By Suleiman Umaru
Barely four months to the end of the President Muhammadu Buhari, of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, Administration, hopes of the government crushing the Islamic Fundamentalist Group, BokoHaram, operating in the north eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Banditry Group, in the north Western tates of Zmfara, Sokoto, Kaduna, Katsina, home state of Buhari and Niger, home state of former military President Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, appears slim.
The situation may have become more worrisome as the BokoHaram Group and the splinter Group, Islamic state of West African Province, ISAP, which had fully established itself in the two north eastern states of Borno and Yobe, had exported terrorism to other parts of Nigeria.
There is no gain saying the fact that the Nigerian government which has all that it takes to crush the various terrorists group in the country may still be finding it difficult to do so with the present crop of no nonsense General Officers Commanding, GOC, which include Gen. Lucky Irabor, Chief Of Defense Staff, CDS, Lt.General Yahaya Farouk, Chief of Army Staff, CoAS and Air Marshall Olanyinka Adebayo Amao, Chief of Air Staff, CAS.
The north eastern states of Borno and Yobe based Terrorist and their Banditry Group Counterpart in the north western geopolitical region may have seen Nigeria as a honey pot, where they could easily make money by taking over the country’s vast forests, and use it as a base to Launch attacks, kill and go and kidnap for ransom.
Security analysts believe that if former President Goodluck Jonathan had used the country’s military might, as the then Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces, C-In-C, and Chairman, National Security Council, NSC, to tackle tBokoharam, there may not have been any ISWAP, or Banditry activities in the north western geopolitical and other parts of Niger.
Indeed, the country’s insecurity situation appears to have moved from bad to worse that Clergy men have continued to be kidnapped for ransom in different parts of the country.This may have informed why John Cardina Onayeka, a former Arch –Bishop of Abuja Catholic Diocese was said to have called for a national prayer meetig to be organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, under the close watch of Arch-Bishop Daniel Okoh, that will focus on ‘’national security, peace, economic prosperity, national unity, good governance and Leadership ’’.
The Bishop Emeritus who could not hide his feelings had alleged of the complicity of the security agencies in tackling the current security challenges in the country. According to him ‘‘there is pervasive deep frustration at the apparent inability of the government to restore peace and normalcy in the country’’, noting that at present’’nowhere is safe in Nigeria’’
Only recently, Reverend Father Ibrahim Kunat, was kidnapped by bandits by bandits in Kachia Local government Area of Kaduna state, after months of rest in the state following the ongoing military oslaughts against the bandits group in the state.
This may have informed why Ibrahim Umar, an Air Commodore, rtd, and President of the 33rd, regular Course, has sent a message to the Katsina state born Nigerian President , in his capacity as the C-In-C, and his current service Chiefs, to consider engaging the services of the ex-service to add to the number of troops in the military, to assist in training the officers and men to overcome banditry , terrorism and kidnapping in the country’’.
The retired Air Commodore was said to have also demanded the recruitment of more officers and men into the country’s armed forces , in order ‘’to police some of the ungoverned spaces in the country and around the nation’s porous borders, particular, in the north.
Appearing on Channels Television, recently, Commodore Umar, rtd, had said that ‘’the time has come for the government to consider erecting walls around the nation’s borders to safeguard the country from external aggression and checkmate illegal immigrants into the country’’.
God as the advice may be but the Nigerian government may not cue into it because of the huge resources involved in embarking on such project, meaning that the suggestion was dead. Even the North American country of the United States, US, which had erected a wall at the border with the neighbourng country of Mexico, security agencies personnel has not been able to control the influx of immigrants in the country.
Notwithstanding, the repeated attacks of the bandits in in Zamfara, and reported kidnap cases in Katsina sytate in the recent time, Buhari, who had promised in his first term in office in 2015, to crush Bbanditry and insurgency in the country, within six months but failed to so, had made another promise to Nigerians at this tail end of his second term in office.
He was said to have pledged his commitment to handover a stable democracy and revamped armed and security forces to the next Administration’’. The Nigerian President who spoke at a dinner in honour of the 2022 Committee of Business, political, Media and Civil Society Leaders, had said that he will ‘’leave a legacy for a united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria with 24 years of interrupted democracy’’.
He had told the 2022 Committee of Business, political, Media and Civil Society Leaders that his Administration will finish strong in this last lap of his tenure’’. How he intends to achieve that remains to be seen.
