NIGERIAN ARMY AND WAR AGAINST INSURGENCY BEYOND Slogan, By Isaac Ikpa

By Isaac Ikpa

I don’t know him; may be, only a few Nigerians might have encountered him in the sanctuaries of books and there is no possibility that any Nigerian would ever have a chance of knowing him personally, but Frederick C. Blesse is a living legend or a genius of wisdom by conquering the essence of existence with his timeless philosophy. Blesse told his generation and those who cared to listen that “No guts; no glory.”

So, Nigerians are fervently asking; where are the guts of the incumbent Service Chiefs barely three months after they sauntered on the turf of anti-insurgencies and insurrections as Nigeria’s chief sentinels worthy of a glory? Could it be physical and intellectual fatigue this early in office? Or, are some gods or invisible celestial forces chasing their shadows to the point of disarmament?

It is incredible to the discomforting reality that we are now tethered to the mercy of armed gangs, in ceaseless torments and wails. We are now operating on a frequency akin to a typical village market in the countryside, directionless and unfocused. We are forced to sleep, wine and dine with terrorists and bandits near Abuja. Is it the new glory the incumbent Service Chiefs wish to earn for us and the nation?

Peace and security have eluded us. Our enclaves are seized by gunmen, known and unknown. The unending fires in Southern Nigeria, specifically, Southeast region have felled both civilians and soldiers.  The infamous leader of the outlawed IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has changed the configuration of his rogue armed gangs several times and boldly dare the Nigerian Military. Yet, we appear helpless and rather enter a plea of bargain for mercy? Nigerian Military Chiefs, where is the glory?

We are only searching for the glory in the number of our kidnapped or abducted children by bandits in the Northwest; we only sight a tainted glory in the dingy dungeons of terrorists who have held our people captive. We are forced to sing lullabies to sword-brandishing hoodlums and miscreants; the plain rogues whose only strength is the uncontrolled thirst for bloodshed, in the excitement of feasting on our soldiers.

Asking further, I repeat; where is the glory of our Military or they’ve got no guts anymore? What else can we remember in this quagmire? The ceaseless bloodbath, arson and ashes staring us in the face? We are now standing on rooftops and selenic heights to inspect the ruins brought upon us, as our military fumbles and trembles before deadly enemies.  Like romantic poets, Nigerian Military chiefs now are inured to sloganeering and have turned deaf ears to the lamentations around them. 

I reminisced on what the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and leader of the counter-insurgency operations, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru voiced out when he took the mantle of leadership from his predecessor in Abuja. Gen. Attahiru was stern and appeared like a ferociously devouring lion.

He told his eager audience and pledged to Nigerians on January 28th 2021 to sustain the giant strides of Nigerian Army as he experienced and inherited from his predecessor. Sadly today, Nigerians can neither sight the giant nor the strides in Attahiru’s actions. The spirit has waned unceremoniously.  Sometimes, he appears more phobic than the civilian Nigerians he has the mandate to secure.   Where are the guts, to transform into glory? Blesse was right!

The guts starts and ends with slogans of the Army Chief. Gen. Attahiru told another audience two months later in March 2021, at the opening of the Combined Chief of Army Staff First Quarter Conference and Nigerian Army Operations Retreat 2021 in Abuja that;

“I want to state that the Nigerian Army under my watch will remain resolute in decisively dealing with any threat confronting the country…I have directed that serious attention must be given to sustaining and improving the tempo in all ongoing Nigerian Army operations across the country…Commanders must therefore glean from my command philosophy to ensure that operational and administrative proficiency of Nigerian Army formations and units are sustained and improved upon.”

Sometimes, it is not good enough to overstretch limits of reasonableness in assessment of anybody on a hot seat, like where Attahiru has found himself. He is not in the game alone. His colleagues, other Service Chiefs are also there with him. But we cannot divorce the reality that Attahiru is the Chief honcho of counter-insurgency operations and together with his colleagues are absolutely lost on positive impressions in the terrorism combats in the country.

