Nigeria Times

By Philip Agbese

Before now, I found the ancient English aphorism, “what a man can do, a woman can do better,” a bit distractive because I considered it a demeaning psychological assault on the masculinity of men. But I am forced to embrace the wisdom in this wit, after I keenly watched the operations of the Honourable Minister, Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq over time function in that capacity.

Obviously, she is the youngest Minister in President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet in the second term of the administration. But I am pleasantly shocked that Minister Sadiya is proving every day that age is merely a number. Her performance in the very complex and engaging ministry has outclassed many other appointees under the Buhari Presidency.

Anyone can choose to remain stoic by not recognizing this great woman of substance and a future leader gunning for even bigger appointments by her credible performance. I know perfectly that once some people have a fixated mindset to paint you in black, there you can do to excite them. Rather, they strive to adorn and defame you unjustifiably with satanic colours.

But Minister Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq has disarmed me by her performance. And it is not only me who is so impressed. At least, I know genuine critics can also attest for her excellent performance. I am not referring to hired ones, whose only niggle is the contracted hatchet job and the money which greases the palms.

Certainly, I know in Nigeria, my country where more people tilt towards darkness, than light, getting a new government ministry start-off ground is a superhuman task. But Minister Sadiya responded to the challenge sharply, in spite of a meagre operational budget. She recognized that the mandate of the ministry deserves very attention of whoever heads it.

Today, Nigeria has a functional Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to wipe our tears at the hopeless situations, we often find ourselves. She a woman virtuous woman of a puritan mould and I feel she deserves our collective eulogies.

She has demonstrated enough wisdom, tact and sufficient dexterity in handling the complex humanitarian issues which defines the core mandate of the ministry. Sadiya is agile, vibrant, fearless and principled. I don’t know her personally, but I can glean this from her numerous outings.

The Minister is a huge asset not only to the Buhari Presidency, but to distressed Nigerians. A periscopic glance at her performance in the last one month alone reveals the leadership substance embedded in her quiet personality.

The Northeast, where Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists rage at innocent Nigerians has become her permanent home, where she constantly visits and renders humanitarian succour to a tormented citizenry. She has deemed the Northeast enclave a personal project in all ramifications.

Only in the last week of June 2020 for instance, Minister Sadiya, representing Mr. President, led other top government dignitaries to Maiduguri where she cut the tape to commission 120 operational vehicles, and medical supplies donated to the military/other security agencies and tertiary institutions by the North East Development Commission (NEDC) to boost counter-insurgency operations in the region. The message she delivered at the occasion on the need for peace was not only captivating, but solemn in every sense.

She echoed that the Northeast region deserve peace and stability, and it is only realizable through collaborative efforts and synergy among all stakeholders. This is what we have been preaching all the times. I wish people of the region should listen to her. It implies that Minister Sadiya is not only a humanist, but a peace evangelist.

An elated Borno state Gov. Babagana Zulum could not conceal his feelings, but exclaimed to Sadiya; “We are indeed grateful your ministry for what it is doing for the Boko Haram ravaged people of Borno State.”

A few days earlier in the same month, Minister Sadiya inaugurated the Federal Government National Steering Committee for the restructured Multi-sectoral Crisis Recovery Project (MCRP) designated for Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States.

MCRP is the foundation for the effective implementation of the Lake Chad Region Recovery and Development Project (PROLAC), sponsored by the World Bank at a whopping sum of $200 million dollars to support the recovery of the Northeast region devastated by Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria.

She revealed “The Initial 200 Million-dollar project, which began on February 16, 2018, MCRP has achieved significant progress as evidenced by the midterm report of the World Bank in November 2019. And it is on the trajectory to achieve its Project Development Objectives (PDO) and results despite, a 10-month delay from Board Approval to Effectiveness.’’ She is also chairing the committee, an indication that it has not only taken off now under assured leadership, but has promisingly moved to the #NextLevel.

