Nigeria Times

By Isaiah Atuluku

With due respect to the Daily Trust newspapers, which is unarguably one the leading dailies in Nigeria today, the lead story of its Monday 29th June, 2020, edition is highly misleading.

While one is not holding brief for the Nigerian military, those of us resident in parts of the country constantly under the attacks of bandits and insurgents wish to be allowed to say something about military operations so as to correct the general impression created by your story, to wit, that the various operations launched by the military under various codenames are all hype and no substance.

While one may not fault the idea of the story to dig deep into details of military operations, the conclusion drawn by the story is faulty in that it did not factor in the gains of the military operations within the five years in question.

Even if the military spokesman was not available at the time of filing the report as your report stated; simple checks by your correspondents, like visiting some of the affected areas or talking to residents  would have revealed the gains made by the military in launching the various operations.

I am a resident of Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State, but I was forced to flee the local government when attacks by bandits became an hourly affair.

But through the launch of some of these operations, even though one cannot claim that normalcy has returned, we most definitely cannot say nothing has been done and many of my relations have returned.

We have seen troops come to our rescue and sometimes even when they suffer casualty, they have not left us to our fate but have been unrelenting is seeing that we are safe and secured.

We the members of the affected communities are so proud of what the military operations have done in our communities that it would be most uncharitable for us to remain mum when such conclusions, like the one in your paper, are drawn about the activities of the military in our communities.

If your reporters have bothered to visit the affected communities, they would have observed that nothing gives the members of those communities more joy than seeing a uniformed security man on patrol.

I can tell you without fear of contradiction that if you place  Ghana-Must-Go bags filled with money at the doorsteps of each household, there won’t be much jubilation as villagers seeing a battalion of soldiers moving around the vicinity. 

This is because the people no longer have interest in anything but to stay alive and it is through these operations which your story is trying to ridicule that some of us are live today.

Aside that, I know that it cannot be true that the tactics in all the military operations have remained the same and that the military authorities only fancies giving them different names, like your report claims. 

This is not correct.  With my little training in crime and crime prevention, I have come to know that no system of crime is exactly the same as each derive from a particular aim, time and measure. 

If crime mutate according to time, location and other factors, it would be wrong to assume that an operation carried out today in a particular location with the same target can be the same with another operation targeted at the same set of criminals on another day even if it is on the same location, not to talk of when the location, time, logistics and peculiarities are different. 

I noticed that your reporters also counted the phases of an operation, as different from the main one it derived from. For example, saying operation Harbin Kunama iii is different from the previous ones under the same code name is wrong because while they are a continuation of the previous exercises, the need to have them classified under a different phase is to indicate that the, the personnel, geography and logistic are different and these are done purely for proper identification and record purpose.

Your report, in the bid to support your claim that the operational code names are numerous also separated the indigenous names with the English translation

For example, Ayem Akpatuma is the Tiv name for Operation Cat Race but it enjoyed a distinct classification in your story.

Even as a layman, I know that the military operations have recorded major successes in execution and I feel that if the only way the military can tackle the diverse modes of attacks on communities is to reinvent itself through numerous operational codes, then so be it.

But let me mention some of the successes of the military in the field operations to show, unlike what your report is projecting, that much has been achieved.

In 2015, shortly after the present crop of service chiefs were appointed, the military under the code name of operation Lafiya Dole embarked on a major operation which sacked the entire Boko Haram terrorists population from their operations headquarters at Sambisa Forest and the military captured and established a base at Camp Zairo.

This was what led to the declaration by the Federal  Government that the Boko Haram has been technically defeated.

In June 2016, the Battalion, 22 Task Force Brigade based on information received that  Boko Haram terrorists earlier dislodged  at Chukungudu and Hausari villages during a clearance operations, were migrating towards Muska village in Gamboru Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State, conducted fighting patrol operations in the area and during the encounter, the troops killed 10 Boko Haram terrorists,  captured 2 alive and rescued a woman with her baby that were held hostage by the terrorists.