So, it’s a tedious task to attempt to discern Gen. Attahiru’s philosophy of “operational and administrative proficiency” now. Is it the proficiency which has allowed terrorists and bandits surround Abuja? Is it the proficiency of the everyday kidnapping of our children and adults all over the North or the closure of schools in Abuja because of the unexpected influx and infiltration of the capital city by truckloads of bandits?

In case Gen. Attahiru and the other Service Chiefs forget, I chose to remind them now. That at the point they took over from their predecessors, the Nigerian Military was only battling with Boko Haram insurgents/ ISWAP terrorists most dominantly on the fringes of Borno’s Lake Chad Basin area. Now, they are very close; the terrorists have come too close to us in courageous braggadocio.

 We can no longer sight the guts to which any glory can be earned by the leaders of the counter-insurgency operations. Who will deliver us now? Nigerians now are only entertained with the barrage of slogans from the Military Chiefs than dexterity in warfare. Military Chiefs often assure us of protections from armed gangs; but the assurance consistently fails every time and everywhere.

Hesitantly, our Military Chiefs are compelling Nigerians to trust the haughty spews of Boko Haram’s factional leader, Abubakar Shekau more than their actions have so far espoused on the battlefield. Shekau boasted two days after these Military Chiefs came into office in a nine-minute video that the new Service Chiefs can’t outshine their predecessors in the fight against insurgency in the Northeast or elsewhere in Nigeria.

Shekau thundered; “(General) Leo Irabor, the head of the military, you should have sympathy for yourself, repent and convert to Islam. There is nothing you can do.” I am confused now! Whose words should I trust as stronger and bear any consequence on Nigerians? That’s why Generals Irabor and Attahiru must tighten their seat belts beyond sloganeering.

Nigeria is running out of patience with itself. Terrorists and bandits are making merriments; whilst Nigerians mourn and agonize in bloodshed, abductions and arsons. Shadows of bandits and terrorists loom large and freely roam our city centers, villages, communities, highways and every conceivable place. Courage has given way to numbing fear in our homes and offices.

One is infinitely perturbed watching the effeminate actions of the COAS and leader of the anti-insurgency operations, Gen. Attahiru and the new Service Chiefs in the theatre of war these three months. It is easier to conclude that Nigeria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are infinitely endangered.  It has been donated to the terrorists under these new sheriffs or Military chiefs who initially, held so much promise, but have faltered terribly.  

There is neither spark nor gusto in their deportments in the frontlines of the Northeast, Northwest or Southeast. Jubilant armed gangs have seized our peace and security, shattering dwelling places. We are pathetically tossed on bended kneels under these new masters of terror, as Gen. Attahiru gazes elsewhere.

Therefore, Nigerians make bold to demand that at this time in the history of insurgency in the country, there is the dire need for quick actions and not slogans; we want deafeningly positive results beyond the niceties of rehearsed speeches in the conference halls of Abuja and elsewhere. Will the slogans ginger the troops? Will it deliver the desired results? These and many more are the issues confronting us today as a nation. What ought to be done that has been left undone?

We abhor the demons of terror and the Nigerian Military should not foist them on us. We neither want to worship Abubakar Shekau nor bow to the praxis of the bloody swords of  the ISIS-backed Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists commanded by Musab Al Barnewi. The armed bandits in the forests and caves of Zamfara, Katsina to Niger states have tormented us enough.  Herdsmen should give us a break; and it is a break, which Gen. Attahiru must necessarily impose on them because he is not crowned for a feast of romance with insurgents in the theatre of war.

The rogues camouflaging as secession agitators in the Southeast must be reined in. We seek no protection from some gods; other than our Military. Gen. Attahiru and his colleagues, the Service Chiefs must wake up from slumber to redeem their names and salvage our fatherland in patriotic and true sacrificial service without further delay. We want to again, make bonfires of celebrations, as against the feasts of blood and whines. Like Blesse intoned, our Service Chiefs should immediately show us the guts and the glory now.

