Nigeria: Boko Haram - Thumbs Up for Nigerian Military
OPINION
Nigerian Vanguard
NIGERIAN military has accumulated years of successful war campaigns both within and outside the shores of our country.They prevailed in the Nigerian three years civil war against Biafra from 1966 to 1970, and kept Nigeria one.
They have carried out successful campaigns in peace keeping in Africa and West Africa, including the containment of internal skirmishes in Niger-Delta, Abia and Benue States ensuring that peace returned to these places, until terrorism entered Nigeria and by 2009 and a major issue called Boko Haram.
Our military was not exempted from the embarrassment of combating a group that operated with the combined tactics of guerilla warfare and that of terrorists operating within civilian human shields. Their woes became multiplied with the existence of moles, saboteurs within their fold, while our so called foreign allies did not help matters.
When Boko Haram started attacking the city of Maiduguri and areas around Borno State two years ago, America showed up with their mesmerizing bravado. Their displays on the streets of Maiduguri was encouraging to many of us, but they soon fizzled out for reasons best known to them but not without inflicting damaging blows on the psyche of our military. They heaped all sorts of bad smear on our military, to such an extent that many Nigerians almost bought their lie that we had a disjointed, poorly equipped, uncoordinated, military with low morale.
A few in the army bought the garbage, and their confidence nose dived. Nigeria's political class and leaders, who were plotting to cash in on the failures and challenges of the military added salt to the injury. Rather than support the government, they went about and shouted loudest, in a strange jubilation, carrying the woes of our situation to same America, who then took their time to deal the hardest blows to the war efforts.
America in response, treated our government with their utmost disrespect. Senator McCain who lost to Obama during their last presidential election made very derogatory comments about the President and Commander -in - Chief of Nigerian Armed Forces, referring to our President as " some guy called Jonathan".
Why did our own sons go to a looser , who his people rejected as president, to get a comment? Why did our leaders choose to laugh at the ondoing of their own home government? The answers are not far fetched.Greed and inordinate desire to get power at the centre, blinded them to forget an African proverb that says 'it is an unwise man who laughs,when a joke is made about his mother's buttockx'.
Any insult to our President and Commander -in -Chief is an insult to all Nigerians, and it becomes more painfully vexatious when it comes from our so called allies.
America refused to sell the weapons and military hardware we needed, blocked Europe, South Africa, and Israel from selling arms to Nigeria, and turns back to suggest how we should run our elections time table! I do not blame America, I blame the Nigerians who run overseas to mess up their nation in the name of politics. They politicize every thing applicable to life in Nigeria.
Our badly frenzied opposition party have again, recently ran to London, to hold talks about our elections. They run overseas to buy houses, go there for their medicals,train their wards there, because they failed to make Nigeria a good place like the Europeans did for themselves. And shamelessly they now want our presidential candidates to go to Europe to hold debates! How many of those listeners in Europe have PVCs to vote, and of what value to Nigerian economy will such a debate in London confer? Why don't they learn how their allies play opposition politics?
Senator McCain congratulated Obama when he was defeated in their last presidential election, but when Buhari lost in the last election, he called a press conference where he wept bitterly and thereafter vowed never to contest again. He has just met his rich friends from the South West, and they reminded him to try and go back to pick what he forgot from Dodan Barracks now Aso Rock, thirty tears ago! Now they are shouting Change. You refused to debate in Nigeria and want to debate in London, a good sign of the change indeed.
In any case, in spite of American and European double standards in the support of Nigeria against insurgency, Nigeria has managed to acquire the necessary arms, international cooperation with our neighbours, Chad, Niger and Cameroons, with French support, to change the tide of victory in favour of Nigeria, in the war.
Our gallant military, in well-coordinated efforts regained over 70 percent of Nigerian territories from the insurgents, who still control parts of Borno State, along the mountainous Cameroonian border, areas of Sambisa Forest and parts of southern Yobe state.
In effect, it is a matter of days and the insurgents will be completely flushed out of our land without a "Caliphate"
Boko Haram is likely to resort to terrorism, with suicide bombings, etc, in the months to come. Our Military has continued to protect and preserve the unity of this country and making it stable for prosperity, and defending the country's territorial integrity from insurgency and external aggression, providing aid to civil authority.
Last week, thousands of people marched in Cameroon's capital Yaounde protest against Nigeria's Boko Haram insurgency and support their nation's army, which is fighting alongside its neighbours in the region to defeat Boko Haram. Organizers said the march was aimed at informing the public, especially in the southern part of Cameroon, about the threat posed by Boko Haram, which has carried out regular cross-border raids in the far north, to tell Cameroonians that they are at war and a part of the country is suffering, and also to discourage Cameroonian youths from joining Boko Haram. I hope Nigeria will learn, leave divisive politics in time of war, and plan protests to encourage peace and youth awareness against Boko Haram, than to protest against the government and our military.
We remain grateful and indebted to our tried, tested and trusted military. We stand by them in prayers any day any time.
