The French Invasion of Nigeria by Proxy, By Richards Murphy

Nigeria has indeed seen tough times, tough times that have lasted over six years, with accompanying wanton destruction of lives and properties running into billions of naira. While it is argued in some quarters that the Boko Haram crisis has some international sponsors, I nonetheless think there is more than just foreign sponsorship of the activities of the sect.

In my opinion, there is an international conspiracy to either destroy the economy of Nigeria, or payback for constituting a hindrance to a grand plot. 

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As a first, Nigeria is surrounded by former French colonies, called francophone countries. These countries share borders with Nigeria, especially the Northeast, where the activities of the Boko Haram sect is domiciled. But curiously, it was observed that Boko Haram terrorist often get their supplies from these countries especially Chad and Mali. That is not the catch. The catch is that there is a strong presence of French troops stationed in these countries.

For instance, in Mali, there are over 3,000 French soldiers under the auspices of Operation Barkhane, a task force, dedicated to tracking Islamist rebels against the wider sub-Saharan area. 

But this is the same Mali that hundreds of Boko Haram members stayed at training camps with Malian militants for months in Timbuktu, learning to fix Kalashnikovs and launch shoulder-fired weapons, under the full glare of Operation Barkhane. It didn’t stop there, in Chad, Operation Barkhane has 1,200 troops stationed in that country. Yet, activities of Boko Haram terrorists and roving bands of Chadian deserters and former rebels who have made the region south of Chad their base of operations continued, all in the full glare of Operation Barkhane. 

Let me digress to give some foundation for the continuous presence of French troops in its former colonies. In some quarters, it is stated that the francophone countries entered into an agreement with France to provide security against a coup. So mainly the presence of French troops in these countries is to provide cover for their various business interests somewhat. And part of these activities is ensuring a steady supply of crude oil. But the usual cover story they would tell you is that the presence of French troops in Africa is part of a global mission to tackle militancy across Africa. 

However, there have been some reactions to France's deepening engagement in West Africa. Some people say that rather than preventing terrorists from coming to this part of the world, they attract them. According to a Chatham House expert, Paul Melly, France wields a level of influence in sub-Saharan Africa that it cannot command anywhere else in the world. Analysts used to refer to the "vested interests" that France had in West Africa in the post-colonial period, and how Nigeria constituted a stumbling block in its quest for outright dominance in Africa.

However, the odd angle to the whole counter-terrorism narrative as propagated by France is suspect. Suspect in the sense that on three occasions, France has called for a Boko Haram summit. The first was in 2014, tagged the Paris Security Summit, which saw leaders from Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Chad, and Benin agree to share their technical know-how with Western allies France, as well as the U.S and Britain to defeat Boko Haram. Did anything come out of the summit? The answer is a huge no. Instead, Boko Haram activities thrived, they acquired more and more sophisticated weapons that are suspected to have been moved through intermediaries from some of the neighboring countries. 

In 2015, French President François Hollande offered to host a summit of countries fighting Nigeria's Boko Haram armed Islamists on a visit to Cameroon, as a follow-up to the 2014 summit. This again didn’t yield anything tangible. In 2016, there was another summit, where leaders of Lake Chad countries along with French President Francois Hollande, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond gathered in Abuja to discuss a way of defeating Boko Haram. Nothing tangible was achieved. 

This is what happens when you follow the story, only to find the most cynical of intentions from every player involved, and indeed the regional politics and geopolitics of West Africa as a whole. Second is the political and economic chessboard in West Africa, where a few interested parties stand to gain from Boko Haram’s ongoing attacks and destabilization of the entire Nigerian state. For example, Chad sees in Nigeria potential oil profits as it expands its oil extraction capabilities throughout the Chad Basin. Of course, major oil companies, not to mention powerful western nations such as France, have a vested interest in maintaining their profits from West African oil. 