Chief Ikpa writes from Abuja.

NYSC and Ibrahim’s two years’ impactful leadership, By Leonard Aluor

By Leonard Aluor

A Congolese proverb says; “You do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla.” The Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (DG-NYSC), Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim is an old administrative gorilla in Nigeria. He has dispensed himself perfectly, both as a soldier and administrator per excellence. Anywhere he berths his feet, it leaves in its trail, remarkable accomplishments.

Like his brief sojourn at the Nigerian Army University (NAU), Biu, Borno state, as pioneer registrar, Gen. Shuaibu’s two years’ stint as the DG-NYSC have similarly ingrained his peculiar mark of excellence as a scholar, an astute administrator, innovator, reformer, team player and goal getter in administering the scheme.

 He has proven exceptionally, the ageless wisdom in the old Ghanaian adage that “All heads are the same, but not all thoughts are the same.” Gen. Shuaib’s thoughts bubbles with germinative ideas, which he monitors closely to fruition.

Gen. Shuaib has changed the fortunes of the NYSC from a wobbling, but sensitive agency of Government to a formidable youth scheme, through dexterous management.

NYSC is now amply meeting its core mandate of bridging the gulf between the years of academic work and the first practical experiences of young Nigerian graduates towards the ideals of ethnic inculturation, repulsion to religious prejudices’, self-reliance and personal development and national productivity.  

The DG-NYSC has determinedly faced and overhauled the hitherto dormant Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme of the scheme and turned its dwindling fortunes into harvestable gold for corps members. He has successfully utilized the one month’s practical skills training in the orientation course content for corps members during camps for expansion of personal knowledge in various trades; an antidote to personal development and self-reliance.   

Through faithfulness to this policy thrust, Gen. Shuaib is dialoging with The FGN and other relevant stakeholders to formally establish a legislation-backed   NYSC Trust Fund.  The NYSC Trust Fund envisages to source funding from a certain percentage of profits netted by some mega corporate bodies operating in the country; which in addition to financial empowerment of passing out corps members, would confer financial independence in funding NYSC projects such as expansion of orientation camps and renovation of dilapidate camp facilities.

Gen. Shuaib has tenaciously fought and purged the scheme of the menace of corruption in NYSC, evident in the admittance of prospective corps members with fake results. NYSC is no longer an abode for jobless Nigerians or roadside artisans, who never went to school, but dubiously sneaked into the scheme and became perpetual corps members, through his stern physical verification.

The NYSC boss, prioritizes the welfare of corpse members. Under his leadership, the Presidency approved an increment in the monthly allowance of corps members to N33,000, above the prescribed New National Minimum wage. It is intended to create a window for prudent NYSC members to save part of the stipends to invest into employable initiatives after service. And when the NYSC Trust Fund finally takes off, employment would have been dealt devastating punch in the country.   

The NYSC leadership is restless and relentless to gain its financial independence, by harnessing initiatives designed to increase revenue flow into the agency. Therefore, the scheme is aggressively pursuing its investments initiatives to boost its income generation, rather than depend on the mono-source of revenue which at the moment majorly falls on the FGN and intensifies its financial stress.

Consequently, the abandoned NYSC water and bakery factories at NYSC orientation camp Kubwa have been revived and functioning maximally.  The NYSC now uses its own water at orientation camps in many parts of the country and the products from these investments are competitively visible in the markets of neighboring states such as Abuja, Kogi, Nasarawa, Kaduna and, Niger among others.

Furthermore, Gen. Shuaib’s leadership, the NYSC   has constructed a two thousand bird capacity poultry farm at Kwali, FCT. And it has almost completed the resuscitation of the NYSC Poultry Farm, Ita Ogbolu, Ondo state. He is injecting life into moribund NYSC ventures, as the NYSC Rice Mill Ezillo in Ebonyi is nearing completion for full operations; likewise, the NYSC Feed Mill in Lagos state, which is primed and technologized for the production of animal feeds.

