President Muhammadu Buhari’s efforts at stimulating agricultural growth in the country suffered a massive setback yesterday as 43 farmers were beheaded by the Boko Haram insurgents in Borno. The whole blame is on the Nigerian Army which was installed as the ‘Awodi’ but could not pluck ‘Adie’ off the ground since the Nigerian Police, responsible for internal security, had been dishearteningly incapacitated.
Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora, versed in warfare strategies, have continued to bemoan the porous intelligence gathering (or lack of it) of the Nigerian Army. Claims of decimation of Boko Haram insurgents have been made by the Federal Government while the insurgents have always been coming back to hit FG where it hurts most. There appears to be a reversal of roles as Boko Haram insurgents appear to have mastered the art of intelligence gathering and are deploying it to fullest advantage to their bloodsucking embarkment if the claims of their infiltration into the Nigerian Army must be held to. The insurgents are beating the Nigerian Army to what’s supposed to be one of army’s warfare strategies in intelligence gathering.
It’s acknowledged that the Nigerian Army is doing its best in invading the hideouts of the insurgents and killing them in droves with weapons of warfare. But since the insurgents are bent on pushing their intensely insane ideology down the throats of Nigeria and are doing everything exceedingly possible to achieve it, the Nigerian Army does not need a prophetic telling that time to change tactics has almost elapsed.
On the part of the Federal Government, much funds had been pumped into acquiring arms and ammunitions for the Army to be able to deal ruthlessly with the insurgents. However, the Federal Government needs to do more. It’s an understatement to still state that relieving the current service chiefs of their duties and replacing them with more proactive bloods are overdue. The argument that changing the service chiefs would make little or no impact is weak. In a corporate business investment, a body of management would work to push the company to bankruptcy while another body of management would work to push the same company to sustainable profits. Therefore, to agree that changing the service chiefs will not change much in the fights against insurgency is to conclude that the Nigerian Army has lost its potency forever and that it lacks competent personnel to rejuvenate its erstwhile unmatched efficiency in warfare strategies and performance.
It’s high time for President Muhammadu Buhari to inject new bloods and strategies into the operations of the Nigerian Army by first removing the current service chiefs and calling for total restructuring of its operations. Farming is dear the President Buhari’s heart. Apart from being his constituency in private endeavour, farming is also an important focus of his administration. He must take action now by declaring the seats of the service chiefs vacant and appointing replacements without delay if the president must not be seen as only paying lip service to agricultural growth. If for the sake of sentiment for and solidarity to the farmers who were brutally killed by the insurgents, now is the time to overhaul the operations of the Army, chief of which is the replacement of the service chiefs.