Today, France’s dominant role continues as its port of Le Havre is the final destination for the unrefined oil extracted from under the feet of West Africans. Are we getting somewhere? Is it now clear why French troops stationed in these francophone countries have continued to turn blind eyes while Boko Haram fighters continue to set up camps, train and launch attacks in Nigeria? Your guess is as good as mine. Like I mentioned earlier, the interest of France is the business. For them, since Chad is drilling oil from the Lake Chad basin and the final destination is Le Havre, the insurgency has to continue so the oil can continue to flow. But for how long the French deceit will last is left to be imagined.

Murphy is a forensic psychologist and contributed this piece from Calabar, Cross River State.

Boko Haram and its Foreign Conspirators, By Bob-Manuel Molokwu

This is not one of the topics I like writing on. However, I am constrained to lend my voice because of the wanton destruction that has taken place in North-eastern Nigeria since 2009. As it stands, the Boko Haram insurgency has claimed over 100,000 lives and succeeded in displacing over two million people from their various homes. On a daily basis, the picture of gloom pervades the North-eastern states of Nigeria. 

In the midst of the confusion, one might want to ask how the Boko Haram group started, who were the leaders, sponsors, and followers. Jama’atul Alhul Sunnah Lidda’watiwal jihad is the name, which translates to “people committed to the propagation of the prophet’s teachings and jihad.” This was way back in 2002 where they operated from Borno and Yobe states. 

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But not much was heard about the sect until in 2009 when a discrepancy erupted between them and the law enforcement agents which culminated in the death of its leader, Mohammad Yusuf. Mohammad Yusuf in his teachings had faulted the participation of most leaders of northern states in the affairs of the country. He saw it as an illegitimate, non-Islami and too secular for their “religious inclinations and preached a doctrine of withdrawal, and declared that western education is evil. (Boko Haram). 

And since then, there has been no let back on. The Boko Haram sect grew from strength to strength. And it changed tactics. At some point, it became so sophisticated that it engaged the Nigerian military weapon for weapon. It was even rumored that the Boko Haram sect boost of more advanced weaponry than the Nigerian Military with an unlimited amount of heavy weaponry, vehicles, bombs, and ammunition. 

But how does Boko Haram fund its activities? Where do they acquire such sophisticated military hardware? Who taught them how to operate this military equipment? Who services the equipment? How do they get supplies? These and much more are questions that point to the fact that there are indeed foreign sponsors of the sect against Nigeria for some reasons I will enumerate below. 

As a start, it is evident that there are some foreign conspirators with the Boko Haram sect. And I will start with Nigeria’s French-speaking neighbors Cameroun Niger Republic, Chad Republic, Benin Republic. There are no way supplies would reach Boko Haram fighters without some collaborators from these countries. For example, there are videos posted online that shows Boko Haram fighters maneuvering Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC), freely operating anti-aircraft machine guns, etc. After watching the videos, you might want to ask some pertinent questions. 

The second issue is paying for ransom by the French government in securing the release of its citizens kidnapped. It is estimated that since 2013, Boko Haram was paid N500 million ($3.15 million) to free seven French hostages kidnapped in February 2013. $12 million was also paid to Boko Haram before releasing a French Roman Catholic priest Georges Vandenbeusch captured in November 2013. The Cameroonian authorities also paid Boko Haram insurgents at least $400,000 in ransom to secure the release of Francoise Agnes Mouskouri, wife of Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali. 

Put together; we are talking about $16 million dollars the Boko Haram sect has received from French authorities in the form of payment for ransom. Is this curious? That is not all; there were also instances where weapons are also delivered to the sect in exchange for hostages. And this has been going on in active collaboration with some elements from neighboring countries. 

In my opinion, the United Nations has to come in by carrying a full-scale investigation into the activities of Boko Haram sect in Nigeria, and especially the involvement of the former French colonies in the whole episode. For some reasons, I suspect foul play in every move of Idriss Deby, the president of Chad in the entire episode. A red flag was raised for me when President Idriss Deby came out to say that the Boko Haram sect now had a new leader sometime in 2015. He specifically said Abubakar Shekau, had been replaced by Mahamat Daoud, and that Mahmat Daoud is open to dialogue. 