The highly innovative DG-NYSC, in alliance with stakeholders have dialogued and obtained the consent of the State Governors of Edo, Ekiti and Nasarawa states on support for the scheme’s investment drives. These State Governments have graciously donated land for the establishment of NYSC Garment Factories for South -South, Southwest as well as a whooping 16 hectares of land for crops production for revenue generation and platforms of training of more corps members in industrial and agricultural capacities.

And through the direction of the NYSC boss, the first time ever, NYSC Wood (Film Company) and NYSC National Cultural Troupe have been established.  And he has secured their thriving and sustenance by striking a smooth relationship with National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) for the proper indoctrination, training of corps members and technical supports.

Gen. Shuaib has repositioned the NYSC to begin to disseminate and articulate its activities to the public. He has therefore secured an operational license for the scheme’s proposed radio station, where corps members will directly be empowered to speak to Nigerians wherever they are domiciled for the primary assignment.  

Partnership with relevant agencies, bodies and corporate organizations for the benefits of serving corps members is a focal policy of the Brigadier Gen. Shuaib’s administration.  So far, the NYSC under his directorship has partnered a dozen of such organizations for the personal development of corps members and national productivity.

Gen. Shuaibu recognized instantly that the diversification of the economy through agriculture was a central policy and obsession of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. He has spared no stone in ensuring corps members are trained on the latest farming techniques and encouraged to embrace agriculture as their contribution to national food security.  

In the pursuit of this laudable vision, as soon as Gen. Shuaib assumed duties at NYSC, he revamped the scheme’s four farm settlements across the country as part of efforts to key into the FGN’s agriculture diversification initiative. NYSC mega farms in Abuja, Bauchi, Kebbi and Oyo states have been activated.

Corps members have also been compelled to embrace the FGN’s rice policy programmes  and excitingly, the scheme massively  cultivated  rice in  its Abuja  and Kebbi farms in the 2020 cropping season; as in  the  2021 farming season,  its  rice farm at Ezillo, Ebonyi state, would join the fray of robust NYSC rice fields. And the hectarage of its farmland rose astronomically from 60 hectares to 160 hectares in the 2020 farming season.

To this end, the NYSC also partnered for the training of   68 corps members among the 269 pioneer graduates,  trained  as soil doctors and extension services workers,  by the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) in collaboration with the  Government of Borno state. It is a major step towards the rejuvenation of agricultural engagements in the country.

Additionally, the NYSC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Leventis Foundation Nigeria on training of corps members in agricultural best practices.  The initiative is also to fully empower corps members with the relevant skills, bolster self-reliance and avail them incentives that would encourage the pursuit of food sufficiency in the country.

Similarly, the modalities’ have been worked out between the NYSC and the British American Tobacco Nigeria   Foundation for the training for corps members on agro-allied related ventures. And Gen. Shauib also induced corps member to enlist in the national battle against the raging Covid-19 pandemic, which they participated excellently.

The Ghanaians have also posited in a proverb that; “If we put a hammer in every person’s hand, could they all become blacksmiths?” But Gen. Ibrahim Shuaib has demonstrated his competence as a blacksmith, who has effectively applied the hammer in his hands in the management of NYSC. 

Aluor is a public affairs analyst and wrote from Oduduwa University, Ife.

Lawyer Writes Buhari, Calls For IGP Removal ...Cites Due Process

By Dansu Peter 

An Abuja based legal practitioner, Barrister Silas Onu has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to avoid the embarras sment of being documented as a serial law breaker in the court records by acting in accordance with the very law he assented to.

Barrister Onu also urged the President to avoid being misled into the destruction of State Institutions with unnecessary politics and influence peddling.

The legal practitioner said these in an open letter he wrote to President Buhari in respect of the appointment of Usman Alkali Baba as the acting Inspector-General of Police and the implication of appointing a legally unqualified person to such position.