The troops also recovered several equipment, arms and ammunition that include 6 AK-47 rifle magazines, 56 rounds of 7.62m (Special) rounds of ammunitions, 1 bundle of detonating cord, a Manual on how to prepare Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)  2 rifle magazine pouches, a Techno IPad, a Nokia mobile telephone handset and 1 Gionee mobile telephone handset among other things.

Between 2016 and now, the military has recorded various number of victories under the operation but the height of it was in May this year when within two months after the Chief of army staff, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai led Nigerian troops in major victories, claimed the lives of 1,015 terrorists and also led to the arrest of 84 of their collaborators.

Under Operation Sharan Daji, troops in the North-West zone among other victories also killed 35 armed bandits and arrested 38 of them and handed them over to the police in the various states of their arrest. 

In addition to that, 6,009 various animals were recovered within the zone as well as several AK-47 rifles, dane guns, and a variety of weapons and ammunition.

Under Harbin Kunama, troops in June 2019, killed 24 criminal elements during its operation Harbin Kunama III in Kano, Kaduna and Niger states within one month of operation.

The operation also recovered N1.1 million cash, 56 assorted arms, 374 cows and 104 goats while 20 kidnapped victims were rescued.

Not quite a month after that, troops of “Operation Thunder Strike” and “Operation Harbin Kunama III”  killed five suspected bandits and arrested four others during two separate operations in Chikun and Igabi Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.

In another operation, soldiers also arrested 17 bandits in Katsina and killed one of them during a clearance operation.

After that operation, residents of Dagu village hailed the Army for destroying hideouts of the bandits, who have been terrorising villages in the area.

In June 2019, no fewer than eight bandits were killed and 17 other collaborators arrested by troops of Operation HARBIN KUNAMA III under the 8 Division Nigerian Army, Sokoto, while five bandits’ camps and 25 motorcycles were destroyed in the operation.

This was followed by the arrest of a notorious kidnapping kingpin, Mallam Bawa Gomna and 20 others during operations around Batsari, Jibia and Safana local government areas of Katsina State.

Under Operation Python Dance, troops were able to put to a stop the secessionist bids of some elements on 2017.

In February 2018, effort of the Nigerian Army to fish out criminals and protect farmlands in Benue State and it environ led to Exerciae Ayem Akpatuma which among other things led to the arrest of perpetrators of herdsmen/ farmers clash and put a stop to violence in Benue state. 

Another problem with your report is that while you quoted the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, as saying that the president had in a close door meeting with service chiefs stated that their best was not good enough, your report did not reflect even one in the many instances where President Muhammadu Buhari had commended the military for a good job like when the chief of army staff handed the flag and Quran of the Boko Haram leader to the President. 

I believe the report would have been better of these issues have been reflected or factored in.

Atuluku is a member, militray writers association of Nigeria .

By Kabiru Ibrahim Dallah

There is no doubt that Africa and indeed West Africa, in particular, has witnessed a massive rise in insecurity challenges post-Gaddafi era in Libya.

Several reports by reputable media organizations have linked the proliferation of small arms and ammunitions plus the rise in terrorist activities in the Sahel of Africa to the collapse of Libya.

Most of the arms and fighters used in the fights against Gaddafi and subsequent battles for the control of Libya have found their way into several neighbouring countries.

This has caused great destabilization in these countries. Mali comes in readily as an example of the effect of the collapse of Libya. Many countries including Nigeria have had to battle the resultant effect of that event in history.

Nigeria has had its fair share of this international dimension of the insecurity challenge. The hitherto local terrorist organization have been bolstered and supported by former Libya fighters who trooped into the country in droves, alongside and with their arms and ammunitions.

The entire essence of the above narration is to acknowledge that the pervasive security challenge being experienced is not peculiar to Nigeria alone, definitely not!

The only difference, however, is that from Maiduguri to Otuoke, from Badagry to Kaura Namoda security is a big deal to politicians for several reasons. For some, it is the genuine desire to see lives and properties secured. Others, meanwhile, it is a tool for propaganda against opponents. Whereas some are just after the big financial war chest expenditure available in the battle against insecurity.

