Nigeria Times

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.

By Simon Wayo

Governor of Benue state, Mr. Samuel Ortom is a disingenuous thespian. He seeks to recreate the absurdist theatre of ancient Greek, but replicates it very poorly. But in his die-hard posture of dramatizing the bizarre, the Governor competes for fame, which sophistry has outclassed Sophocles, the great Greek playwright.

Governor Ortom is recognized nationally and even globally, as the master of wails and whines! He erects the stage and sources his raw materials or contents for the dramatic and propagandist showmanship from alleged herdsmen atrocities in Benue state. He is not popular among the clan of Governors in Nigeria for landmark development projects.

Each time, he parrots and howls like a strangulated prisoner, it’s about insecurities in his state. What is suspect and triggers anger is his proclivity of his very translucently, dishonest approaches to the crises of different shades and dimensions plaquing his state.

No one can dispute the extremely porous state of security in Nigeria today. Armed aliens, foreign merchants and their local conspirators are really making a mince meat of Nigeria’s national security. This is indisputable. But what is the Presidency not doing to curb the trend of viral insecurities in Nigeria?

President Muhammadu Buhari has not flinched from doing the needful. He is funding, equipping and deploying all security agents to crisis flashpoints. The widespread tendency of the crisis has apparently over-tasked and overstretched the Nigerian security apparatus. It is very glaring. Yet, the Federal Government has not relented on its oars to enthrone peace and stability throughout the country.

It is accepted that where human lives are affected, it sprouts emotions, some genuine, while others partisan. But a cliche says, security is everybody’s business. Leaders at the lower rungs in the corridors of power particularly, have a lot to do in complementing the strength of the Federal Government in securing the lives and property of Nigerians. Regrettably through, it is a philosophy Benue’s Governor Ortom has refused to imbibe.

The central Government’s concern for security is the reason each state of the federation has monthly security votes. It is supposed to be expanded in whatever way to tame crisis at its embryonic stage through proactive steps. Unfortunately, some rogue-State Governors have abused it. They are eager to collect the huge sums, but very hesitant to use it for the purpose it was budgeted.

Ortom is a perfect example. He allegedly collects about N900 million monthly as security votes. But to cover-up his leadership loopholes, Mr. Governor has made it a hobby to tongue-lash, brickbat, grandstand, harshly scold and assail the personality and office of Mr. President with accusations’ of failing to tackle security challenges in the country.

President Buhari has received consistent reproaches from Governor Ortom who accuses him of permitting his Fulani kinsmen to kill and bloodily evict the people of Benue out of their ancestral lands. The Governor knows, what he spews are half-truths; malicious lies and egoistic grandstanding against the Presidency to coverup his abdication of his basic responsibilities. This is public knowledge.

Killers operating in Nigeria whether clothe as terrorists or bandits have permeated the land, including the President’s home-state of Katsina. By Ortom’s extrapolations, is it likely that Mr. President would also prod the killers to kill his own direct kinsmen, who share same affinity with the same armed assailants? The answer is clearly in the negative. That’s why every leader must play his role faithfully to end this scourge in Nigeria.

Now, some few days back, Governor Ortom again addressed Nigerians alleging the invasion and killing of about seven persons housed in an IDP camp, Abagena at the outskirts of Makurdi, the Benue State capital. (May the souls of those who lost their lives rest in perfect peace). But there were a lot of lacunas in Ortom’s wailings and castigations of the Presidency, flowing from the latest incident.

The Governor accused President Buhari of failing on security of his state and the entire country. But strangely, Ortom exonerated himself from his actions and inactions which have aggravated the deadly conflict between farmers and herders or he generally porous security in his state.

Have Nigerians imagined that in the scenario of incessant attacks by killer gangs on communities in Benue, a place housing IDPs would have no security guard, even of local vigilantes? It is the responsibility of the state Governor. These are the minor things, but very crucial, which he ignores, but prefers to blame Buhari.

Benue state is generally a hotbed of violent clashes or insecurities. There are internal communal clashes, and conflagrations in various parts of the state, which have added its force to the invading armed gangs to terrorize the state. These seems entrenched in the state. Perceptively, there is poor leadership discharge in Benue state, as exemplified by Governor Ortom.

