Mr. Emeka Nwapa, a journalist and development activist is the Chief Media Strategist of the Concerned Professionals’ Congress (CPC), an advocacy group promoting democracy, good governance and citizen engagement in Nigeria. In this interview with EMEKA ODOM, he believes that United States’ recent high rating of Nigeria’s counter-terrorism success in Washington DC is apt, proper and uplifting.
How do you assess the general situation in the North East vis-à-vis the recent disclosure by the Minister of Defence that the Federal Government will soon close IDPs camps and return them to their ancestral homes?
The implication of that policy pronouncement by the defence minister, Mansur Ali, immediately suggests a peep into Federal Government’s post-insurgency roadmap. This is cheering news to us in the civil advocacy community. It is no longer in doubt that Boko Haram’s dreaded enclave in the Sambisa Forest, estimated at over 60,000 sq. km fell over three months ago when the Muhammadu Buhari dispensation was just less than 18 months in office to fulfill a promise to exterminate the terrorists, courtesy of the gallant troops of Operation Lafiya Dole in the north -east part of the country. Today, the sect is in total disarray. We see their propaganda everywhere such as their hollow videos, their hit-and-run suicide attacks on civilian locations and continued hate postures on the social media. The truth remains that they no longer exist. They can’t change the general consensus that President Buhari’s government deserves praise for carefully selecting a crop of tested, focused, highly committed and hardcore military professionals that have brought Boko Haram to its knees, to enhance the nation’s image and integrity in the eyes of the world. It is not in doubt that the nation is reaping the full benefit of the president’s fine tooth-comb search for the present crop of competent service chiefs led by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Abayomi Gabriel Olonishakin whose appointment in June 2015 has virtually changed the focus of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) in such a way to turn the tide against terrorism and insurgency, thereby re-positioning Nigeria’s image in the comity of nations.
The minister also said he had a briefing recently with President Muhammadu Buhari where the 2017 Nigerian Army Small Arms Championship in Sambisa Forest featured, the military was tasked to do more in guaranteeing security in the North East and the country in general. Do you agree that more needs to be done by our military after the defeat of Boko Haram?
There is always more to be done, not only by our military but all of us. The victory over Boko Haram must be sustained and consolidated hence the idea behind holding the shooting championship in Sambisa. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai has said that much. Strategically speaking, it makes sense apart from boosting the combat readiness of our troops. It speaks volumes about how professional and combat ready the services of our armed forces are. A nation’s strength is measured by the professionals and combat readiness of its defence forces. As the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin set out on a vision: to ensure a well-motivated, trained and equipped Armed Forces that is responsive to national security commitments. Defence observers unanimously believe that this vision largely formed our military’s counter-terrorism strategy that created the series of events that contributed to the eventual fall of Camp Zero and Camp S (Shape) headquarters of the sect in the dreaded forest.
Last week, we read in the news that a Nigerian defence delegation led by the CDS to the World Conference on Global Coalition on Counter-terrorism in Washington DC was the toast of Chiefs of Defence of Staff from over 200 countries for defeating Boko Haram. How did you receive this piece of news?