Insecurity in this part of the world has now been considered big business. That is why I took the time to explain earlier some of the real intrigues and international dimensions to this serious challenge of insecurity. Despite how real and serious the task of securing lives is, many people here still see it as a means of making money and enriching their cronies.

The many calls by some so-called activist for the sack of the service chiefs have now become big business to them. Many of these characters are cashing out daily from this call. 

This brings to mind a Sahara Reports report on the 15th of March 2013 where one Samuel Chinedu accused Ikenga Ugochinyere of being behind the registration of a pseudo All Progressive Congress APC then. The plan was was to thwart the registration process of the APC. Ikenga was accused than to have collected a lot of money from some big shots in the PDP for that mission.

Such is the life of some of these “activists”. They predate on critical life issues to make some quick cash. Characters like these are the ones leading the daily call for the removal of service chiefs. Those of us who know Nigeria understands how things work here. Once you see people of such shady character feeling uncomfortable with some process or certain people, it is imperative to take a deeper look and you will find that their reasons for discomfort is most likely not what they complain about but their desire to milk the system to their advantage.

Today we have service chiefs who will not attend political meetings in the night. We have men who are professionals to the core, whose only ambition is to secure the nation. We have service chiefs who would not play ball backed by a president with impeccable character and integrity. This cannot be palatable for the business as usual guys.

They have to now seek their source from those I call the enemy of the state. People that consider the well being of their pocket as more important than the wellbeing of the country.

Some see this insecurity as the new oil. An all-comers affair. They can’t let go quickly of the days where a government official will dole out $2.1billion USD without necessarily following any due process,  they probably miss the days when everybody was an arms contractor.

The campaign to remove the non-conformist service chiefs has seen all shades of people with questionable characters being engaged to do the battle. Men with shady characters leading calls for the removal of professionals who have proven their mettle in the discharge of their duties.

Men who have sacrificed all to make sure that we can sleep with both eyes closed. Yet at any slight incidence this “remove service chiefs “ gang will hit the airwaves with their usual rants.

The president who is a matured man understands clearly that everyone is needed at this critical time, he also understands that you don’t change your winning team during the battle. These men have helped stabilize the nation at different critical times. Some of us will not forget in a hurry what the situation was before the appointment of these current set of service chiefs. We won’t forget quickly how terrorist were hoisting flags indiscriminately on our soil, how whole local governments were completely overrun by terrorists.

Those with a better memory will appreciate why Mr president is a bit more cautious and not yielding to the campaigners. Mr President more than many of us and infact more than many of these so-called campaigners is very much abreast with the real facts of the matter. So he takes far more informed decisions than many of us will imagine because he has got the real facts of the matter.

It is time for these shady characters to consider finding another hustle as it appears this may not yield any results. It is important for us to support the service chiefs as they continue to make giant strides in our quest to have every inch of this nation secured.

Dallah is a pro-good governance activist and development expert based in Lafia.

By Bala Kuta 

Professor Ango Abdullahi is an amusing character at his octogenarian age. He is a Northern varsity don, an intellectual, administrator and former minister in Nigeria, whose name should ordinarily strike profound memories. But in his latter days in life, he has proven to be a negation of whatever an elder should represent.

He is loquacious and consistently parrots too generously. He talks like a dunce in leadership. At 82 years or so, one expects to see a calm and very calculated elder statesman. But he loathes everything associated with respect.

Those who know Ango Abdullahi, the former Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU) Zaria closely should whisper into his ears that he is over-parroting and, in the process, denigrating himself. An academic anywhere is a tranquil person, who speaks wisdom and knowledge, as against sentiments. 

Academics strive to see a better society for the benefit of all. And when he is prompted by any burning public issue to make suggestions, his panaceas are religiously trusted as a remedy to a public affliction.  Ango Abdullahi defends herdsmen atrocities against Nigerians but thinks President Muhammadu Buhari should berth peace from heaven in Nigeria.