A workaholic to the core, Minister Sadiya was again on the delegation of the Federal Government of Nigeria led by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno(rtd) to commiserate with Gov. Zulum and the people of Borno over the unfortunate incident of Boko Haram attacks on some communities which resulted into scores of deaths. Minister Sadiya Umar Farouq also performed her passionate responsibility by providing humanitarian assistance to the displaced survivors as first point of consolation.

And in the same month, Sadiya featured prominently at the groundbreaking ceremony of the 10, 000 units of housing project for IDPs in Ngom, Mafa LGA of Borno state. It is one of Mr. President’s special intervention projects under the North East Development Commission (NEDC) led by the commission’s Managing Director, Alhaji Mohammed Alkali.

And in her unchangeable passion for equity, fairness and innate motherly affection, Minister Sadiya canvassed that that 1000 housing units would be built in Ngom, while the rest 9000 would be distributed across other nine other LGAs in the state.

Back to Abuja, the Honourable Minister has refocused attention on N-Power jobs Batch “C”. The programme has successfully entered stage “C”. The online process of registration of fresh beneficiaries also commenced within the last one month.

For her initiative to propel the N-Power jobs to the #NextLevel after terminating the overdue Batches “A” and “B” confirms her flair for fairness and equity. She has not abandoned them either. Minister Sadiya is also talking to entrepreneurs in the private sector to engage the productive ones under a special pact. But since the Minister assumed office, beneficiaries of the programme have attested to prompt payments of entitlements, since the scheme was moved to the Ministry.

Minister Sadiya is everything workaholic and compassion. She is leaving no stone unturned to put smiles on the faces of less privileged Nigerians. And these days, I hear pleasant echoes from Nigerian masses who have nicknamed her as the minister of Nigerian masses.

Agbese is a publisher and researcher in human rights law.

Nigeria’s Boko Haram/ISWAP crisis is in three instalments. On one side, there is the obvious menace of the terrorist group. Those who aid and abate their criminal activities are another. International non-governmental organizations (NGOs) complete the deadly triangle. 

For nearly a dozen years, Boko Haram perpetrated violence across the North-East, aiming to rid the country of any form of “Western influence.” In the first six years, the terror strews across the country. The Federal Capital Territory received overdose with a deadly car bomb attack on the United Nations building in 2011 signalling intent. The horror worsened afterwards. 

In December 2013, hundreds of the jihadists overran a Nigerian air force base in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri. Then four months later, the group gained particular notoriety for the abduction of an entire girls’ school in the town of Chibok. Over 20,000 persons were reportedly killed, hundreds of thousands displaced. 

After reaching its peak in 2015, the number of casualties attributed to the group fell dramatically. 

President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory ushered in this new phase, breaking the convention with a different approach and personnel. Led by Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. T.Y Buratai, the new Service Chiefs degraded the group’s territorial control, pushing them to the fringes of the Lake Chad Basin.  

More recently, the COAS masterminded operations in the region that killed more than 1,000 insurgents. Audio messages released by Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram’s main faction in April suggest the group is indeed hard-pressed. In one of them he wept and prayed for protection from the “devilish” army as he urged his men to stand firm.

While Boko Haram appears weakened, batted and on the brink of surrendering, supposed humanitarian aid groups potentially pose another threat to the troops. And unlike its brutal approach on the radical jihadists, troops are handicapped. 

For years, military authorities have allowed aid organizations operate outside of government-controlled areas, neglecting Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act, 2013, which criminalizes engagement with groups the government lists as terrorist. Stakeholders believe the military’s initial soft stance allowed the NGOs to perpetuate evil.   

The role of international NGOs in conflicts can not be overlooked, though. They save millions of lives, provide food, drinking water, and healthcare to those that need lifesaving assistance. Some, however, seem to bolster and encourage the carnage being perpetuated by insurgents and rebels. 

In Nigeria, for instance, several reports have found many guilty of operating against all known international protocol, rendering humanitarian assistance to Boko Haram. They have been found to turn the crisis to a viable business venture, perpetuating acts that undermine the efforts of the military towards decimating the terrorist group. Some even act as spies, carrying out espionage activities.