From the preceding, it is evident that there are indeed foreign sponsors of the activities of the Boko Haram sect. If I should use the oil deposit in the Lake Chad basis as an example, it might explain the interest of France in ensuring that the Boko Haram crisis continues unabated. For a start, Between 2011 and 2013 the Nigerian government provided $240 million to facilitate oil and gas exploration activities in the Lake Chad Basin and other northern hydrocarbon basins, including the Benue Trough, Bida Basin and the Sokoto-Rima Basin in the north of Nigeria, but terrorism continues to push forward the mission of Nigeria to start drilling for commercial quantities. 

On the other hand, the Boko Haram insurgency has conveniently provided Chad, access to oil under Nigeria’s soils through 3D oil drilling from within its territorial borders. Chad exports to a permanent FPSO –Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading vessel, which can store over 2 million barrels of oil and processed oil shipped through tankers to the international refineries at the Port of Le Havre in France. Does it now make sense why the Boko Haram crisis won’t end anytime soon? 

However, this must stop. The international community, especially the United Nations and the International Criminal Court has to come in because the level of destruction in the Northeast Nigeria is unimaginable. Indeed, our oil has become a curse to us, rather than a blessing. And our neighbors should be good friends if peace must continue to reign in Africa.

Molokwu is a security expert and wrote this piece from Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Why has Boko Haram refused to leave Borno? By Philip Agbese

In the twilight of the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, not a few Nigerians had concluded that Boko Haram and its brand of terrorism had come to stay and that it will even spread to other parts of the country. That impression was reinforced by the trend whereby any news about the terrorist group was about its ascendancy, it was advancing to new area with each news report of depravity. For many at time, the expectation was for a group that may never be defeated again and potentially with the capacity to spread to other countries.

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The foregoing accounted for the pessimism that initially greeted the military exploits that first degraded Boko Haram, later led to its fighters leaving villages they had occupied before the group's defeat in Camp Zero of Sambisa Forest which was its last organized base. The remnants of the group continue to launch attacks even as they took flight from the military – being terrorists, no one knows for a certainty how or where the attacks would be. 

There has however been a return of pessimism that borders on despondency. People think in relative terms, so any attack that the Boko Haram successfully carries out is not interpreted against the background of the group's overall campaign of terror but seen against the now. The fear that proceeds from this perception, therefore, becomes fuel for the fire that the terrorists want to set to the soul of the nation. It thus gets a new lease to advance its evil ideology. 

We must, therefore, begin to interrogate. The terror group was easily rolled back from all other parts of the country to which it had spread, even the neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger suppressed this cancer. So, why has Boko Haram refused to leave Borno? 

In a paper, The Life Cycle of Terrorist Organisations, Peter J Philips posited that "A theoretical explanation of the life cycle of terrorist organisations must encompass several critically important things: (1) the importance of grassroots support for the survival of the terrorist organisation; (2) the intensity of the terrorist organisation’s competition with the government for grassroots support; (3) the relative intensity of this competition for grassroots support in the early stages of conflict; and (4) the ‘natural’ life cycle of terrorist organisations—the historical fact that terrorist organisations in general have come and gone over time. Within such a theoretical framework, the terrorist organisation emerges only to eventually decline and fade away. This sequence of events may be compressed into a very short time or may occur gradually over a very long period. There is, theoretically, no limit on how long a particular terrorist organisation may exist." 

On the factors that affects the lifespan of terror groups, Philips, in the literature review wrote "The factors that may be responsible for bringing about the end of a terrorist organisation have been studied. Cronin (2006, p.17) lists the following seven factors: (1) capture or killing of the leader; (2) failure to transition to the next generation; (3) achievement of the group’s aims; (4) transition to a legitimate political process; (5) undermining of popular support; (6) repression; and (7) transition from terrorism to other forms of violence." 

We must therefore begin to look at Boko Haram's refusal to leave Borno in a different light and beyond the successes of military operations. The people of the area in which Boko Haram operates remain key to disrupting the supply of fresh recruits for the terror group and they are also crucial to shopping current members to the military intelligence. 

The military, one must say, along this premise should prioritize neutralizing leaders of the two factions of Boko Haram with contingency plans to similarly take out anyone announced as a successor within hours of such pronouncements. Corresponding plan should be on to have taken out those potentially in line to succeed any neutralized leaders of the group. 