When commentators or public affairs analysts postulate that some Northern elders are behind insecurity in the North and other parts of the country, it sounds strange to some ears. But those who doubt it should not look far to find answers. With Ango Abdullahi’s public utterances, it’s clear to discerning minds that he is one of the shadows behind insecurity in the North.       

Nowhere in the entire globe where an intellectual is wasted, even when it is reasonably assumed that he has reached the age of senility. Professors emeritus are even more respected because of their treasure of knowledge. They are considered reservoirs of wisdom, decency and uprightness, virtues which endear society to them in veneration.

Unfortunately, Prof. Ango Abdullahi embodies the opposite of everything sane or these sound virtues.  He served as Minister under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and,  so sees nothing wrong with that administration. He will not tell Nigerians who introduced Boko Haram into the country and nourished it because he served as Obasanjo’s minister. He has never criticized that administration which laid the foundation of the national malaises bedevilling the country now.  

But President Buhari is a bad and incompetent leader in the estimation of Ango Abdullahi and his ilk because he is not patronized with an appointment. Therefore, President Buhari must be rubbished on whatever efforts he is making in correcting the ills, which a government, Ango served dutifully introduced in the system or polity.

The game of politics is played in Nigeria differently and very oddly. Only in Nigeria one plus one cannot always be two. One must look farther and search deeper to find answers to ordinarily very easy puzzles.

This country is populated by too many people who have no scruples. Do not mind the age, experience or exposure. Even the elderly, focus their lenses only beneath the abdomen alone. Plead with these elders to gaze at the open space, to see the scenic beauty of the environment and perhaps, grasp the alternative messages conveyed by even the tantalizing breeze is like the proverbial forcing of a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.

Prof. Ango Abdullahi is a prominent Northern son and intellectual, no doubt. Ango leads a group of eminent Northerners and elder statemen under the aegis of Northern Elders Forum (NEF). But it’s obvious Prof. Ango Abdullahi has hijacked the association and runs it in the fashion of dictators.

He is a sole administrator of NEF. It’s been ages Nigerians read any public press statement from NEF on any decision concerning national issues. Ango Abdullahi thinks alone; takes the decisions solely and talks alone. Even at that miniature level of leadership, Ango Abdullahi has so mindlessly abused the etiquette; yet has the guts to frequently criticize the leader of an entire nation.

Ango Abdullahi has usurped the thinking of every Northern elder in that forum, so he speaks on their behest. Ask him when last, the group held a meeting, he won’t remember. It’s doubtful if Ango Abdullahi can still count who and who are still members of this otherwise revered association.  

He functions alone; thinks and initiates action for every member of the association. What baffles more is his effrontery to question the government of President Buhari on poverty in the North particularly and pretend in sycophantic ululations to be also concerned about my entire Nigeria. 

In his region, the North and despite occupying a vintage position, as leader of an assemblage of Northern elders under the umbrella of NEF, he has done nothing to alleviate the poverty of his people. He has no plan; no agenda or thought about it.  

It’s certain that Ango Abdullahi is barren of his basic responsibility for his immediate constituency, as a Northern elder. Since he assumed leadership of NEF what poverty alleviation agenda and schemes has he contemplated? None till tomorrow. Yet, he commandeered the position of chair of NEF. Give someone else that position, he would spring surprises for the benefit of the people.

Ango has forgotten that the people who should know their problems better and contrive ways of solving it are the Northern elders in NEF. The association should not just be an assemblage of respected personalities, but it should be a platform for solving some of these problems. Ango, have you ever contemplated it? This former minister lacks the capacity to galvanize the forces at his disposal for the benefit of his people.

Talk is cheap; criticisms of those in leadership easier. But when the same people assume lesser responsibilities at lower rungs, they fail woefully, as evident with Ando Abdullahi. Prof sir, you cannot continue to live in self-denial. If the Northern region is poor, with almajiris everywhere, its also your responsibility at this octogenarian age to strive to improve the situation. The North is a community which gave birth to you, fed, nourished and gave you the global fame in academics.