The Benue Governor has mismanaged everything in the state. He has refused to pay salaries and pay pensioners. He has thwarted flow of funds into the Local Government system, despite NFIU enforcement; he has built no cottage industries to create jobs, and he has resuscitated none! Penury smiles ferociously in the state; whilst, hunger and starvation are perpetual tenants in Benue.

And even agriculture which is the main traditional occupation of the people is in shambles because of failure of the Governor to encourage and support farming ventures. What he supports is the Oracle Farms Limited, the Governor’s private farms. He spends more time on his private farms, than he commits to governing the state.

It is this leadership deficit in the state that has created cracks on the wall and birthed the awful insecurities tormenting the people. Gov. Ortom has never thought of exploring alternatives in solving evolving security issues in the state. He ignores these issues until they explode dangerously to create a platform for him to shift the blame on Mr. President. He saves his monthly security votes under his pillow and waits for the next allocation.

Governor Ortom sounds all the time as if it is President Buhari who is opposed to the Anti-Opening Grazing Prohibition and Ranching Establishment Law, operative in the state. The ban on open grazing in the state is a law passed by the State House of Assembly. It means, it is what the people of Benue have collectively endorsed, which is subject to violation like any other law in the country. It is instructive that the Anti- Open Grazing law was conceived and enacted by the APC led government in Benue State at the time and was initiated by civil society groups in the state.

The anti-open grazing law also has restrictions, spells out penalties for violation and prescribes punishments for offenders, including prosecution and payment of fines to reclaim impounded livestock. But Governor Ortom has consciously abused or violated the stipulations of a law he signed himself.

Ortom is aware that confiscated cows from herders who violate the law ends up missing, or diverted, when the owners eventually appear to pay the prescribed fines to reclaim their livestock. Intelligence reports indicate that sometimes, impounded livestock are even shared among operators or enforcers of the anti-open grazing law, immediately they are seized.

And when the owners come to reclaim back their goods, the consignment is most times incomplete or dubiously pilfered. It’s evident in Ortom’s Livestock Guards, who are merely on monthly stipends, but are now living epicurean lifestyles from the business of illegally selling off confiscated cattle.

These are some of the actions sparking reprisal attacks from the same herders, who are angered that the Government has shortchanged and unfairly dispossessed them of their treasures. And Governor Ortom is aware of this defective application of the anti-open grazing law, but he is strangely reluctant to insist on the right thing. By implication, Ortom is a beneficiary of the disrupted peace he has brought on people of the state and doesn’t want an end to it.

It’s high time Nigerians are told the truth. Governor Ortom is the main architect and culprit of the insecurities bedeviling his state or the heist by herders in his state. He is even suspected of diversionary hiding under the cover of the killers to settle political scores with enemies.

This is the reason its difficult for federal security to assist Ortom restore absolute security sanity in the state. Nigerians should ignore his flippancy and propagandist tendencies, as well as the persistent scolding of President Buhari. Ortom is the real cause of insecurities in the state and thereafter, shed crocodile tears to attract empathy.

Each time he has to render accountability to his people, he ups the ante of insecurities. He has used this template to divert monthly entitlements of workers and pensioners’, citing insecurity in the state. The people should be wise to identify their real enemy; and it is Governor Ortom who has turned the herdsmen killings into a business. Those in doubt, should ask Gov. Ortom’s kinsman, Alhaji Aliyu Tashaku!

Had Ortom approached herder’s mayhem in Benue honestly and genuinely, the killings would have ended or at least, the tempo would have reduced. Therefore, the Governor lacks the moral right or rectitude to criticize President Buhari who is doing his best to contain the situation. To this moment, Operation Whirl Stroke is still operating in Benue and parts of the North Central states. It is this same team that tackled the notorious Gana militant group that once kidnapped and murdered the wife of Justice Tine Tuu. The jurist himself died from what is suspected to be the trauma of the tragic death of his wife . Ortom should utilize them as assets to restore durable peace and security in Benue state. #

Wayo wrote from Federal Government College, Gboko Benue State.