Ahmad Lawan is Right, Military Must Wake Up

RingTrue BY Yemi Adebowale      Email: yemi.adebowale@thisdaylive.com

Phone 08054699539

For once, the leadership of the Nigerian Senate was able to put aside its rubber stamp mentality and was truthful to military on its counter-terrorism performance. In this sliding war against terrorists, “the military must wake up” was the blunt message to the Nigerian Army. I don’t know how and where the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawal picked up this courage, but it was a good one. It all started during plenary last Tuesday, following a point of order raised by Bello Mandiya (Katsina South) on the urgent need for the federal government to take drastic actions that will end killings and kidnappings in Faskari Local Government Area of his state.

Mandiya noted that the killings and abductions had become a daily matter in Katsina with many communities displaced. He recalled that last Monday, terrorists struck in Ruwan Godiya, a community in Faskari LG, where 38 people were kidnapped.

The President of the Senate, at least on this historic Tuesday in the Senate, spoke the truth to the military. He declared that the repeated cases of kidnappings and killings make it imperative for the military to “wake up” and protect Nigerians. Lawan wondered why full scale action had not been carried out by the military in spite of increased funding for security in the 2022 budget.

He said: “The expectation of the Senate is that there is supposed to be a remarkable difference in success in terms of the fight against insurgence, banditry and militancy in Nigeria. The military is getting better funding from the government and what we expect is to see improvement in output. I know the resources are not enough, but recently for one and a half years, government has up-scaled the level of funding for our military.

“When we declared bandits as terrorists, my understanding was that they are going to be dealt with ruthlessly. Now, I wonder whether that is the case. The military, like some of our colleagues have said, need to wake up. We want to see a difference because we have made a difference in terms of funding…funding can make a difference and we expect a difference in outcome.”

The contribution of Senator Kabir Abdullahi Barkiya (Katsina Central), lamenting the military’s inability to contain terrorism, despite several calls for it to act, is also instructive.
I often wonder how security agencies, struggling to defend their facilities and personnel against terrorists, will protect Nigerians. Many of the attacks on the military are difficult to comprehend. How do you explain terrorists snatching a military outpost with ease? A military outpost in Marina, Safana LG of Katsina State came under attack in March last year and the soldiers were dislodged.

It is shocking to see terrorists move in convoys for several kilometres unchallenged in our towns and villages. So, what has happened to the Directorate of Military Intelligence? Is the Department of State Security dead? What about the intelligence departments in the various police commands? It is obvious that intelligence gathering has also collapsed in all security agencies.

It is instructive to note that from 2006 to 2020, Boko Haram attacked and sacked 22 military posts, killing hundreds of Nigerian soldiers. The sacked military posts were in Gajiram, Mainok, Rann, Geidam, Sasawa, Magumeri, Malam Fatori, Gashigha, Kanama, Gamboru-Ngala, Mafa, Damasak,Gudumbali, Garunda, Kunduga, Kareto, Jilli, Arge, Zari, Arege, Metele, Jili (Geidam) and Buni Gari.

Likewise, one of the deadliest massacres of Nigerian soldiers by Boko Haram was in Metele, Borno State, in November 2018. Scores of soldiers were killed at 157 Task Force Battalion in Metele. The exact casualty figure is still a closely-guided secret. The commander of the battalion, Lt. Col. Ibrahim Sakaba was also killed during the attack.
In this country, a serving Major General Husseini Ahmed was in July 2021 killed along Lokoja-Abuja Road on his way to Abuja and there were no consequences.

There are hardly consequences for attacks on military facilities and personnel. Months after terrorists downed Nigeria’s fighter jet in the Zamfara State forest, thus, threatening the sovereignty of this nation, there are still no consequences for the guerrillas. It’s also so difficult to comprehend that several months after a Nigerian Air Force fighter jet was downed in Borno State, the military is still struggling to locate the crash spot.

The military can’t even account for the pilot and co-pilot on that crashed Alpha jet. The failure of the military to locate the so-called true crash site reflects the level of decay in Nigeria’s security. Modern search and rescue is about technology, equipment and quality manpower. This country lacks capacity for these and unwilling to seek help from abroad.

How come terrorists are able to monitor the movement of our soldiers and our military can’t effectively monitor theirs? With technology, Nigerian soldiers should be the ones ambushing and killing these bastards. Unfortunately, the terrorists are the ones persistently ambushing and killing our gallant soldiers. That was what happened to General Dzarma Zirkusu, the late Commanding Officer of the 28 Task Force Brigade (Chibok) and his boys, while in Askira Uba. I will also never forget how our gallant soldiers were ambushed by Boko Haram in Gorgi, Borno State in March 2020, and scores killed. Unofficial sources said the figure could be above 70.

These ambushes indicate that the Nigerian military is deficient in the needed technology for efficient monitoring of opponents. The terrorists have been emboldened because of this. It also means that the leadership of the military has been economical with the truth in terms of the technological capacity of the Army and Air Force. It means the intelligence arm of the military needs external support.