Gudaji Kazaure, a federal lawmaker from Jigawa State first raised this alarm in 2018. He said, “The most important is for Mr President to be aware of those NGOs that are giving medication, support, food and others to the terrorists. If we don’t stop those NGOs that are going into Sambisa and meeting Boko Haram, we will not succeed in this war.”

It took almost a year for Kazaure’s entreaty to be taken seriously. The military began a major crackdown on foreign NGOs for “aiding and abetting terrorists”, supplying food and drugs. Two aid agencies, Action Against Hunger and Mercy Corps were suspended but pardoned merely ome month later. 

Ali Ndume, Chairmain Senator Comittte on Army kicked, insisting that he has credible evidence that NGOs work with Boko Haram after returning from a trip to Maiduguri. 

“Another area that the Senate will look into is the allegation that the various NGOs in that area are conniving with the insurgents – providing them information, logistics and so many things,” he said. 

“I have been critical about this and people have told me to be careful but it has come out now that one or two of the so-called NGOs operating there are actually aiding and abetting and supporting the insurgents. But we will do an investigation and we will hear if we have the evidence.”

Since 2019, after a resurgence in fighting, government and military officials have also required aid organizations to undergo lengthy processes to obtain compulsory authorization for moving personnel, cash, and cargo carrying relief materials in the northeast region. The military mandated using armed escorts on some routes, banned certain types of goods, and limited the amount of fuel the agencies can use in the field. Somehow, the can of worms remained. 

Funding for Boko Haram

A damning report by the Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights (CALSER) have found some INGOs to be responsible for funding Boko Haram. It revealed that while there are multiple evidence that suggests that funds from the coffers of these INGOs end up in the hands of the Boko Haram terrorist group, majority do come in the country from the francophone countries in cash. 

The military authorities have not been successful in tracking the inflow and disbursement of millions of dollars that have passed through the coffers of the INGOs. The discreet nature of their transactions has made matters worse. 

Funds aside, INGOs have been accused of providing humanitarian support to Boko Haram terrorists in violation of international protocol and laws. They divert food and other relief items meant for the IDPs to the camp of the group. In most instances, some medical NGO have been reported to be providing medical services to injured terrorists, which goes against the provisions in the International Humanitarian Law in armed conflict situations. 

Some locals in communities confessed that there are numerous instances where some INGOs move truck load of food items and medical supplies and abandon them in the middle of nowhere and before dawn these trucks and the items would disappear. 

It was also stated that some INGOs move about with unmarked trucks which makes it difficult to track their identities. The reason for this it was gathered was to leave no trace behind for the military to trace. 

Worst still, INGOs are believed to engage in the blackmail of the military. CALSER’s report and many others uncovered some foreign aid agencies engaged in propaganda on behalf of Boko Haram, especially when they come under heavy bombardment from the Nigerian troops. 

The report also revealed that some foreign interest contracted some well-known INGOs in Nigeria to act as the intellectual arm of the Boko Haram group through the issuance of press statement and reports accusing the Nigerian Military of human rights abuses. These tactics are meant to cause a distraction when there seems to be intense pressure on the Boko Haram group.  

It was also gathered that the bulk of the rape allegations made against the military in IDP camps were fabricated too by some INGOs who offer young girls and women monies to appear before the camera to make such allegations. 

Several others are alleged to be actively involved in human trafficking and exploitation. There is a particular case of a French NGO that carries out documentaries in IDP camps depicting a picture of gloom as against the wishes of women and children and they consequently send these documentaries to donor organizations soliciting for funds.  

That’s not all. INGOs are also notorious for other inimical acts that are dehumanizing to IDPs in their various camps. Some have been identified to be notorious for making locals go against their wishes to coercing them into making submissions and divulging information about their communities which ultimately ends up in the hands of the Boko Haram group to aid their operations. 

To stand a fair chance of defeating this brutal group, the hard-power approach of the military must be suppported by the Federal Government and effective legislation to eliminate the last arm of terror; the international NGOs. Else, the troops may remain in the same triangle. 