NEF as a forum, chaired by a sensible intellectual would have used to it to prod Northern elders to use their wealth in assisting the upcoming generation of the North to understand the meaning of existence in a region and county which breathe life into them.  Insecurity in the North is fueled by poverty.

Had the likes of Ango performed their responsibility as expected, poverty in the North would have been reduced and violent sects would not have had access to idle youths to recruit into their fold.  The mindless killings in the North would STOP or at least be reduced! Leadership does not start and end with the person wearing the crown of a nation, community or a particular enclave alone.   

Ango Abdullahi in fairness to you, NEF ended with the leadership of a passionate nationalist, detribalized Nigerian and international elder statesman, Alhaji Maitama Sule.  If only the dead could rise, Sule, NEF’s pioneer chairman would have wept at your personalization of NEF.  You are just leading a band of elders in your family and local government, but certainly, not the North.   

Today, Ango presents himself as a contradictory personality and a talkative. That’s not the philosophy behind the formation of NEF.   If President Buhari is not a good leader as admitted by Ango’s recent interviews published by several media platforms; it’s also difficult to discern or even understand his preference for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

It is now clearly partisan. It means Ango has gleefully taken a partisanship position as leader of other Northern elders in the association he self-crowned himself as chairman. But the congregation or its members belongs to different political affinities or persuasions. The bitterness Ango harbours on the Buhari presidency permanently cannot make NEF better.

Ango should reposition NEF first before expending energy on thinking about Nigeria. Professor Sir, asking President Buhari to resign over insecurity in the North is the most thoughtless utterance. Please, tell Nigerians which administration brought Boko Haram into Nigeria. Ango should help Nigeria and the North by telling the sponsors of the killings that the North is tired of the bloodshed.  Ango, the sponsors are your friends and partners in crime and so, prevail on them to halt the killings. 

Kuta is a former member of the National Assembly and wrote from Minna.

By Abimbola Oluyede

Nigerians are complex people to lead. Sometimes, authorities struggle to understand where the people are displeased, excited or unexcited by policies or programmes. What seems to gain currency in the Nigerian market in political and social engagements, however, is to either hate the leader or disparage whatever he does good or bad. And a glut hardly looks at the merits of any case from a dispassionate perspective.

The latest news whirling in town now is the pronouncement by the Honourable Minister, Human Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq about the disengagement of batches “A” and “B” of N-Power beneficiaries.

Quite unfairly, Hajiya Saidiya Farouq merely communicated the lawful decision by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to terminate the appointments of these initial beneficiaries of President Muhammadu Buhari’s poverty alleviation schemes under N-Power. Nothing personal.

N-Power is encapsulated in the broad special intervention package called National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP). NSIP, though, has never been terminated and President Buhari will never sanction such. At least not now.

But since the public notice, tongues have been wagging. Minister Sadiya has vitriols aplenty, vile criticisms and outright abuses by some Nigerians over the termination of earlier batches of the scheme, especially after realizing that indeed it is beneficial to the poor of the poorest of Nigerians.

As they say, every coin has two sides. It’s a thing of pleasure that the critics have at least seen something good in the Buhari Presidency. It means, the government is not all bad after all despite the dummy sold to Nigerians in 2019 in order to thwart his re-election.

NSIP has many arms and in the last four years, Buhari practically forced the National Assembly to approve the meagre budget of N500 billion annually, as included in the Appropriation Bill to fund the scheme. It was tougher in the first year, 2016. Senators who looked at the amount as too bogus and could still vote any outrageous amount for their personal welfare, initially rejected it and threatened not to approve the budgetary votes.

Yet Hajiya Sadiya gets the sticks alone. In reality, however, there is absolutely no reason to scold, lampoon and lambast Minister Sadiya over the public announcement of the termination of batches “A” and “B” of N-Power jobs.

She never initiated the policy, as it was that of the APC-led FGN under President Buhari. Sadiya is just a servant of the Nigerian masses and a plank between the government and the people. She does not fund N-Power jobs from her family treasury or patrimony. It belongs to Government and the same Government made its conditions of engaging beneficiaries public.

