Rethinking government strategy in tackling insurgency

In spite of the state of emergency declared by government in the most affected states, there appears to be no end in sight to the spate of violent attacks.  Hundreds of innocent civilians including students have been killed in recent weeks while others ran for their lives, swelling the ranks of internally displaced persons in […]

In spite of the state of emergency declared by government in the most affected states, there appears to be no end in sight to the spate of violent attacks.  Hundreds of innocent civilians including students have been killed in recent weeks while others ran for their lives, swelling the ranks of internally displaced persons in need of humanitarian assistance. It is as if government has abdicated its responsibility in protecting the lives and property of its citizens.  
While the armed forces are doing their best given the circumstances, to contain the insurgency, government needs to address the growing perception that the insurgents have free rein, rampaging from one target to another without let or hindrance, leaving death and destruction in their wake.
The impression created is that there are not enough boots on the ground, that the army is overstretched. Admittedly, soldiers cannot be everywhere but the armed forces’ capacity for rapid response to attacks must be strengthened. In one incident those who killed students of the federal government college in Buni-Yadi in Yobe state were said to have operated for four hours without security forces in sight. Understandably, the embattled governors of Borno and Yobe states have appealed to the federal government to commit more troops and resources.
Failure of intelligence gathering in forestalling attacks has also been cited as one of the reasons for the apparent ease with which the insurgents strike unchallenged.
It may well be that the armed forces should review the training of soldiers as there are reports that standards of training and discipline have fallen in recent years. Lack of proper training not only pose a threat to the lives of the soldiers concerned putting them in harm’s way, but also serves as a threat to national security.
Given the crucial role the armed forces play in securing the nation from external aggression it is to be expected that only competent applicants would be enlisted into the armed forces. There must be no return to the days under military rule when the then Chief of Army Staff, General Salihu Ibrahim, famously referred to the army during his tenure as an ‘’army of anything goes’’.
The Obasanjo administration sought to restore professionalism to the armed forces but the jury is still out in determining whether that process has run its course. While it is only natural that the armed forces ought to reflect the ethnic and religious diversity of the country, competence should not be sacrificed on the altar of religious and ethnic sentiment. The army is about leadership and followership. A competent commander is more likely to get the loyalty of his troops.
The Nigerian armed forces first earned their spurs in peacekeeping operations in the Congo in the early 60s under the leadership of the then Colonel JTU Aguyi-Ironsi, a reputation which they later cemented in Liberia and then Sierra Leone. However, in recent years standards have slipped. Some Nigerian soldiers sent on peacekeeping missions were found wanting, suggesting perhaps that they were selected on the basis of sentiment and not competence. For instance, in a paper presented at a conference on security at Stellenbosch, South Africa in August 2013, Professor Ibrahim Gambari Nigeria’s former ambassador to the UN recalled his experience as the Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and African Union Mission (UNAMID) in Darfur: ’’We had some contingents in UNAMID including sadly from Nigeria, which did not really perform to expectations. Fortunately the Nigerian government sought to address this issue by repatriating one battalion, sending new troops and reequipping them.’’
To reorganize the armed forces as an effective fighting force would require political will and imagination. It would depend on engaging the services of competent tried and tested officers with integrity and the strength of character to change things. Officers appointed to the military high command ought to be of the highest calibre.  
Neighbourhood diplomacy has an important role to play in securing the cooperation of our neighbours in Nigeria’s efforts in containing the conflict in the north east. It has spilled over into the neighbouring countries with thousands of Nigerian refugees crossing the border into Niger, Cameroon and Chad.
Needless to say, there is a pressing need to intensify cross border cooperation with our immediate neighbours in the north.  Our borders are the first line of defence against external aggression.
Nigeria’s foreign policy towards its neighbours has long been predicated on good neighbourliness or being your neighbour’s keeper so to speak. It was one of the guiding principles of Nigeria’s foreign policy enunciated by Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa who also doubled as foreign minister at independence. Good neighbourliness is not an abstract concept. In some cases our neighbours are our brothers, the same people speaking the same language but divided by the colonial boundaries.  
The late Ambassador Ralph Uwechue, former President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo told me during a meeting in his office in London in 1986 that, as a young diplomat he was on the entourage of the first Nigerian ambassador to Cameroon, a Fulani, to present his credentials to Ahidjo who was himself a Fulani from Garoua in northern Cameroon. After the official exchange of pleasantries in English and French both Ahidjo and the ambassador went into a closed session and spoke in Fulfulde.
Ordinarily, Nigeria’s relations with the neighbouring countries should have been the most important focus of our foreign policy, but for the distortions of colonial rule and a global economic system excessively skewed in favour of the developed countries. That is why in our hierarchy of diplomatic representation it is New York, London and Washington that are at the top of the list and not Niamey, Yaounde and Ndjamena.
Nigeria’s good neighbour policy paid off during the civil war when Niger, Chad and Cameroon gave unflinching support to Nigeria despite attempts by France their former colonial power to influence them to act otherwise. Cameroon’s stance under president Ahmadu Ahidjo was particularly crucial in this regard. It secured its border with south eastern Nigeria preventing the infiltration of arms into that part of the country. There is no reason why Nigeria should not count on President Paul Biya’s cooperation this time around.
When Chad was racked by civil wars in the late 70s and early 80s Nigeria could not feign indifference to the conflict. Consequently, Nigeria brokered peace between the two major protagonists and heads of the warring factions, Hissene Habre and Goukouni Weddeye. This culminated in Nigeria dispatching troops to Chad in March 1979. Known as the Neutral Force, it was commanded by the then Colonel Mohammed Magoro, now a member of Senate.
Amid reports of cross border raids and safe havens, the role of our neighbours has taken on added significance.   Given their proximity and the potential spill-over effects, it is a matter of enlightened self- interest for our neighbours to support Nigeria in its war against the insurgents, since none of them is immune to conflict. It is just as well that the principle of non- interference which used to be such a cardinal principle in inter-African relations has steadily given way to that of non-indifference.  Cameroon and Chad are also immediate neighbours of the Central African Republic; they are already feeling the impact of the sectarian conflict in that country.
In addition to closer engagement with our immediate neighbours, government should also accelerate moves to tackle the threat posed by the proliferation of small and light weapons in the sub region given our porous borders.  Government agencies notably the customs and immigration need to focus attention on those borders.
In commenting on the war in the north east, government spokesmen ought to be careful and guarded in what they say. They should stop putting unrealistic timelines or deadlines on how long they think the insurgency would last. Each time they did so, it emboldened the insurgents to prove them wrong by launching fresh attacks.
Needless to say the insurgency in the North East region is rooted in poverty, youth unemployment, inequality and social exclusion; religion is being used as a convenient pretext for it. There is no quick fix or a silver bullet to end the conflict; it requires a painstaking mix of the use of force, intelligence gathering, diplomacy and dialogue.  It is also about winning hearts and minds of the people in the area. Governments at all levels ought to be seen to be assisting in resettling those displaced by the conflict and at the same time addressing its underlying causes with a view to finding a long term solution.

Dr Oyewumi is a member of Editorial Board of Daily Trust