Were it not for divine intervention, Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, would have been in his grave now and Nigeria would be mourning.
On July 29, 2020, a convoy conveying the Governor and his entourage was ambushed and attacked by gunmen believed to be Boko Haram terrorists in Baga, a town in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State. Zulum was on a humanitarian mission to Monguno and Baga to distribute food items to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the area.
Hundreds of thousands of indigenes of Borno State have been driven out of their homes by a Boko Haram insurgency, which has been ravaging much of North eastern Nigeria, particularly Borno, the epicentre of terrorism in the country. The insurgents have equally killed several thousands, including members of the Nigerian Armed Forces, through either improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or direct gun battles.
If the ambush attack on Governor Zulum had succeeded, he would have been the highest profiled casualty of the over a decade-long insurgency, which has refused to go away even with the best efforts of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Much has been said about the security forces fighting the war against the terrorists. While most Nigerians applaud their efforts, especially since the advent of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in 2015, a vocal and critical segment of society is less than satisfied with their performances. Governor Zulum is one of them.
Reacting to the attack on his convoy, Zulum blamed members of the military deployed in the area for the incident, saying soldiers and not insurgents actually attacked him. He wondered why with the thousands of officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces deployed in the area, his convoy could come under fire from “unknown” gunmen. His position is shared by most observers of the security situation in the area. Baga, a strategic town in the on-going war against insurgency/terrorism, is barely five kilometres from the nearest military base, and these nearby bases number more than two. The town had changed hands between the military and Boko Haram a number of times, with the military claiming to have finally liberated it. So, if that was the case, how come that the Governor’s convoy came under attack? Or put differently, who in the military attacked that convoy, since the area had been rid of Boko Haram?
This attack, no doubt, was an embarrassment to the military especially coming after its claim to have liberated every inch of Borno/Nigeria’s territory from Boko Haram’s occupation. And in a humiliating admission, the military in a reaction to Governor Zulum’s accusation, blamed the attack on elements within Boko Haram, claiming its analysis of the incident revealed that the pattern and manner of the attack, coupled with the type of weapons used were the hallmark of the terrorists’ tactics.
The explanations by the military doesn’t seem to have impressed most Nigerians, especially Governor Zulum and a host of his colleagues in the Nigerian Governors’ Forum. The Forum in a reaction, not only condemned the ambush, but drew attention to the fact the attack showed that no one was immune to such and that it highlighted the precarious security situation in the country in spite of the best efforts of the military and the Federal Government. The governors opted to keep any further comment on the incident to themselves, preferring to have a private audience with President Buhari on it, where they were expected to vent their anger. And an equally embarrassed Buhari hurriedly summoned a security council meeting to discuss the attack and other security challenges facing the country.
As has been the case when there were security infractions, only what Buhari seems capable of doing was to condemn the situation and urge the military to up its game. And he promptly delivered this message after his meeting with the Service Chiefs and other members of the security council. “Change your tactics,” he urged the security forces, as if this alone will restore security in the troubled areas. Most Nigerians are tired of this rhetoric and want real action from the President. We share this position with other compatriots. There’s a need for a change of leadership at the top of the military high command. Not a few Nigerians have been agitating for this change for some time now but the President has strenuously resisted. Even the National Assembly has weighed in, yet the President would not listen.
The case for this change has become more compelling in the wake of this attack on Governor Zulum’s convoy. Quite a number of influential personalities and groups from the North east region have pointedly accused the military of half-heartedness in the fight against terrorism in the region. Not minding the fact that the Chief of Army Staff Lt. General Buratai, is from Borno State and probably has a personal interest in ensuring the defeat of Boko Haram, they are equally in support of this change in the military high command to bring fresh impetus to this fight against terror.
One of the survivors of the attack did accuse some officers of doing business with the war, while also accusing some of the soldiers of trading in commodities/items with the insurgents using their privilege position of being members of the armed forces. “Some of them sell food items like fish to the insurgents. This business relationship is affecting their commitment to the war. You may have over a thousand officers and soldiers under your command as a field commander, but not sure how many are committed. We’ve heard stories of soldiers wearing mufti under their uniforms when they go after Boko Haram and at the slightest resistance by the insurgents, quickly removing their uniforms and blending with fleeing/traumatized civilians. It is that bad,” the survivor told KaftanPost.
There have been trending video recordings of deserters accusing their commanders of letting them down. Even some commanders have accused their bosses at the military headquarters of neglecting the combat needs of the troops on the front, including their welfare. A particular commander, a Brigadier-General, was redeployed to Army Headquarters not too long ago, following a similar complaint. And he wasn’t the first field commander to complain. That these complaints keep coming; show something is wrong with the way the war is being prosecuted. And this should worry President Buhari as the Commander-in-Chief.
While some of the allegations against the military might not be true, but the fact that some of the criticisms have come from high-ranking members of society, especially the governor of a state at the centre of the insurgency should equally worry the President. Though Governor Zulu may have exaggerated the situation, as some have accused him of, he’s the one wearing the shoe and knows where it pinches, so Buhari should listen to him and the other voices of reason and rejig the security architecture of the country, bringing in fresh blood into the leadership of the military to conclude this war against terror in the North east, and rid the rest of the country of other forms of insecurity threatening our nation. The Service Chiefs are tired; they should go.
And in addition, the capacity of the military to deal with the security challenges facing the country should be addressed. It’s no secret that the military is overstretched and over-stressed. Apart from equipment upgrade and capacity building, it might be necessary to seek help and assistance where we are lacking, and this is not a sign of weakness or surrender of sovereignty as some, especially in the military, might want to argue.
There were rumours during the dying days of Dr Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency that the Federal Government engaged the services of South African mercenaries to fight the war against Boko Haram, which brought relative peace to the North east and enabled elections to take place in the region. That election brought in the Buhari presidency. It was also rumoured that Buhari on assumption of office cancelled the contract and sent the mercenaries packing, following complaints from the military. True or not, the present security situation in the country has shown that we don’t have the capacity, as at today, to win the war on terror and overcome other security challenges on our own, we need help, and we should not be ashamed to seek help from our friends. The General in President Muhammadu Buhari should come to the fore now and ensure the safety of lives and property of every Nigerian in every part of the country, and guarding every inch of our territory. This is one of his core primary responsibilities as Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