 By Isaac Ikpa 

It astounds infinitely to listen to even learned and experienced Nigerians insistently argue that the solution to resurgent insecurity in Nigeria resides in the sacking of Service Chiefs. And they back it up with very infantile and laughable reasons.

The promoters of such faulty campaigns claim the Service Chiefs have overstayed their service years or have outlived their usefulness and most irritatingly, they say, the continued stay of the incumbent Service Chiefs have stalled career prospects for younger officers in the Military. It betrays the influenced motivations of these contracted proponents of the silly campaigns.  

I know the strong passion of Nigerians in chasing the wind, instead of the substance. But I don’t know when the business of promotions in the military became an all-comers affair for civilians. I also don’t know when it has become the agenda of civilians to determine career prospects for personnel of Nigeria’s Armed Forces.

Those who toe the regressive angles of the argument for the sacking of Service Chiefs also choose to blur the reality that in war situations, the Commander-In-Chief’s discretion can order recall of retired Military officers back to render service to their nation. So, what’s the fuss about the sack of Service Chiefs for such puerile reasons? The polemics make little sense in our present circumstance.   

And those who claim the current clan of Service Chiefs have failed to curtail the resurgence of insecurities in parts of the country are also economical with the truth. They have no sense of history or else they would have understood clearly that Nigeria was in a worse insecurity quagmire for years up to 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari was democratically elected.

And those who rescued the country are the same Service Chiefs some unpatriotic Nigerians unjustifiably vilify and lampoon today. Some incensed ones even claim the Service Chiefs have achieved nothing since they took charge of the country’s security. Its blatant and fat lie from the pit of hell. It is because we are a people pleasurably devoid of our history.

It now drags me into our peculiar traits as a people. And for a reminder, one cannot dispute Nigeria as a nation replete with a series of national malaises which tend to undermine our existence. For many, there is the genuine strive to overcome these foibles for the progress of our country, a land abundantly blessed by God Almighty Himself. But the number of Nigerians with such appetite are very infinitesimal and easily overshadowed by the evildoers. 

And there is also a clan of Nigerians, though small, but have constituted themselves into spoilers and sabs. Their obsession is with how to destroy or discolour whatever shines the light of progress on the nation. They are happier to see enslaved people or citizens who wallow in numerous afflictions. But they are deadly by the sheer numerical strength of their acolytes who sycophantically bow to their demonic plots.

We all know, an average human being naturally tilts more towards evil than good. The embrace of the herd mentality by many Nigerians has so permeated us as a people and compounded the problem, unmindful of its destructive aura. In this sense, the spoilers and saboteurs have an alarming number of adherents simply because we gladly prefer to forget our yesterday and our history. We exist based on the spur of the moment.

But great philosophers in history and even today have continued to caution us. A people who cannot remember their history have no sense of self-esteem. It’s very important we remember that David McCullough told us; “History is who we are and why we are the way we are.” But more captivatingly, the Jamaican-born black nationalist and firebrand leader of Pan-Africanism, the famous Marcus Garvey, has pungently pricked us that; “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture are like a tree without roots.”

These are timeless philosophies. But most Nigerians have chosen to be willfully ignorant. And it is the reason we have forgotten that barely yesterday we were weeping, whining and wailing like frustrated kids all over Abuja, the nation’s capital because of the perpetual looming shadows of Boko Haram insurgents on this megacity. They would strike anywhere and anytime, unhindered.   

And now we have no such physical or psychological phobia of terrorists blasting their bombs on us every day, in Nyanya bus station, Wuse shopping mall, UN Building, Eagles Square, Force Headquarters, and adjoining vicinities of Abuja such as Suleja. Blood, tears and sorrows freely flowed every day. That’s the verdict of history on terrorism in Abuja.  

We were even afraid to publicly celebrate Independence Day, an event of such significance to the nation because of the threats of Boko Haram. It is the Service Chiefs we comfortably malign, reproach, despise and undermine for political or very selfish mercantile interests who blighted the haunting conflagrations of terrorists hovering on us in Abuja.     