Since Boko Haram will never achieve its goal of having a widespread implementation of strict sharia law across Nigeria, remnants of the group should consider – as part of possible negotiation with government, a transition into a legitimate pressure group that eschews violence. The other options like transitioning to other forms of violence would not work as it would meet with a response worse than the present insurgency has attracted. 

The federal government must on its part begin to intervene with policies that cuts off local population support for Boko Haram by people conflicted about giving up their relations that are affiliated with the group. 

Collectively, we must explore more to pinpoint why Boko Haram is persisting in Borno then move to the stage of fashioning strategies that effectively help in speeding up its demise. This suggestion is premised on the knowledge that like a living organism even a terror group has a life cycle, a life span that could be accelerated to a desired end.

Agbese, a human rights activist writes from the United Kingdom.

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AREWA Youths Accuse Northern Top Politicians Of B'Haram Sponsorship, Sympathy; Urges Stakeholders To Resist Them

Arewa Youth Leaders Forum has urged stakeholders in the north east who it accused of deliberately sabotaging the federal government's efforts at restoring peace to the region for personal gains to desist from doing so in the interest of peace.

Youth Forum urged the stakeholders to instead recommit themselves to the war against Boko Haram and terrorism. It said once the remnants of the Boko Haram fighters and intellectual wing no longer get financial and political lifelines from sympathizers and backers, the war will end once and for all.

Addressing journalists National President of the youth group, Adamu Adamu said the military and the relevant security agencies should get the marching order to expand the scope of operations in the northeast to include the identification, investigation, arrest and prosecution of sponsors and beneficiaries of Boko Haram's violent acts.

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He said the youths in the course of interaction with highly placed stakeholders have learnt that the people behind the attempts at resurgence by Boko Haram see themselves as protecting their economic interests.

He said, "It however leaves us wondering if the embezzlement of money meant for IDPs camps or money for brokering negotiations with terrorists is worth killing other people for. This is utterly condemnable and Nigerians should unite in condemning it.

"Equally condemnable are those that are exploiting terrorism to further their political interests. People must be made to realize that it is better to make themselves politically acceptable to the electorate as opposed to sponsoring killers to destabilize an entire regions and wantonly waste human life."

According to Adamu, the Federal Government must at this point take off the gloves and openly take on "these sponsors of terrorism since they have shown that they are not likely to voluntarily have a change of heart and allow the country live in peace."

He expressed joy that youths and non-governmental players have taken the initiative to win the peace in the region as evident in the recent North East Mega Rally for Peace.

Boko Haram: Thinking Next Steps, By Uche John Madu

The various stakeholders in the fight against Boko Haram’s terrorism have tried their best in one way or the other, but there is more they have to do given the new round of information about what now drives the group. The dynamics threatening to keep the insurgence in place even after the group’s fighters have been sacked from Camp Zero in Sambisa Forest cannot be easily ignored. 

The President Muhammadu Buhari led federal government did much, first in the appointment of committed military chiefs to lead the onslaught and secondly for giving these chiefs the political support needed to succeed. It aided them in the best way possible when of became obvious that international help may not be forthcoming because some of the countries that should have pitched in with some assistant did not share our view of giving the world one more country free of terrorism. 

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In the north east, the axis most ravaged by the insurgency, Borno state government under Governor Shettima proven he is committed to seeing the last of the terrorist. The governor has proven to be a rallying force for stakeholders in the state as successfully created a fusion of political, traditional, religious and civil society leadership to wear down the influence the insurgents have built for themselves under their doctrine of fear. 

Most important is the Nigerian military, notably the Army, which has taken the fight to Boko Haram not just in towns and villages where they had oppressed local populations but even right inside Sambisa Forest from where the extremists were sacked in what is today regarded as the actual final site of the terror group. The Army achieved the feat in the face of multiple odds, which would have caught the terrorists off guard as they had failed to reckon with troops’ gallantry that was the result of purposeful leadership. 

