Call it his political testament, policy statement or agenda. The fact remains that on coming to power, he left no one in doubt that he had a mission that must be accomplished, no matter whose ox is gored. This is Muhammadu Buhari.
On May 29, 2015, at the Eagle’s Square, Abuja, during his inaugural address as the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, a retired General and an ex-military ruler of the nation, this time made a pledge as a democratically elected president to, among other things, fight corruption, revive the dwindling economic fortune of the nation and bring to an end, the scourge of Boko Haram sect that has become worrisome and a nightmare to Nigeria and beyond.
Today, Nigerians in particular and the world in general are witnesses and testifiers to the road-map journey of President Buhari. However, what informed this piece is the agenda-setting of the President with regard to the war against Boko Haram, vis-à-vis the response from the Borno elite.
Even, the doubting Thomas was convinced that President Buhari, on assumption of office, was determined and resolved to bell the cart in the final routing of Boko Haram. He made a proclamation to this effect and followed the same with decisive steps expected of a fighting combatant.
First, President Buhari directed that the leading operational base or headquarters of the war against the insurgency be moved from Abuja to Maiduguri. Secondly, he appointed, by design or coincidence, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai from Borno State as Chief of the Army; General Mohammed Monguno, Buratai’s kinsman, as the National Security Adviser; Air Marshall Abubakar Sadiq from Bauchi State as Air Force boss and Mallam Abba Kyari, also from Borno State, as his Chief of Staff. Even the current Chairman of the Senate Committee on Defence in person of Abu Kyari is from Borno.
President Buhari went further, on assumption of office, to pay official visits to the neighbouring countries of Chad, Cameroon and Niger and had frank and fruitful discussions on the need for cooperation in the region. Thereafter, he gave the Nigerian military the teeth to bark and bite through provision of essential equipment, hardware, logistics and motivation. During the recent 57th anniversary of Nigeria’s Independence, Buhari was in Maiduguri to cheer up the soldiers fighting the insurgents.
Buhari’s efforts have paid off as Boko Haram has been degraded, decimated and all local government council areas, hitherto held by the terrorists in the affected states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, have been liberated. The sect’s headquarters at Sambisa forest has been subjugated. No doubt, the insurgents are now in disarray and operate more like the drowning man holding on to anything for survival.
Yet, Boko Haram is still a threat and a stubborn scourge that refuses to go. It is daily changing tactics from massive attack to guerilla warfare, suicide bombing and sporadic attacks; especially on soft targets. Nevertheless, President Buhari and his men are on the trail of these demons that have inflicted incalculable damage on the nation’s socio-economic and even political life.
However, the most disturbing aspect is the fact that, while President Buhari demonstrated the political will to fight and end the insurgency, there is sadly, a negative response, especially from some Borno elite, trying to frustrate this, on selfish grounds. Even the military had, on some occasions in a statement, warned this group. In one of such statements, the military spokesman, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, said, “The Nigerian Military wishes to inform the public and send a very strong and final warning to some prominent individuals and political groups, who hail from Borno in particular and North East generally, that there is information of plans by some highly placed individuals and political groups to undermine and scuttle the fight against the insurgency in the country…they employ every means to see that our operation does not succeed in order for them to continue to enjoy certain benefits…we are aware of their clandestine meetings and other diabolical efforts to achieve their aims. This will not be tolerated.”
Sometime back, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State indicted some Borno prominent indigenes, who abandoned the state at the outset of insurgency but continue to incite from their new abode outside Borno. The governor similarly indicted the Borno billionaires, who turned their back on Borno at the hour of need. He cited, for example, a billionaire from the state who has four aircraft and donated N40bn to a political party but could not even give N50, 000 for the rehabilitation of the Internally Displaced Persons in the state.
All said, President Buhari has paid his dues with regard to fighting the insurgency. The appointment of Borno indigenes to strategic positions in this regard and provision of the needed materials for the prosecution of the war are instructive. He has taken the horse to the river; it is left for the horse to drink or not. Governor Shettima is doing all that is humanly possible to douse tension and ameliorate the situation. He has proved a reliable ally.
It is now left for the Borno elite, politicians and other stakeholders to set aside their individual ambition and complement the efforts of President Buhari and Governor Shettima. They should remember: if Borno falls, they will also fall.
*Izekor, a journalist, public affairs analyst, is a member of the Board of Advisers of The Point.
