Can Council of State end Boko Haram insurgency?

He accompanied former US President George Herbert Walker Bush to presidential debates against his nemesis, the then candidate Bill Clinton. His hope was that Bush would win the debate. Baker’s greatest regret was that he wasn’t allowed beyond the door. Just as Baker feared, Bush lost the debate and ultimately the US presidency to his […]

He accompanied former US President George Herbert Walker Bush to presidential debates against his nemesis, the then candidate Bill Clinton. His hope was that Bush would win the debate. Baker’s greatest regret was that he wasn’t allowed beyond the door. Just as Baker feared, Bush lost the debate and ultimately the US presidency to his Democratic opponent, Bill Clinton. A few months before, Bush had initiated and won the Gulf War against Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader, and his popularity had soared. But a range of domestic issues, not least the damaging economic recession faced by the American economy, and subsequently the disastrous debate with Clinton, ensured that Bush lost his comfortable lead in the opinion polls reflecting the choices in the impending presidential election.
Here in Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan is yet to win the most important war against his own government, the Boko Haram war, and the debate has not even started. Nevertheless, Jonathan badly wants a positive result regarding the so-called war against Boko Haram. From “there are some members of Boko Haram  in my government and we eat with them” to “we have to be careful because we are fighting our brothers” to “we will no longer fight them with kid gloves” to “we shall end Boko Haram by June (2012)” to Marshal Alex Badeh’s “we shall defeat Boko Haram by April (2014)” all the way to the latest declaration: “Council of State promises to end Boko Haram in December”, there has been no substantial progress  in the war against this misguided group. As a matter of fact, in the last three months, Boko Haram appears to have gained the upper hand in its murderous campaign. The insurgents continue their wanton killings, kidnapping of people, destruction of property and relentless expression of terror. Recent reports say the insurgents have hoisted their flags in Damboa, just 85 kilometres from Maiduguri.
Not even the month of Ramadan has discouraged them. The heinous but failed attempt to kill Major General Muhammadu Buhari and Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi in bomb attacks in Kaduna was one of them. A dreadful dimension has now been added to the group’s homicidal tactics: the use of young girls as bombers. The celebratory mood of the people of Kano, for example, was shattered this Sallah by some of these girl-bombers who detonated their devices on unsuspecting citizens, killing and maiming them.
Surprisingly, President Jonathan has turned to the wrong people to help him fight Boko Haram. Like James Baker in the case of Bush, it is doubtful if the Council of State can do Jonathan’s job for Jonathan. With due respect, the Council of State contains a few members who are respectable, but what power or method do they have at their disposal that they can use to defeat Boko Haram by December 2014? How can the Council of State, a mere advisory body, tell the country that they will end the Boko Haram insurgency by the end of this year? The Council of State should have just declared their support for President Jonathan’s request for one billion dollar loan to “equip the Nigerian Army” to fight Boko Haram. The request for this loan itself has embarrassed many Nigerians coming so soon after this government’s laborious denial that the army is not ill-equipped in the fight against Boko Haram. But by lending their voices to the declaration of another four-month deadline to end Boko Haram, the Council of State has walked itself into a trap and opened itself to possible ridicule. I feel for Shagari and a few of those old men.
In all honesty, other than offering advice on what to do to fight Boko Haram, the Council of State has no means of ending the insurgency. The responsibility for defeating Boko Haram rests squarely with the Nigerian Army commanders as well as their commander-in-chief. The commanders and their commander-in-chief need to shun all distractions like deploying for “election wars” and concentrate on taking back the country’s territory from the insurgents. These commanders should hold their fire from unarmed civilians in Apo Abuja, Zaria, Osun etc. and get cracking against those who have sworn to dismember the country. These commanders should sit down with their commander-in-chief; painstakingly plan where to shop for the ammunitions, helicopter gunships, night vision goggles, radars, armour and the precision bombs they require to defeat Boko Haram whether in December 2014 or 2015. They should do this well ahead of the Senate approval of their one billion dollar loan request, because as long as David Mark is there it will be approved.
In general, the survival of Jonathan’s government rests on appreciable progress in the war against insurgency irrespective of whether it was created by him or by the opposition. In the short term, the successful return of the kidnapped Chibok girls will be an important milestone in the calendar of his administration.
I also found it amusing that the Council of State has just woken up to the deleterious issue of registering some Nigerians by their compatriots in the South-East. The Director General of Department of State Security was quoted as saying that registering Nigerians could cause the disintegration of the country. I’m surprised that the DG could speak so unprofessionally by using the word “disintegration”. I had expected him to use terms like “challenge to the unity and stability” of the country or “threat to nation building” or something similar. His use of “disintegration” sounds rather clumsy and naïve, and therefore discouraging.