The MIA C-in-C, the golfing COAS and our boots on the ground

Just when one thinks the Abuja elite can’t get more cavalier, they prove one wrong. As Nigerians continue to wonder what has happened to their Commander-in-Chief, apparently missing in action (MIA) almost a fortnight after the horrific beheading in Zabarmari of over 70 farmers, the Chief of Army Staff was pictured in full tactical gear […]

Just when one thinks the Abuja elite can’t get more cavalier, they prove one wrong. As Nigerians continue to wonder what has happened to their Commander-in-Chief, apparently missing in action (MIA) almost a fortnight after the horrific beheading in Zabarmari of over 70 farmers, the Chief of Army Staff was pictured in full tactical gear last Saturday. Except that he was on a golf course, not in the Sambisa forest. Buratai was hitting a white little ball, instead of Boko Haram. He was chasing a small hole, in place of Shekau – the ruthless terrorist leader who took responsibility for yet another heinous crime. That the head of our army would be so callous as Boko Haram and criminal gangs respectively rule the roads and rural communities of the Northeast and the Northwest is simply unbelievable.

Buratai’s teeing off explains his careless prediction that Boko Haram will continue to wreak havoc for another two decades. Three days after the Zabarmari massacre, he published a short statement on his verified Facebook account forecasting that Boko Haram will persist “for another 20 years”. In disapproval of the justified furore caused by the terrible incident, he accused Nigerians of having a “general misunderstanding” of terrorism even as he refused to condemn the terrorists, condole the victims’ grief-stricken families or commit to bolstering efforts to end the crisis. In essence, after failing to deliver on his umpteen promises to defeat Boko Haram, Buratai is scolding Nigerians for their outrage and telling them to expect more massacres until 2040. I fear that with the likes of him in charge, 2040 is optimistic: Nigeria may continue to see destruction until the end of time.

Last April, the Nigerian Army announced that Buratai had “relocated fully to the North-East” from where he would oversee the war against Boko Haram. As if “relocate fully” has a different meaning in the elite parlance, Buratai returned to Abuja 60 days later, saying they have recorded “tremendous achievement”. Days later, Boko Haram struck and killed over 80 civilians in its worst attack on civilians in recent years. Yet this is Buhari’s point person on defeating the group. Against the consensus of Nigerians that the Service Chiefs have failed and should be shown the door, our MIA C-in-C acts as if constant failure is the key to his heart.

Meanwhile, our gallant men and women in the frontlines are being unfairly punished for asking for the weapons and equipment needed to do their job. Just last week, the erstwhile Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major-General Olusegun Adeniyi, was convicted by a court martial sitting in Abuja and sentenced to demotion by at least three years. His offence was that, earlier this year, he recorded a video message in the heart of the Sambisa forest complaining of lack of military equipment to combat Boko Haram and saying that the insurgents were outgunning his troops. The video which, from its content, was intended for his superior officers, was leaked and went viral on social media. Embarrassed by the revelations, the army headquarters removed Major-General Adeniyi and put him to trial. Instead of plugging the holes he highlighted, Abuja plugged its ears.

Even before Adeniyi’s video, our boots on the ground were publicly protesting lack of basic equipment after years of private pleas had fallen in deaf ears. In January this year, soldiers who have been fighting Boko Haram in Yobe State since 2016 wrote a letter to the President lamenting neglect and starvation and threatening to abscond if no remedial measures are taken. In the letter, published by several news outlets, they described how they were using their salaries to buy uniforms, boots and combat kits which the army failed to replace for six years. Their account was corroborated by the Senate Committee on the Army whose chairman has repeatedly flagged the lack of support given to our troops.

Tragic as it is, little wonder then that last year was the worst for the Nigerian army. Figures from The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data and the Nigerian Security Tracker show that Boko Haram killed at least 800 security forces in 2019, the highest fatality figures since the beginning of the group’s war. The army responded by changing to what it called “Super Camp Strategy”, by which it withdrew soldiers from rural areas and consolidated them in eighteen big camps. This policy has succeeded in reducing military casualties, but it has also left rural communities and roads acutely vulnerable to terrorists’ attacks and checkpoints. Thus, 2020 witnessed major assaults such as the one in Auno that killed at least 40 people in February, those in Foduma Koloram and Goni Usman villages that respectively killed over 80 and 40 civilians in June. And now the Zabarmari massacre.

With these tragedies, hollow declarations, failed promises and cavalier attitudes from top leaders, one cannot blame Nigerian governors for losing faith in our military. In the wake of the latest catastrophe, Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State made six recommendations to defeat Boko Haram. The first three – recruiting youth to fight, enlisting the help of neighbouring troops and hiring foreign mercenaries to confront Boko Haram – are an indictment of the capacity of the Nigerian Army. He has since found support from other North East governors and several of their counterparts across the country.

I do understand Zulum’s frustration, but I do not buy the idea that our soldiers are incapable of defeating Boko Haram. Our men and women have demonstrated their gallantry in several missions outside Nigeria. But no matter how brave they are, they cannot fight with their bare hands. They need weapons and equipment, and their safety, health and welfare must be taken care of. We will be wiser to invest the huge sums we may pay to hire mercenaries for a short period in our military. Most importantly, the boots on the ground need a committed leadership that will lead by example. The likes of our golfing COAS can’t provide the required leadership. It is high time Mr MIA come to terms with this.