From the outset, Nigerians and particularly beneficiaries of N-Power jobs were told that it won’t last eternally rather for two years. Of course, mass unemployment is a serious bane in Nigeria and the feelings of the people over the termination of N-Power engagements is understandable.

But by the designs of such jobs, the government envisaged that after two years of internship in the various categories of skills acquisition and experience the N-Power envelope provides for beneficiaries within the period, they should thereafter be competent to stand independently as employers of themselves and others in the labour market. N-Power batches “A” and “B” have spent over four years; a 100% grace period.

What else do Nigerians want? Is it to lock out others, while in the comfort zone? Where is the fraternity as compatriots? The country’s resources cannot go round everybody simultaneously and that’s why the rotation of social benefits is inevitable.

Let’s not forget that President Buhari’s APC-led FGN stipulated two years for each batch of N-Power beneficiaries in order to free the space for new entrants. If the programme began in 2016 with batch “A” and subsequently batch “B” and in 2019, Minister Sadiya announced FGN’s decision to terminate these batches for another set of beneficiaries, what is really the grudge against the FGN or the Minister? Why the vituperations on Buhari?

And it is not even plausible argument by any Nigerian that President Buhari has abandoned N-Power beneficiaries. In fact, the Government has tinkered with several options of engaging them in other areas, including reaching an agreement with their temporal employers to hire the productive ones among them. But there again lies a dilemma. Most do not go to work yet collect the stipends, sadly the basic mentality of Nigerians. Their assessment records would eventually not support such further engagements.

Most Nigerians perceive N-Power jobs as part of their national cake. Many believe they have no reason to contribute to national productivity or service. However, once a country exists by a name and an identity, such as Nigeria, it should continue to service indolent citizens who sap from it in perpetuity. But by the vision and design of N-Power jobs, nowhere has it been stated that it is life-term. Let it be clear to everyone, least, the opposition PDP comes mouthing against President Buhari meaninglessly again.

The N-Power beneficiaries whose contract with FGN has been terminated now hardly complain about the abuse of the scheme by their state governors. Although these sleaze governors have infused into the scheme, the beneficiaries also align with it and pocket whatever gets to them, without any labour.

President Buhari is very benevolent! He is a patient and kind leader. Its same spirit Minister Sadiya has imbibed. And that’s why even when conveying the decision of the termination of N-Power jobs, after a psychometric assessment of the previous beneficiaries to determine their competencies, Sadiya compassionately said;

“We are engaging private sector bodies to absorb some of the beneficiaries after the completion of the psychometric assessment to determine competency and placement into various opportunities. The Federal government is committed to the continuation and expansion and, as such will now begin enrolment and onboarding of a new batch of beneficiaries. Skills acquisition for entrepreneurship and job creation is critical for an economy that will require a boost in post-COVID-19 and we are gearing up proactively for the challenge.”

Minister Sadiya intends placing the scheme under some tight regulations to insulate it from the abuses by State Governors. She said: “The ministry has undertaken a review and re-appraisal of the programme in order to strengthen the program design and streamline for efficiency.” She deserves praises and not vilification. Nigerian s should be thankful, at least for once for the efforts of Government.

Therefore, the black sheep who have gone to town with everything at their disposal to blackmail the innocent woman because she is out to ensure fairness and equality in order to allow another set of Nigerians benefit from the scheme should have a rethink. Batch “C” of the N-Power scheme is already boarding and loading. No one has the capacity to restrain the anger of every Nigerian; but it can’t deter genuine public leaders from doing the right thing, as exemplified in Minister Sadiya.

The elements against her are just greedy and mischievous and much more, a negative portrayal of the kind of future leaders Nigeria is breeding. Nigerians must remember the philosophy of “live and, let’s live”. N-Power batch “C” has come to stay and Nigerians owe the Honourable Minister an obligation to embolden her to move on with every courage and charisma in putting smiles on the faces of other Nigerians; the same disposition which has earned her the appointment and trust of Nigerians these years.

Oluyede is an entrepreneur and wrote from Lagos.