The terrorists, whatever is left of them, are refusing to accept the reality of defeat. They have continued to attempt attacks that are meant to pass as spectacular or disconcerting enough to create the impression that they are still relevant in the scheme of things. While most of these attacks are usually thwarted owing to improved intelligence gathering and vigilant troops and other security operatives, the few instances where explosives borne by children are detonated have dampened the readiness of displaced persons to return back to their homes. If they are not returning home then they are stuck in camps where they become valuable propaganda bits for those that are propping the insurgency in place in addition to being sitting targets for drug addled-brainwashed bomb bearers. 

It is the incentive driving these Boko Haram beneficiaries that the federal government, Borno with other state government in the region and of course the military should interrogate. An understanding of the impetus for these merchant of death would prove useful in developing the next phase of response that would remove the last vestige of the Boko Haram abomination from our midst. In this several scenarios are possible. 

First, the political equation of the areas ravaged by Boko Haram activities has been reconfigured in a way that new power blocs emerged – either the result of depopulation as people fled their ancestral homes or from population distortion that now make the displaced persons’ camps into attractive constituencies. Those that had benefitted from this migration and are currently in one office or the other will not want the insurgency to end it at least not before the next elections. Authorities must therefore look into this occurrence to see how this incentive for supporting Boko Haram can be taken away and any culprit treated as prescribed by law. 

Similarly, there is money to be made. Until recently when the army declared some alleged Boko Haram collaborators wanted and subsequently questioned them some milestones were not recorded in the counter terrorism war. These people had posed as negotiators who could bring the insurgents for talks but it turned out they were mostly about the money to be made. There are others getting monetary benefits for each day the insurgency is reckoned as officially active. There have even been instances of stealing or diverting funds and items meant for victims and displaced persons. People had arranged actors to pose as repentant fighters. To the extent that these frauds are possible only when Boko Haram is on rampage then some people will continue to finance the group and consider it investment that would yield returns. It is up to the government and the military to ensure that prison terms are the only returns on this kind of investment. 

Thirdly, as sick as this will sound, there possibly is a twisted logic to some folks believing in their right to subjugate others. It does not matter whether they use religion in its perverted form or terrorism without a thought for the resulting casualty. What matters to these set of people is that unnecessary capacity to see themselves as higher authority to the larger population. They have that megalomaniac tendency to simply want others to live in dread so deploy their clout – religious, economic and political – to ensuring there is no peace within their sphere of influence. 

Not to be left out are those who think it is too late for them to stop sponsoring Boko Haram since they have already signed against the country and humanity. They belong to the category that must equally be stopped because their past time has become an addiction that does not seek logic to continue replicating evil. 

These and many more possibilities are what the government and military must get behavioral experts to interrogate and research on their behalf. Even more efforts must be deployed to fashioning responses to each identified aberration. The military and indeed Nigerians have sacrificed too much in human cost and blood for a few sick minds to keep us away from ridding this country of Boko Haram.

Uche writes from the Badagry Leadership Centre, Lagos.

Missing Voices In Rebuilding Nigeria’s Northeast By: Ola S. Sanmi

The Nigerian military has performed the funeral oration and final interment for terrorism in the country long ago. Nigeria and the Northeast particularly have become the global epitomes of how a country and its people reshape their destinies in handling crisis of national dimension. Thanks to the gallant Nigerian troops.

Inevitably, the focus of a post-terrorism era in Nigeria is now narrowed down to two intertwined issues. Firstly, although, most Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the Northeast have been officially closed and occupants have returned to ruined country homes to begin life afresh, but some camps are still operating. It punctuates the need for intensified efforts to have the IDPs return back to their homes in villages and communities hitherto overran by defeated insurgents.

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But by far, the biggest concerns of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the Borno State Government, the United Nations, world philanthropic organizations, and the European Union (EU) among others currently is the rebuilding of the ravaged Northeast. Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) reduced most parts of the region into rubbles and ghost communities in the near seven year old senseless and demonic war on Nigerians. It killed thousands and left in its trail millions of internally displaced Persons (IDPs) as well as an awful magnitude of the destruction of both public and private properties.

