Service Chiefs And Limits of National Disservice

The resurgence of Boko Haram, and the national trauma precipitated by their merciless killing spree has left the whole of Nigeria in absolute bewilderment. One of the most talked about atrocity of Boko Haram is the gruesome beheading of the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Michika Local Government Area (LGA) of Adamawa State, Reverend Lawal Andimi. The effect of that provocative act is still reverberating across the polity. In the final moments before they took his life, the terrorists sought to humiliate the Reverend by producing a video, which showed him in a subdued state, begging for his life. The captive in his supplications had left his fate in the hands of God, hoping he would be with his family at the end of the ordeal. The terrorists rub insult on injury by going ahead to murder the Reverend.
As expected, the unstated objective, which the terrorists sought to realise by capturing such a traumatic moment on video, was to undermine whatever modicum of faith Nigerians still have in the ability of the government to protect the lives of citizens. Without doubt, in the minds of most Nigerians, the message has long sunk in that when Boko Haram or even other criminal elements come to snuff life out of citizens, the government, and all its security forces are not likely to come to the rescue. The terrorists with their show of brutality were also sending a subliminal message which is meant to erase the simplistic propagandist talking point of the government that it has “technically defeated” Boko Haram. In the face of this bloody resurgence of the terrorists, Nigerians would definitely be very wary of any further spin by government’s many squealers, claiming a decisive victory is being recorded in the North East.
However, as many Nigerians continue to shudder in utter disbelief that human lives can be so cheaply cut short by a bunch of outlaws, the scrutiny is now on the men who are getting paid from the public treasury to provide leadership for the armed security services. The gaudy uniforms and the many epaulettes, these generals parade are constant reminders to Nigerians about why they should be doing better with respect to the war in the North East. Therefore, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant- General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshall Sadiq Abubakar, Chief of Naval Staff Ebok Ekwe Ibas, and the Chief of Defense Staff, Major-General Gabriel Olonisakin have lots of explanations to make as to why on their watch, the security situation in the North East has deteriorated so badly.
These men have the luxury to give explanation because their Commander-in-Chief has never been known to act with dispatch and decisiveness. If President Buhari was a proactive and decisive leader, he would have for long sent the service chiefs packing. That has been a compelling option because the situation with security has deteriorated so bad that the control of key highways and other strategic arterial routes in the North East oscillates between Nigerian troops and the Boko Haram fiends. Since the President has not deemed it necessary to act, even with lives being lost on a daily basis, many citizens expect the service chiefs to on their own step down. This will allow other officers with fresh ideas to move up within the ranks, and offer fresh initiatives. Alongside the Police and the State Security Service, the service chiefs should be thwarting the machinations of Boko Haram and keeping citizens safe. However, the more the cling on to their positions despite losing ground to the enemies of the State, the more they will be seen as a group doing disservice to an already wounded country.
It is in this respect that the call by members of the National Assembly for the service chiefs to resign or get the sack resonates. While some may argue that the causative factors of Nigeria’s security problems go beyond the leadership of the armed services, an adjustment in the command structure could be the first starting point. The service chiefs were appointed on July 13, 2015, and opinions have been strong that after over four years of directing the country’s counter insurgency efforts, it is time to breath fresh ideas into the nation’s security system. Again, if the President has not been sensitive enough to see the need to make the change, the security chiefs should do the nation the favour; they should introspect on the number of lives lost on their watch, and quietly leave the stage.

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