Barrister Onu encouraged the 

President to heed his admonition in the overall interest of our nation, especially at this precarious time that legitimacy will go a long way in covering the gap created by obvious acts of nepotism at the expense of our law and national unity.

Barrister Onu in his open letter dated May 10, this year to the President, pointed out that Nigeria is currently going back to the same scenario of unnecessary distractions of lobbying and attempts to subverts the clear provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Nigeria Police Act, 2020 by desperate politicians who are only interested in 2023 elections and are out to impose an unqualified IGP who they believe will do their bidding.

The legal practitioner, in his open letter asked, "Why do we enjoy the destruction of State Institutions with unnecessary politics and influence peddling? 

He added, "It is widely rumoured that so much money have and is being spent in the bid to retain the appointment of anyone as Inspector-General of Police, irrespective of the obvious lack of qualification – whether this is true or not, it should not be allowed to degenerate to this level before Mr. President does the right thing and act by the law.

"I am hopeful that Mr. President will heed to this kind admonition in the overall interest of our nation, especially at this precarious time that legitimacy will go a long way in covering the gap created by obvious acts of nepotism at the expense of our law and national unity.

"If Mr. President knew that he was not willing to abide by this law, why did he assent to it? 

"Is the application of law now subjected to political, ethnic and religious considerations? 

Continuing, Barrister Onu said, The subject matter of appointing a new Inspector-General for the Nigeria Police Force has been one that I saw as an opportunity for this great nation to rise above primordial cleavages and, for once, abide by the letters and spirit of our laws devoid of politics, nepotism and or religious and tribal sentiment. "That was my driving force when I challenged the tenure extension granted to the former Inspector-General, Adamu Muhammed upon his statutory retirement. 

"That case was due for judgment before Mr. President realized the error and effectively removed him from office.

"My action was not borne out of hatred for the former Inspector-General of Police, neither is my present resistance for the appointment of Usman Alkali Baba as the Acting Inspector-General borne out of tribalism or religious consideration. 

"My action is solely a passionate pursuit of justice for Nigerians and the need to uphold our laws as they are presently in effect. 

"My action is a patriotic public interest activism aimed at ensuring that our foremost internal security institution is insulated from politics and unnecessary favoritism in the appointment of its leadership.

"Mr. President will agree with me that the wrongful extension of the tenure of the former IGP led to an unnecessary distraction in the core responsibility of the police as the then IGP became pre-occupied with lobbying to secure his office rather than securing the lives and properties of Nigerians. 

"He hired lawyers to present bizarre argument on his behalf with the intention of turning the law on its head in order for him to remain in office beyond his mandatory statutory retirement age.

"Your Excellency, we are currently back to the same scenario of unnecessary distractions of lobbying and attempts to subverts the clear provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Nigeria Police Act, 2020 by desperate politicians who are only interested in 2023 elections and are out to impose an unqualified IGP who they believe will do their bidding.

"One wonders why the President of the Nigerian Senate whose chamber was involved in the enactment of the Police Act, 2020 will be silent when a clearly unqualified person is appointed as the IGP of Police at a time that our nation is in need of 100% lawful actions required for legitimacy in the security sector of our nation. 

"At least, the Nigeria Senate should be seen and heard insisting that the law they passed to reform and professionalize the Nigerian Police Force is strictly adhered to in implementation. 

"However, it seems the Senate is even in support of totally breaching that law for their political convenience.

"Also, it is greatly depressing to imagine that the Attorney-General of the federation might have advised in support of such an unlawful appointment as he has remained silent after openly defending the most illegal tenure extension of the former IGP. 

"The Attorney-General of the federation seems to be more interested in politics than upholding our laws. 

"There is no other reason for the Attorney-General to turn a blind eye over such an illegal appointment except politics or genuine lack of understanding of our laws – that is most unfortunate. In both circumstances", he said in the letter.