But today, the clear action as detected by the circumstance of the defeat of terrorists by Nigerian Army is to properly resettle retuning IDPs through the re-building of damaged public infrastructure such as roads, schools, hospitals, public offices and probably residential houses. The task is quite enormous.

President Muhammedu Buhari first unveiled his reconstruction, re-building and reconciliation plan for the region, which it is working relentlessly to implement. Buhari spoke through the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs which mainly targets reconstruction and peace-building initiatives.

In pursuit of this objective last year, Nigeria’s Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) pre-financing assessment conducted in alliance with the federal and states governments alongside global partners, such as the United Nations, World Bank and the European Union hinted of the extent of damage and amount of funds required to inject life into the six states arrested by insurgency. It tentatively pegged the figure on damaged infrastructure at $9 billion.

However, the report which the stakeholders anchored on three main parameters like infrastructure and social services, peace building, stability and social cohesion, and economic recovery, disclosed that $6 billion was instantly needed for immediate stabilization and recovery of the Northeast region’s states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.

The gamut of involvement in re-building infrastructure in the Northeast has also seen the World Bank pledging to commit $2.1 billion to the programme. The world financial body made the pledge when it held a parley with President Buhari in Washington last year. It averred that the funds will be spent through the World Bank’s International Development Agency in the form of low-interest loans among other benefits. The EU is also seriously committed to the cause of re-building the Northeast and has pledge to spend millions of Euros.

But more pleasantly, the Nigerian Army under the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai, pushed by humanitarian reasons has also delved into the re-building efforts, even though it is clearly outside of their responsibilities.

Buratia directed the Nigerian Army Engineers (NAE) Corps to hold its 2017 Nigerian Army Small Arms Championship (NASAC 2017), in Sambisa Forest, Borno State. Soldiers have been mobilized to site and clearing of access roads clearance and construction of range and other facilities are in progress to make the vicinities of the Sambisa forest accessible to locals. After the exercise, the roads infrastructures remain the assets of people of the Northeast.

In addition, soldiers have registered presence in the area of human resources development in the rebuilding process of the Northeast. The Army boss has announced plans of recruiting eligible terrorism Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) into the Nigerian Army.

The Nigerian Army Headquarters said the recruitment of IDPs into the Army is part of the strategies to empower these Nigerians in critical areas of human endeavours to place them on a pedestal to become more useful to their communities as well as contribute to national development.

Within the same period, the COAS also inaugurated the newly constructed headquarters of the 331 Artillery Tactical Forward Operation Base (FOB) at Buratai, in Biu LGA of Borno state. A military formation in Biu in Buratai district stretches from the Damaturu axis and links three other state capitals in the North East namely Maiduguri, Gombe and Yola. The military barracks will certainly attract infrastructure and other amenities to the locality.

Even while in camps, soldiers organized temporary schools for IDPs. Troops of 21 Brigade, 7 Division Nigerian Army, exemplified this practical human development initiative for IDPs in Bama town, Bama LGA of Borno State, which is an integral part of the rebuilding process.

Borno state Governor Kashim Shettima is not just keen, but very restless and has demonstrated in words and actions his readiness to jumpstart the rebuilding of Borno. He is re-building schools and hospitals damaged by insurgents. He has embarked on the construction of access roads and rehabilitation of old ones damaged by insurgency bombs. These are laudable efforts, much as he is willing to embrace and appreciate those who would identify with this noble cause to emancipate humanity, like the Lagos State Government. It has donated N50 million to each of the three states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa adversely affected by terrorism.

In spite of these concerted efforts to bring succor to the traumatized people of the Northeast, there is still glaring missing shadows in the re-building project. Again, there is indifference on the part of politicians and elites from the Northeast in mobilizing themselves for this task. They are probably more interested in maintaining the IDPs in camps and the relics of destructions in the Northeast. They are angry at efforts to rehabilitate the people and empower them economically. They are happier to see a socially dislocated society, whose inhabitants lick their wounds of penury and continue grovel before them for succour.

Each of the six states in the Northeast has elected representatives at all levels and political appointees, who would have also floated a Special Fund for the re-building and rehabilitation of IDPs of the Northeast. They would have publicly launched the fund and invited their friends all over the world to assist them rehabilitate and give a new lease of life to their dehumanized people.