I believe you are talking about the opening remarks by the U.S Secretary of State, Mr. Rex Tillerson who spoke on the need for synergy, intelligence and information sharing in combating terrorism and insurgency. He specially recognised Nigeria for leading West African nations in a successful sub-regional collaboration against terrorism and insurgency in the north-east part of Nigeria. He praised Nigeria for defeating Boko Haram. We were obviously elated by the high rating which the U.S gave to the efforts of our military. Mr. Tillerson advised countries with challenges of domestic terrorist groups to build and adopt Nigeria’s excellent examples of synergy, intelligence and information sharing system which Nigeria employed to win the war against Boko Haram. The U.S spokesman’s remarks, in my opinion, are in sync with the vote of confidence by many observers on our military since Gen. Olonishakin became the CDS to lead the nation’s Armed Forces in the onslaught against the terrorists in a stunning fight-to-finish style. It is to his credit as well as to the energetic Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai and the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar that the Theatre commanders of Operation Lafiya Dole in the north-east worked very hard to restore security and stability in the region. Over 20,000 hostages comprising men, women and children were rescued while over 10,000 territories and communities were liberated from Boko Haram, many of who are now back to their ancestral roots. Nigerians and the global community have not stopped applauding our military for the successful battle against terror which has brought about a steady decimation of the Boko Haram terrorists such that they now lack the capacity to directly confront the Nigerian troops or hold territories at will. Over 10,000 battle-tired Boko Haram members have surrendered while more are still surrendering. The operations may not be totally over yet but certainly these are key indicators that the nation is much far from the situation before July 2015 when troop casualties arising from cases of armed attacks, killings, abductions and missing in actions were very high. The situation is different today. The hitherto low morale of the troops is now high. The rate of casualty, by credible accounts, has reduced from about 500 per cent to 10-20 per cent. It must be emphasised that the anti-terror war has taken a huge toll on the Nigerian military, a fact which featured prominently in the remarks by the U.S Secretary of State who observed with regrets that huge casualties had been suffered in the war against terror. This high rating by the U.S, in my opinion, is apt, proper and uplifting. It will go a long way in boosting the morale of our troops as well as enhance the image of our country in the global coalition against terrorism and violent extremism. It will enable our military to remain steadfast in the execution of their duties spread across the various flashpoints across the nation fighting insurgency, militancy, communal clashes and cattle rustling, among others, all in a bid to ensure our collective security.
There is a school of thought that our military is over-burdened. What is your take?
Yes, I have heard that too but my immediate reaction is that our military is capable of meeting our national security challenges but it is also important that we all work together as citizens to de-escalate tension in our country. We should all work together to maintain peace in the country. Little wonder that the new United Nations Secretary-General has declared his agenda this year as conflict prevention and peace sustenance. The vision is doable and sustainable. Military historians maintain that emerging crises in parts of the country should compel an insight into the price being paid by members of the Nigerian military to keep the country stable, secure, united, peaceful and violence-free. Some think that the military had never been engaged in many internal security operations as now. Such armed conflicts include insurgency, terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, cattle rustling, farmers-herdsmen clashes, pipeline vandalism, electricity cable vandalism, oil theft, illegal bunkering, ritual killing, electoral violence and cultism. The consensus however is that the Nigerian military has done very well in effectively quelling civil disorder and other forms of armed conflicts. We believe that the emphasis on inter-agency synergy and information-sharing by the CDS as a war-time strategy has helped the military and other security agencies to successfully fight insurgency, terrorism, militancy and other crimes in the country. The military leadership has displayed immense capacity to degrade Boko Haram as a means of preparing the north-east for a speedy return to peace and normalcy to enable the displaced people return to their ancestral homes.
So you think the U.S endorsement of our military’s defeat of Boko Haram is valid and well-placed?
As a civil advocacy group that has been mobilising public support for our military’s counter-terrorism war as well as promoting democracy, good governance and citizen engagement in the country, there cannot be anything less. The United States’ public praise of President Muhammadu Buhari’s strategy against Boko Haram is highly commendable. Don’t forget that not too long ago, President Buhari received a phone call in London from the U.S President, Donald Trump who commended Nigeria for its giant counter-terrorism strides. Remember also that at the last 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York late last year, there was an unprecedented endorsement from former U.S President, Barack Obama who openly praised President Muhammadu Buhari and the gallant Nigerian military for defeating Boko Haram. These double endorsements on President Muhammadu Buhari’s successful counter-terrorism strategy by two successive and bi-partisan political dispensations in the U.S, in a space of three months, is befitting and defining in our quest to achieve national unity, stability and prosperity. The U.S has the credentials to confer such endorsement being one of the strongest fighting forces in the world. It is believed Boko Haram, an affiliate to ISIS, is the world’s deadliest terrorist group after ISIS and al-Queda. So the U.S is convinced about the gallantry of our military. We’re not surprised at American’s high rating of our anti-terror war. We owe this success to the purpose-driven Olonishakin-led leadership of our military whose fresh focus, vigour, professionalism and commitment anchored on discipline, probity and tactical approach have continued to do us very proud.