…DESPITE THE APPARENT PREMATURE PROCLAMATION OF THEIR DEFEAT BY THE SECURITY FORCES.
The war against Bokoharam terrorist organization in the North East of Nigeria has appeared unending irrespective of the apparent premature proclamation by the security forces that the terror movement has been technically defeated. Evidently, there is growing fear and disenchantment among Nigerians across the board over the childish excuses presented by the inept regime of Major General Buhari on why the terror group has remain defiantly impregnable.
The Nigerian military also has boasted on several occasions that the vengeful and insane group has been decimated and pushed down to lake chad axis where their audacious operations have been curtailed and reduced to the barest minimum but recent reports and activities of the depraved group has in a way discredited the numerous insubstantial statements of the Nigerian military high command. This however has pointedly revibrated the insincerity of the commanders prosecuting this war.
It is on record that between 2012 and 2019, the Nigerian military has received a whopping sum of 4.5 trillion naira. Security experts have continue to wonder why this insane group is still waxing strong when the military has been receiving a jumbo budgetary allocation for the past nine years with virtually nothing on ground to show for it. A disturbing situation that has further put a question mark on the issue of corruption which is stupendously eating up the entire stratum of the military.
Pockets Of Complaints
Even so, there exist constant pockets of complaints from hundreds of combatants stationed in the various war zones. Uncountable number of them lacks the courage to openly condemn their superiors who have squandered the money meant for their up keep. Some of the soldiers who doesn’t want their name to appear on print because of victimization authoritatively told this reporter that they hardly eat good food. Sometimes we go to war with Bokoharam on empty stomach. Festus (not the original name) said, some of his injured colleagues died because there was no enough food in their camp.
Many Of Us Here Do Not Have Uniform And Jungle Boot.
According to another soldier, “I bought my jungle boot and uniform with my salary. Many of us here do not have uniform and Jungle boot. I could remember the day some of us confronted Bokoharam with ordinary slippers on our foot”. “Our allowances are hardly paid and even when the oga’s at the top are touched to pay, one will be shocked with the level of deductions made”. Journalist listen, Bokoharam has more sophisticated weapons than us. Some of the weapons we are using to fight them are outdated and malfunctioning but the oga’s will always force us to use it. If one raises an eyebrow, immediately, it becomes a question of mutiny, another soldier said. There are multiple complaints from different quarters which the military command has feigned ignorance of. The rising incompetence and corrupt disposition of the officers prosecuting the war in the North East has completely made Bokoharam more stubborn and unyielding to the fire power of the Nigerian military.
Political Dribbling And Media Hogwash
The presidency and the military high command have resorted to political dribbling and media hogwash just to give a false hope to Nigerians that a poorly equipped, under paid and corruption infested military is clipping the wings of a notorious terror group. Moreover, the insincerity, tribalistic and kids glove approach of Major General Buhari in stemming the excesses of Bokoharam is rather making the fight more complicated than one can imagine. How can the war against Bokoharam come to an end when hundreds of them who were arrested by the army are taken to a rehabilitation facility and afterwards, released and recruited into the army? A counter productive mechanism that has only caused more collateral damage to the entire military architecture.
The tone and body language of Major General Buhari is dangerous. Approximately, he lacks the moral and military will to assert a decisive assault which can definitely declare the final obituary of Bokoharam. But this will not happen considering the fact that he is somewhat sympathetic to their cause. Under Buhari, Bokoharam has grown more lethal and daring. It is on record that Bokoharam has slaughtered more people under Buhari’s regime than the government of Yaradua and Jonathan put together.
Nigerians should have known by now that the end to Bokoharam onslaught is not in sight. So, it will be outright amateurism for the government to keep feeding some of their designated bandwagons with trivial lies that the terror group has been defeated. If there is such, how come on January the group executed the president of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Lawan Andimi after a 50 million naira ransom was rejected by the insurgents? Likewise the beheading of Dalep, a student of UNIMAID who was kidnapped while returning back to school. The killings are too numerous to mention. Buhari and his cabinet have performed below average when it comes to security. Senator Abaribe was politically correct by asking Buhari to resign and pave way for a competent hand to take over.
Notwithstanding, time and events have proven that the peddling of propaganda on the pages of newspapers can’t put an end to Bokoharam. And no matter the circumstance, there is no way lies can run faster than the truth. The war against Bokoharam has not been won, it has only taken a scary dimension.
Kalu Nwokoro Idika is a political analyst, investigative and freelance journalist