But none of them has thought of this initiative. Rather, they are operating cleverly under the protective shadows of people or organizations outside of the enclave who have shown commitment to the cause, a smart way of covering their nakedness. What are parliamentarians in the areas for example, doing with jumbo constituency allowances? Why are these politicians so indifferent to restoring the dignity of the people?

Could it be that most of those still holding elective offices would not have secured a second term had Boko Haram not ravaged the Northeast? So, are they afraid that restoring the self-worth and economic status of IDPs would pave way for an ideal election that would unseat them and that’s why IDPs must remain in camps to easily buy their votes?

Likewise, where are the faces of elites and professionals of the Northeast in the re-building and reconstruction of their despoiled home land? Why have they gone into oblivion, instead of boldly stepping out to pair with others in the final extrication of their people from the bondage of depravity and indignity? These are the missing voices in the Northeast rebuilding process and they must not be muted forever.

Whatever is their thinking, they must not forget that there is nowhere in the world outsiders are expected to cry more than the bereaved. Re-building and reconstructing the devastated Northeast is more the problem of the indigenes of the area than anyone else. If Nigerian Army which has no civil obligation or any connection with the re-building or reconstruction efforts in the Northeast have devoted time and energy towards this humanitarian project, indigenes of the Northeast who are still aloof should think twice. It’s dangerous to play politics with people’s lives or welfare.

Ola, a forensic psychologist writes from Kaduna State.

In active service: An encounter with Buratai, By Tajudeen Abdul Kareem

Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai, the Chief
of Army Staff of Nigeria

AN encounter with Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai, the Chief of Army Staff, evokes memory of the legendary swashbuckling army general; the ramrod soldier, what one could describe as a soldier’s soldier. This soldier characteristically carries a soft mien; he is friendly and quite unassuming

Brewing with passion as he reels out facts and figures of the intricacies of the war against insurgency, Buratai sure knows his onions as the numero uno field marshal of Nigeria’s seemingly over-tasked Army. But he disagrees that the Nigerian Army is over-worked, despite being engaged on many fronts at the same time.

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His approach is scientific. Shortly after mounting the saddle, precisely on 16 July 2015, the military high command did a SWOT analysis on the war in the North-East, dissecting the operation to identify the missing links and devise better, more efficient strategies to prosecute the war. Indeed, high on the list is the morale of soldiers then at its lowest ebb, high casualty rate, and inadequate equipment to confront the insurgents.

A strategic review dictated the replacement of Operation Zaman Lafia with Operation Lafia Dole. The change in name reflects the posture of the in-coming COAS. “The new name reflects our intention; the sense of urgency and the seriousness of the task at hand,” says Buratai.

Fighting and liberating Sambisa is not a tea party. The COAS says the forest is vast and complex. What the Nigerian forces have achieved is the conquest of Camp Zairo which was the main stronghold of the Boko Haram terrorists in Sambisa Forest; although criminal elements, badly decimated, are now desperate to survive. The attacks on commuters in Borno State and the deaths from IED witnessed of recent are desperate means of survival for the scattered insurgents.

The COAS says the solution to insurgency does not lie in military operations alone. “Solution lies in a comprehensive national approach. Nigerians have a role to play, royal fathers, opinion leaders and policy makers all have a role to bring peace to the land.”

Without betraying any emotion, the COAS thumbs his chest, figuratively, as he retorts: “We have succeeded in defeating insurgency.” The score card, he reels out: abduction by Boko Haram has given way to rescue of hundreds of innocent captives; the casualty rate among front line forces has been drastically reduced by 80 per cent.

Who are the sponsors of Boko Haram? Buratai says the military does not have an answer. The larger society, including the mass media, ought to give useful intelligence. But he offers some hints- 60 per cent of Boko Haram fighters killed or captured in battle are not Nigerians!

To many right-thinking Nigerians, the assault on the integrity of Buratai should be seen as a calculated, deliberately-hatched and well-orchestrated plan to tarnish the image of a leader who has a grasp of the rot in the system and who is determined to make a change.