In a very recent embarrassing attack on a military facility, fighters of the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) confidently raided the Tukur Yusufu Buratai Institute for War and Peace, in Biu LG of Borno State, backed with cameramen to record the attack. I find this effrontery extremely humiliating. In the audiovisual, the insurgents were seen firing in different directions with RPGs and anti-aircraft guns. They pulled down flags on the campus and torched some military vehicles. The terrorists were in the Army facility for over two hours without resistance from troops. How can the military allow this to happen?

On the other hand, after a very deep thinking, I will rather have Lawan’s wake-up call amended and specifically directed at President Muhammadu Buhari, the leadership of the military and other security agencies. These people have failed our gallant soldiers who are poorly-motivated and poorly-equipped on the war front. Our fighters are tired because they have over-stayed on the frontline. Replacements hardly come. This means Nigeria lacks enough men for this war.

But commanders persistently give the impression that all is well on the war zone. Those in charge of this war must admit that this country has challenges with field manpower and seek help abroad.
Soldiers are struggling to be at their best on the war front. Videos of our soldiers lamenting about lack of basic things abound. Commanders who complain about the poor working condition of our troops are usually dealt a solid blow by the leadership of the military. That was what happened to the former Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj. General Olusegun Adeniyi.

As for Buhari, he goes about showboating while the country burns. For example, Buhari returned to Abuja from Turkey last December to the news of the killings in Kaduna, saying the last vestiges of terrorists were the ones soft-targeting innocent citizens, “looting their assets and burning houses, because they were already frustrated as a result of the heat turned on them by the nation’s troop.” Haba! This is preposterous. In beloved Nigeria, terrorists regularly attack military formations. This is the truth that can’t be hidden.

What about the lies by our political leaders that Nigerian troops alone can do the job of eliminating the terrorists? That help from abroad would not be needed? President Buhari is in the forefront of this submission. This is a flawed position. To end the killings in beloved Nigeria, our President has to wake up and hire the best brains from anywhere in the world to assist our military to end this war against terrorists. The ultimate aim is to decapitate them and bring peace to our country.

Winds against Amended Electoral Bill
Members of the National Assembly are doing everything possible to ensure that the amended Electoral Bill does not see the light of day. The ultimate motive of these law breakers is to suffocate the electronic transmission of election results, the much-loved clause in the bill. That was why they inserted two quarrelsome sections into the amended bill sent to President Buhari for assent. Of course, they know the President will not sign it; these legislators care less about the consequence on E- transmission of election results.

The contentious clauses are resignation by appointed political office holders, including ministers, commissioners and others before the primaries of the office they are interested in; and definite obligation for consensus option in picking candidates.
According to the bill, before a consensus candidate can emerge, all contestants must sign a written agreement that they had consented to the adoption of such an aspirant; that if one of the contestants is dissenting, no one can become a consensus candidate. Instead, all the contestants will either go for direct or indirect primary election.

Yes, Section 228 of the 1999 Constitution – Powers of the National Assembly with Respect to Political Parties (Amended by Section 22 (First Alteration) Act, 2010), empowers the National Assembly to provide guidelines and rules to ensure internal democracy within political parties, including making laws for the conduct of party primaries, party congresses and party conventions. Nonetheless, such laws should not be for selfish reasons as seen in these two combative clauses.
The plot to stop governors from imposing candidates at primaries with these clauses is outrageous. Federal lawmakers should find a better way of tackling dictatorial governors. Telling political appointees (who are aspirants) to resign before primaries, is also targeted at some people.

These two prickly clauses were inserted for selfish reasons. It was all about selfish interest and not that of the country. Our law makers should, in the interest of Nigeria, swiftly withdraw and remove the two useless clauses, so that E-transmission of election results can be actualised. No doubt, this will end ballot box snatching and reduce rigging. The approved Electronic Voting System (EVS) will be useless without E-transmission of results. Our lawmakers are largely products of election rigging and want the revelry to continue.

Obaseki, Please Don’t Kill Ambrose Ali University
I have spent quality time reading the SOS message of the National Association of Nigerian Students’ Joint Campus Committee, Edo State axis, on the trauma at Ambrose Ali University (AAU) Ekpoma. I sincerely hope Governor Godwin Obaseki is not out to destroy this historic university. The governor owes lecturers and non-academic staff 16 months salaries. “Yet, the governor expects hungry and angry lecturers to teach frustrated and depressed students, who have suddenly become victims of circumstances resulting from bad government policies and failures,” declares NANS.

The list of suffering at AAU is so long. It is battling crumbling infrastructure and under-funding; Obaseki has drastically reduced its monthly subvention; AAU’s College of Medicine is on the verge of total collapse due to limited infrastructure and accreditation issues; Obaseki is yet to release AAU’s visitation panel’s report; Obaseki has not completed a single project at AAU since he became governor and AAU’s Cooperative Society crippled due to unpaid salaries.

NANS says the Obaseki administration brought pain on tertiary institutions in Edo State. My dear Obaseki, you have to change this narrative. Your government is at the lowest ebb in this state.