Terrorism bites! It angers, it kills gruesomely and places humanity on
the cusp of hopelessness and despair. It causes social upheavals of a
terrifying magnitude. When terrorists squeal, man is reduced to ashes.
Its venomous global outreach has thrown humanity in turmoil for decades
in parts of the world. With Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) freely
prowling, Nigeria was tormented for years.
But Nigeria has not only impressively recovered from its grip. In the
Northeast where BHTs held the country in suffocating grip, displaced
persons are now returning home, farmers have started cropping,
fishermen are back to their trade, markets are back in activity,
herdsmen are shepherding cattle in the fields, and roads closed for
years have been reopened. It’s the mirror of Nigeria’s success of the
war on terror.
But achieving these milestones is beyond fictional ecstasies. Only a
man conversant with the rudiments of a given assignment delivers it to
specifications or desired results. Soldering is certainly not
everybody’s job. It’s heavier when combined with administrative
management or leadership of the army.
Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai is
unarguably an army officer who fits both descriptions. He is a soldier
in the trenches or battlefront, much as he is an emperor in military
administration and leadership.
It is the deployment of these brilliant endowments to soldering that
Nigeria is today experiencing a near zero level of terrorism in the
Northeast and elsewhere in the country. Armed banditry in the Northwest
and militancy in the Niger Delta are gradually being tamed with the
application of strategies and fresh ideas, initiated to contain the
various nuances of insecurity challenges.
To many eyes, these seemed very impossible tasks to accomplish before
now. But in military counter engagements, like in any other profession,
effective utilization of experience and innovative ideas are the
incontestable pillars upon which success rests. Buratai’s deployment of
these skills and tactics in leading the Nigerian army in its
counter-terrorism war is responsible for the rewarding outcomes.
Pushed by the desire to leave indelible marks, in appreciation of his
choice by Nigerians to serve fatherland in the capacity of COAS last
year, Buratai undertook numerous diplomatic shuttles to at least six
foreign countries. The choice of these countries was informed by the
need to use military diplomacy to explore their experience in combating
terrorism and other security threats.
He led high-powered delegations of Nigerian army to understudy the
secrets, proven conventions and the best practices these nations adopted
to successfully prosecute the battle against terrorism and
irresponsible violence against humanity.
Buratai variously visited Brazil , Saudi Arabia, Columbia,
Bangladesh, Chad and the USA among others. These are countries plagued
by terrorism and jungle war, but have proven that nations have the
potency to overcome their violent tormentors disguised or clothed with
any nomenclature, such as terrorists, armed bandits or militants.
When he led top echelon of the Nigerian army to Colombia for instance,
Buratai targeted a country that had battled acts of terrorism for far
greater years than Nigeria. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
and other insurgent groups held the country to ransom for nearly 50
years before they were extinguished.
The trip was hugely rewarding as it delivered at his doorstep priceless
and useful information to apply in military engagement with terrorists
back home. The Colombian COAS, Gen. Albert Jose Mejia intimated the
Nigerian army delegation on different categories and dimensions of
operations by the Columbian army, including the various strategies
adopted. The visit climaxed into the inspection of Colombia’s vital
military formations and institutions of its Armed Forces.
Similarly, Buratai’s diplomatic shuttle to Bangladesh was designed to
curry support for improvement in professional skills of soldiers for
performance enhancement. Bangladesh’s President Abdul Hamid Bangabhaban
graciously offered Nigerian army training in his country’s military
institutions, reputed for proficiency and excellence. Alternatively,
Bangladesh’s President also indicated his army’s willingness to sojourn
to Nigeria to teach soldiers courses bordering on counter- terrorism and
jungle warfare.
When Buratai met with the Deputy Chief of Army Staff for International
and Special Affairs, Brazilian Army, Major General Pereira Junior ,
Nigeria’s army chief extracted the commitment of the Brazilian army
to assist the country with training billets for its army personnel,
especially, in executing jungle warfare. We are all living witnesses
to the recent past when embassies and high commissions in Nigeria issue
seasonal alerts to their nationals not to leave their homes for fear of
attacks. This singular visit of Buratai's counterpart to Nigeria
reaffirmed to the rest of the world that Nigeria and not just the
capital territory is safe for all kinds of business.
During his tour of the United States, the Nigerian Army Chief
confronted high-profile retired and serving military officers and
eminent personalities with the success story of the counter-terrorism
war in Nigeria and the respect for human rights. He laid bare his
determination to further consolidate on the gains by developing the
capacity of Nigerian army through local training and international
collaboration in a range of military specializations’.
The encounter ended with his request for mutual support, understanding
and cooperation among agencies and international partners for a
collective action against terrorists in Nigeria. The list is in
exhaustive, but everywhere the wheels of Buratai’s military diplomatic
shuttles screened to a halt, he came back home with something to improve
the capacity of Nigerian soldiers to tackle terrorism.
These military diplomatic shuttles and varying engagements of world
class military experts and the knowledge Buratai sourced has
cumulatively enthroned the success Nigeria has experienced in the war
against BHTs and other extremists’ sects. Today, Nigeria’s image abroad
has not only improved, but the country is widely adored in the comity
of nations as an immaculate star in combating terrorism.
It’s on this score that an elated President Buhari proudly informed the
71st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that;
“Nigeria has made remarkable progress in our resolve to defeat Boko
Haram whose capacity to launch orchestrated attacks as a formed group
has been severely degraded. In the last few months, their operations
have been limited to sporadic use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)
against soft targets. Nigeria has continued to combat terrorism based
on the established rules of engagement and in conformity with
international best practices.”
But still determined to explore new grounds to sustain the war on
terror groups, President Buhari scheduled a meeting with the Columbian
President during the United Nations’ General Assembly in New York to
explore fresh areas of Nigeria/Columbia military relations.
Thus, Nigeria has become the beacon light in combating internal
terrorism and its global nexus with the defeat of BHTs partly because of
Buratai’s focus and consistency, with the engagement of reputable
military experts around the world.
Nigeria has now transformed from a country sorrowing over terror to a
jubilant nation, which now urges other nation plagued by terrorism to
learn from its experience. President Buhari confidently invited
nations of the world still troubled by terrorism to be optimistic that
the Nigerian “… experience today is evidence that with determined
international collaboration, terrorism can be defeated.
Okanga writes from Agila, Benue State.
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