’s laudable operations to fight the insurgency, but the military’s hesitation to address reports that its soldiers stood by and waited on the outskirts of town to arrest fleeing Boko Haram militants, leaving the vigilantes to tackle the militants, of course, does not engender confidence.
Historically, the Nigerian army has a reputation for gallantry and patriotic exertions. What is happening with Boko Haram is heart-rending and a poor reflection of the past image and character of the men and women who have sworn to lay, and are laying down their lives for the country. The overarching fear however, is that the army is being underfunded and ill-equipped despite an estimated $14 billion that has been budgeted for defence between 2010 and 2014. The news from the frontline is that lack of sophisticated and adequate military hardware to deal with the insurgents is adversely affecting the war. Nigeria has the resources and wherewithal to fight Boko Haram. The fight is certainly not beyond the army’s capability. What is required is the political dexterity and strategy to prosecute the war. In this regard, the president as the commander-in-chief has to reassert his supreme authority within the ambit of the law to deal with the insurgency and restore the confidence of the citizens in the state’s ability to protect them. These are not the best of times; the nation is grieving and the stakes are rising.
The standing view is that Jonathan as commander-in-chief is weak, and not asserting with the necessary force, the full authority and power of the state in dealing with Boko Haram. How can several local governments spanning three states be taken over and administered by a different authority and power styling itself an “Islamic caliphate” and nothing can be done about it? How can the government claim to have reached a cease-fire with Boko Haram only for the insurgents to thumb their noses at government by sustained acts of destruction? How can Mr. President continue in self-deceit into negotiations with Boko Haram, even as his capacity to meet his constitutional responsibilities to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria and guarantee the security and welfare of the people are being called to question?
Not that there is anything wrong with negotiations; Boko Haram, is after all an ideology that will not be eliminated easily by military force alone. But the impression is strong, that with all the soft and hard power available to him, there is everything wrong with the President negotiating with Boko Haram from a position of weakness. It is not done, Mr. President; it must not happen. There seems to be a dearth of experienced hands to manage the insurgency that is fast becoming a national embarrassment at many levels. And this indeed, should worry the President.
Not just because of the debilitation the insurgency is causing the country; but more about the demystification of the Nigerian military that before now had an enviable international reputation for gallantry. But this is no time for lamentation. If Nigeria is to be saved from Boko Haram, the President must break from his present obsession with political power; and own the war against the insurgents, in order to restore his credibility as a leader and the army’s own glory. The President must get his acts together and put together a competent team to design results-oriented strategies against Boko Haram. That is the job Nigerians elected him to do, and the buck stops at his desk!
