Leave Buratai Out of It
Recent media agitations against the country’s Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, by some civil society groups and self acclaimed Nigerian human rights’ advocates for one reason or the other, attracted this writer’s interest.
These calls are coming at a time when the country needs to gather all its forces to see that the Army Chief and his team completely obliterate the Boko Haram insurgency that has defied logic and jeering solutions too. These unfortunate calls are coming at a time when, after six long and horrifying years, life in the North-East region is gaining a semblance of normalcy but for the recent Dalori, Gombi and other pockets of attacks that has reawakened our fears. Instead of shoring up support for our military to remain steadfast and focused in this onerous task, some of our country men are wont to cause distractions that would jeopadice whatever successes that may have been achieved so far. Whose interest would it serve if such distractions cause the Nigerian Army and its leadership to develop cold feet?
The agitations in question began after the clash between men of the Nigerian Army, NA, and members of the Ibrahim Elzakzaky’s Shi’ite movement which led to the death of a yet-to-be confirmed number of the latter’s members. And with the on-going Dasuki arms procurement scandal, a group that names itself Save the Nation Movement challenged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to probe the COAS for being Director of Defence Procurement in the period under investigation.
The group was quick to drag his name into the corruption saga for reasons only they truly know. They could not hide their desperation to defile the General’s name to such an extent that they could not pause to get their facts straight before squalling their guile (if the army press release defending the Chief is anything to go by).
Again, immediately the Sh’ite group released a list of over 700 missing members comprising those confirmed dead and those unconfirmed, a handful of social media activists went rile with a hash tag #whereIsICC in an attempt to whip up sentiments against the Nigerian Army and COAS in particular.
There is an adage that one does not set his house ablaze to catch a rat. Indeed, anyone whose heart genuinely feels for the people of North-East would not wish for anything but goodwill for the COAS and his men in this critical time because they face a bigger monster threatening the region to extinction if unchecked. And who knows if other regions would remain safe from the menace.
Indications are that for president Buhari to have plucked away Buratai few months after being appointed commander of Multi-National Joint Task Force in Chad so as to make him COAS shows how much confidence Mr President has in him as a reliable paladin to fight a war which this administration is determined to win. One is certain president Buhari must have done his investigations on the man before saddling him with this huge responsibility despite several others available for selection. This act alone should show Nigerians the level of confidence our president has in him.
And if these calls are part of a political gimmick to rubbish president Buhari’s government, one would like to plead on behalf of millions of Nigerians whose lives are exposed to different forms of danger to please leave Buratai and the entire military out of politics so that they can finish the good work which they started for the betterment of the country.
Besides, this writer is of the opinion that anyone who has lived in this country in the last 40 years knows that the Army under this leadership is making deliberate efforts to shed off the spots it had acguired from its past image. Indeed, it is my believe that the Buratai led Nigerian Army has helped in bringing a human face to the force.
Agreed we have not gotten there yet, however the signals are encouraging. We know that in this country, an ordinary army recruit in uniform can order a high ranking civil servant to hop, otherwise known as frog-jump, in public glare without budging. This is an army whose men would flog a father in the presence of his children with impunity.
Thus, for top serving military generals to respond to the Shi’ites’ road blockade as they did in the video clips prior to the unfortunate incident is a welcome development indicative of a road to rebirth. Pray, how many times have Nigerians been privileged to witness a scenerio where men from the top echelon of the NA painstakingly plead with a group of rampaging ruck for right of way?
These revered top military men alighted from their vehicles to make peace with the froward youth who seemed rather spurred to remain uncompromising. And instead of Sheikh Zakzaky, the leader of this movement to see this act as encouraging and a caveat to save the lives of his followers, his incendiary refusal to recall them led to an avoidable bloodshed in which many of them did not live to fight another day. One may see Elzakzaky’s inaction as immature seeing that the lives of his followers should have been of more significance than any show of bravado.
Conversely, one finds the COAS’s leadership style impressive. This is a leader that joins the troops at the frontline from time to time, checking on them and encouraging them. This is an Army Chief who celebrated his eid (sallah) and christmas with his gallant soldiers at the frontline instead of sending them goodwill messages from the comfort of his home. This is a man that deployed psychological and military prowess to counter a malignant insurgency which many of us feared could go on ad infinitum.
It is this writer’s candid believe that the Nigerian Army must not be distracted from its most pressing assignment now that the insurgents are obviously regrouping. As for respect to human life and civil society, a meaningful contribution which the N.A needs from the society in this period of trepidation is encouragement; sincere advice/advocacy on how to promote synergy between the military and others; particularly on how best to react to confrontations.
As Emir Sanusi had observed, there is a time to use rubber bullets, there is a time to use tear gas, there is a time for hot water sprays and there is a time for life bullets. Since this crop of military leadership has exhibited its readiness to adjust to the change mantra, what it needs is cooperation and constructive suggestions on how to go about it.
Arasu writes from Kaduna