Truly, some Nigerians are devoid of a sense of history. So, we have gladly forgotten that our worship places, film halls, or every conceivable place in Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe states and a plethora of other places in the North were daily steeped in the blood and agonies caused by Boko Haram terrorists. The experience is no longer with us now.

What about Boko Haram’s gradual transition to the Southern part of Nigeria en route Okene, in Kogi state? Insurgents gradually made incursions into the Southwest, plying their trade in Lagos, Ogun and Osun states. The rescuers of our trapped nation are these Service Chiefs, we demean and provoke so carelessly with insults.   

Let’s not even recount the detailed experiences of Nigerians in the triangular states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, the hottest zones of Boko Haram terrorism in the Northeast. Before the Buhari Presidency and in spite of anybody’s prejudice against the administration and the Service Chiefs, we cannot conceal the indisputable reality that these places were ceaseless killing fields for terrorists.   

Most pathetically, Maiduguri, the Borno state capital had more ghosts walking the streets than normal citizens. Can we in religious conscience deny this? Is it the same scenario now?  It is not the same Service Chiefs we senselessly denigrate who salvaged the situation?

In the Northeast, before the Buhari Presidency, traditional and religious leaders were either chased and killed by insurgents or forced to desert their palaces; and nearly 20 LGAs were completely colonized by Boko Haram, asserting its hegemony by declaring Gwoza its Caliphate’s main administrative headquarters, with Baga as its subsidiary.  

In the same Northeast, schools, hospitals, government offices and other public places were frequent targets of Boko Haram horrendous atrocities and permanently shut down. Insurgents invaded communities and villages, held everyone to ransom, killed, abducted and operated for hours or even days, unmolested.

Thereafter, Boko Haram leaders would challenge the prowess of Nigerian military with gusto and frequently released video footages which mocked Nigerians and the government.  Why have we chosen to blind ourselves to this history for convenience or what? Is this applicable today?

It was these same clan of Service Chiefs who brought about the magic. It was the tireless efforts of the COAS, and leader of the counter-insurgency operations in Nigeria, Lt. Gen TY Buratai and his colleagues that made that feat possible. These Service Chiefs made every sacrifice to give us peace and security and have not relented.

That President Buhari could visit the dreaded Monguno in 2018 to have a chat with the IDPs in camps to express his fatherly love and support without the fear of terrorists attacking him signified the restoration of security. It was the collective efforts of our military and the sacrifices of our troops, and some of them paid the supreme price. 

Who made it possible for farmers in Gudumbali and other communities to return back to their desolate and ruined homes for farming?  Who made it possible for passengers to freely move across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States without the fear of Boko Haram? It was the efforts of Gen Buratai and his able colleagues who also travelled these routes at odd hours to ensure that passengers’ safety was never compromised. It was these set of Service Chiefs’ relentless efforts, day and night. 

It is certainly not a storm in a teacup. And what did the magic? It was Operation Last Hold, a wing of Operation Lafiya Dole commissioned by Gen. Buratai and perfectly mentored. Ironically today, instead of praising the Service Chiefs and encouraging them to trudge further and harder against Boko Haram/ ISWAP terrorists, unconscionable civilians have been conscripted into the senseless campaigns of denigration, deprecation and parodying of the same Military leaders who have made us proud.  The cacophonies resonating in some quarters now is to sack the Service Chiefs.

But I seek to know from the campaigners that when Chadian President Idriss Derby angrily reacted by sacking his Chief of Army Staff and other top commanders after terrorists attacked and killed 97 Chadian soldiers, has the country exculpated itself from terrorists’ attacks? What a heck? The renewed spate of terrorism is about re-strategizing and not sack of Service Chiefs.

Quite candidly, we invest in our history as a people and not get carried away by falsehood and wave of the moment; it is only then we would make progress as a nation. The idea of vilifying patriots without any full understanding of the intricacies is usually responsible for our troubles. Therefore, whether you are a sab, Boko Haram sponsor, sympathizer or agent, I admonish that national security issues are interrogated responsibly and with a sense of patriotism.  

Ikpa wrote this piece from Otukpo’Icho, Benue State.