Buhari’s eight-year security scorecard

“The things you do for yourself are gone when  you are gone, but the things you do for others remains as your legacy.”

– Kalu Ndukwe

To many Nigerians, he is simply the military general who ruled the country with an iron fist, repented (not really) and transformed many years later to a democrat who went through the process of three consecutive elections  to correct many misconceptions about his personality.

However, there are still many others who view him as a leader whose integrity and fame go before him like a shadow. The impression he had made over the years as a democratic leader had a great impact on his immediate constituency, the military has an impressionable legacy that would be remembered.

Unfortunately, many Nigerians who over the years had fallen into the hands of criminal gunmen, including thousands who lost their loved ones, would definitely not clap for Buahri but would hiss in disapproval at any mention of his name as one leader they believed did not provide enough security for them, especially, residents of Plateau, Niger, Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Benue states. Also, residents of other affected states in the South and eastern part of the country would be quick to condemn his leadership qualities when citing many issues related to insecurity around the country.

Despite all these submissions, his immediate constituency cannot disapprove his large heart and decisive security policy, which helped to upgraded all the security agencies operating in the country.

Beginning with his immediate constituency,  the military, he did not hide his fondness for the military as equipment and other hardware were procured to enhance their  operational abilities.

On his assumption as the fourth democratically elected President of Nigeria, Buhari  was confronted with the onslaught of the terrorist group known as Boko Haram. These religious radicals operating in the Borno axis  unleashed mayhem and other heinous pains on innocent citizens and kidnapped many students and natives of that area. As part of his military strategy, Buhari extended his search for a  dependable military strategists to flush out the insurgents operating in Borno State and its surroundings.

Like the biblical search for a redeemer for the people of lsrael, when Prophet Samuel was directed to fish out David to be the king of lsrael. , the search culminated in the person of Lieutenant General Tukur  Buratai, then serving as the commander, Multinational Joint Task Force, based in Ndjamena, Chad, like the biblical David was away from home on a special assignment.

Before his appointment as Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, whole local governments in Borno State were under the full control of Boko Haram terrorists. A siege very unpleasant and distasteful, as lives and properties were daily destroyed and their hoisted flags were definite signal of their control of the local governments. Buratai picked Lucky Irabor, a general to be the arrowhead of the war by  establishing “Operation Lafia Dole.”

According to the Global Terrorism Index  2022, deaths caused by Boko Haram dropped by 92% from 2,131 in 2015 to 178 in 2021. The report acknowledged Nigeria’s “successful counter-insurgency operations targeting Boko Haram” as a leading cause of the reduction in terrorism deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.

Sadly, the same selective vision of a round peg in a round hole was not replicated in the Nigeria Police, where a square peg was appointed to fit into a round hole. Inspector-General of Police Ibrahim Kpotum Idris did not understand the motive for his appointment as the IGP. Unfortunately, Buhari could not tame his rascality and disobedience as fleeing terrorists rampaged all over Borno’s neighbouring states, kidnapping and destroying properties, including farm products. Both IGP ldris and his successor Adamu  Mohammed did not decipher the mission of their appointment, which was to fully secure the hinterland from the fleeing terrorist by policing all the neighbouring states around Borno, Gombe and Yobe. Instead, they  got entangled with unnecessary internal matters of supremacy fight with their supervising commission, the Police Service Commission, while insecurity pervaded the country and the people, instead of pointing the finger at the leadership of the Nigeria Police mandated by the Constitution to secure the lives and property of every Nigerian citizen, demanded the removal of the Service Chiefs. 

Of course, ordinary Nigerians believe that the buck stops at the President’s table. No wonder everyone points in the direction of Mr. President when looking for who to blame for insecurity in the country.

During his visit of the North-East in 2022, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said: “Now, the Borno State I have heard about was a Borno State of terrorism, of violence, of displacement, of despair. This is not the Borno that I found today. The Borno I found today is a Borno of hope. It’s a Borno with future.”

In as much as we want to applaud the focus of the Buhari administration, one should not forget that the hectic politicking toward his re-election took a deep toll on the country as bandits strayed around most northern states causing havoc on citizens and their properties. It was this aloofness on the part of internal security leaders that opened up the way for criminals to perpetrate evil around the country. Truly, internal security leaders were not on top of their game, so, all the blame was directed at Buhari, instead of the internal security leaders. The question on the lips of security analysts is, was Buhari a soft leader who could not hurt a fly?

As a military general, many believe that  Buhari’s perceived failures were the contributing factor of the past police leaders and the cabals around him.

The same cannot be said of the sea nor in the sky. The  security leaders in charge of our air and water are very diligent and efficiently strategic in their tactics. 

According to the International Maritime  Bureau  report, 2021 saw the lowest number of piracy attacks in our waters in 27 years. While Nigerian Air Force has acquired 38 brand new aircraft since Buhari assumed office in 2015; 10 Super Mushshak;  five xMi-35M helicopters; two Bell 412 helicopters; four Agusta 109 helicopters; two Mi-171E helicopters; 12 A-29 Super Tucano jets; and three  JF-17 Thunder, and is expecting  another 36 new ones (12 new AH-1Z attack helicopters and 24 M-346 fighter attack aircraft), which have been ordered. It is worthy to note that  the  immediate constituency of the President cannot claim that they have not benefited from the largess of the Buhari government in the area of better remuneration, focused administrators and upgrading of their hardware, while the police force was shortchanged with bad, ineffective and visionless administrators.

(To be continued)