Such unwarranted attacks is an attempt at diminishing the sterling image and reputation of a quintessential army officer, and by extension, casting shadows on the success of the Nigerian Military in waging the war against insurgency, terrorism and internal strife.

The emergence of Lt. Gen. Buratai as the COAS is perhaps the most widely-acclaimed political decision in recent times in restoring the integrity of the Nigerian Army. His style, carriage, professionalism and leadership-by-example posture has restored morale, confidence and nationalism in the average Nigerian soldier, especially those on the battle field. The Army owes this country a duty to preserve these gains. We must support this patriotic calling.

AbdulKareem is an Abuja-based policy analyst

DSS Secretly Raids CAN Leaders; Former CBN Boss, Army General (Rtd), 3 Others Over Boko Haram Video

Some prominent leader of the Christians Association of Nigeria, CAN, including a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Tunde Lemo were reportedly invited and quizzed for several hours by the men of Nigeria's Department of State Security, DSS over a video some Christian leaders have been using to mobilise funds for the rebuilding of churches destroyed by Boko Haram, report according to Punch Newspaper details.

Four key members of the organisation’s BoT, who are also leaders of National Christian Elders Forum, according to Punch Newspaper, were quizzed for four hours on Tuesday evening at the DSS headquarters in Abuja, following a video by CAN Trust Fund soliciting funds for CAN to rebuild churches destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East.

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Their invitation came eight days after the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleman, was quizzed by the DSS over his directive to his church members that Fulani herdsmen found on the church premises should be killed.

Detailing those invited and interrogated by the DSS according to our source were; a former Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Joshua Dogonyaro (retd.), representing   TEKAN/ECWA bloc of CAN; a retired High Court Judge, Justice Kalajine Anigbogu, representing the Christian Council of Nigeria bloc; Mrs. Osaretin Demuren, representing the Organisation of African Instituted Churches and a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Tunde Lemo, representing the Christian Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria.

Sources said that a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dame Priscilla Kuye (SAN), representing the Catholic bloc; President of the National Christian Elders’ Forum, Solomon Asemota, its General Secretary, Bosun Emmanuel and many others would be invited for questioning by the DSS soon.

Others billed for interrogation include the President of CAN, Dr. Samson Supo Ayokunle and its General Secretary, Dr. Musa Asake.

One of the personalities quizzed by the DSS said they were told to explain why they appeared in the video which showed footages of the carnage and destruction unleashed on churches in the North-East by the members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect, alleging that it was an inciting video.

 “We spent over four hours at the DSS headquarters on Tuesday evening and they were asking us the motive behind the video. The grouse of the DSS was that we appeared in the video soliciting for funds to rebuild churches destroyed by Boko Haram. They specifically told us that the video which showed burnt churches was inciting.”

 “They asked us why we produced a video like that having blood and demolished buildings. We are just members of the BoT of CAN Trust Fund. I suspect that they will cajole us to remove the video but that is not possible because we are for Christ,” the source stated.

When contacted, the Director of Legal and Public Affairs in CAN, Kwamkur Samuel, confirmed the invitation of the Christian elders to The PUNCH, saying, “I accompanied them to the DSS headquarters; CAN would be watching as the situation unfolds.”

He added, “When the Christian elders were invited, they wondered why all of them, particularly those who appeared in the video. They drew the attention of the CAN President who directed me to write a letter to the DSS to tell them that those they invited are members of the CAN Trust Fund Board of Trustees. But they didn’t reply the letter. If their invitation has anything to do with CAN, they should invite CAN leadership and that was why I went with them to the DSS. We are studying the situation.”

The President of CAN had said the major objective of the CAN Trust Fund was “to make CAN more effective to represent and protect the interests of Christians and all Christian institutions in Nigeria.”

 He said, “The CAN Trust Fund is operating on a simple process of encouraging individual Christians in Nigeria to make a token monthly donation of N500 (it could be more or less) to CAN. The fund has been designed in such a manner that it would not affect the financial commitment of Christians to their denominations or local assemblies. A Board of Trustees made up of eminent and principled Nigerian Christians will manage the funds and ensure transparency and accountability.”