Mr. Clement Udegbe, a legal practitioner, wrote from Lagos.
Nigerian Vanguard
NIGERIAN military has accumulated years of successful war campaigns both within and outside the shores of our country.They prevailed in the Nigerian three years civil war against Biafra from 1966 to 1970, and kept Nigeria one.
They have carried out successful campaigns in peace keeping in Africa and West Africa, including the containment of internal skirmishes in Niger-Delta, Abia and Benue States ensuring that peace returned to these places, until terrorism entered Nigeria and by 2009 and a major issue called Boko Haram.
Our military was not exempted from the embarrassment of combating a group that operated with the combined tactics of guerilla warfare and that of terrorists operating within civilian human shields. Their woes became multiplied with the existence of moles, saboteurs within their fold, while our so called foreign allies did not help matters.
When Boko Haram started attacking the city of Maiduguri and areas around Borno State two years ago, America showed up with their mesmerizing bravado. Their displays on the streets of Maiduguri was encouraging to many of us, but they soon fizzled out for reasons best known to them but not without inflicting damaging blows on the psyche of our military. They heaped all sorts of bad smear on our military, to such an extent that many Nigerians almost bought their lie that we had a disjointed, poorly equipped, uncoordinated, military with low morale.
A few in the army bought the garbage, and their confidence nose dived. Nigeria's political class and leaders, who were plotting to cash in on the failures and challenges of the military added salt to the injury. Rather than support the government, they went about and shouted loudest, in a strange jubilation, carrying the woes of our situation to same America, who then took their time to deal the hardest blows to the war efforts.
America in response, treated our government with their utmost disrespect. Senator McCain who lost to Obama during their last presidential election made very derogatory comments about the President and Commander -in - Chief of Nigerian Armed Forces, referring to our President as " some guy called Jonathan".
Why did our own sons go to a looser , who his people rejected as president, to get a comment? Why did our leaders choose to laugh at the ondoing of their own home government? The answers are not far fetched.Greed and inordinate desire to get power at the centre, blinded them to forget an African proverb that says 'it is an unwise man who laughs,when a joke is made about his mother's buttockx'.
Any insult to our President and Commander -in -Chief is an insult to all Nigerians, and it becomes more painfully vexatious when it comes from our so called allies.
America refused to sell the weapons and military hardware we needed, blocked Europe, South Africa, and Israel from selling arms to Nigeria, and turns back to suggest how we should run our elections time table! I do not blame America, I blame the Nigerians who run overseas to mess up their nation in the name of politics. They politicize every thing applicable to life in Nigeria.
Our badly frenzied opposition party have again, recently ran to London, to hold talks about our elections. They run overseas to buy houses, go there for their medicals,train their wards there, because they failed to make Nigeria a good place like the Europeans did for themselves. And shamelessly they now want our presidential candidates to go to Europe to hold debates! How many of those listeners in Europe have PVCs to vote, and of what value to Nigerian economy will such a debate in London confer? Why don't they learn how their allies play opposition politics?
Senator McCain congratulated Obama when he was defeated in their last presidential election, but when Buhari lost in the last election, he called a press conference where he wept bitterly and thereafter vowed never to contest again. He has just met his rich friends from the South West, and they reminded him to try and go back to pick what he forgot from Dodan Barracks now Aso Rock, thirty tears ago! Now they are shouting Change. You refused to debate in Nigeria and want to debate in London, a good sign of the change indeed.
In any case, in spite of American and European double standards in the support of Nigeria against insurgency, Nigeria has managed to acquire the necessary arms, international cooperation with our neighbours, Chad, Niger and Cameroons, with French support, to change the tide of victory in favour of Nigeria, in the war.
Our gallant military, in well-coordinated efforts regained over 70 percent of Nigerian territories from the insurgents, who still control parts of Borno State, along the mountainous Cameroonian border, areas of Sambisa Forest and parts of southern Yobe state.
In effect, it is a matter of days and the insurgents will be completely flushed out of our land without a "Caliphate"
Boko Haram is likely to resort to terrorism, with suicide bombings, etc, in the months to come. Our Military has continued to protect and preserve the unity of this country and making it stable for prosperity, and defending the country's territorial integrity from insurgency and external aggression, providing aid to civil authority.
Last week, thousands of people marched in Cameroon's capital Yaounde protest against Nigeria's Boko Haram insurgency and support their nation's army, which is fighting alongside its neighbours in the region to defeat Boko Haram. Organizers said the march was aimed at informing the public, especially in the southern part of Cameroon, about the threat posed by Boko Haram, which has carried out regular cross-border raids in the far north, to tell Cameroonians that they are at war and a part of the country is suffering, and also to discourage Cameroonian youths from joining Boko Haram. I hope Nigeria will learn, leave divisive politics in time of war, and plan protests to encourage peace and youth awareness against Boko Haram, than to protest against the government and our military.
We remain grateful and indebted to our tried, tested and trusted military. We stand by them in prayers any day any time.
Mr. Clement Udegbe, a legal practitioner, wrote from Lagos.
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