Bent on deflecting the backlash from our feeble war against Boko Haram, the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, has launched a campaign to douse the fire. In a tirade delivered last week, Dasuki blamed Nigeria’s failure to defeat the Islamists on the mass media and the international community. This is a red herring, a totally misplaced call from the NSA.
Pillorying the media and the international community for allowing “anything (videos) from Boko Haram to easily get online,” Dasuki, a retired Army colonel who replaced Owoye Azazi in June 2012, said Nigeria’s “soft approach” strategy against Boko Haram “is not being effective because we don’t have the media. The media is one of our major problems. Why the double standard from the international community? Nobody is talking of human rights violation in Syria and other places.” But this is just an excuse.
After many years as a public officer, Dasuki should be aware of the basic workings of the mass media, especially the social media. The cyberspace has limitless capacity to provide information to humanity, and Nigeria’s narrow interests cannot obviate this critical global service.
With his lethal missive, Dasuki is further antagonising the international community, draining hopes that countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, France and the United States would offer any form of assistance. This is uncalled for. This is the time to welcome all the friends we can muster.
We are surprised that Dasuki is not focusing on the demands of the NSA job. The role of the media has been established long before now as the watchdog of the society. But, instead of appreciating the contributions of the Fourth Estate of the Realm, he is using it as a scapegoat. This is sad.
Some 10 days before he launched his salvo, the same NSA had, during his now provocative Chatham House presentation in London, submitted that Nigeria could fight the terror war without help from the United Nations or the African Union. Turning around to blame these countries some days after is confusing and gratuitous.
Indeed, Dasuki’s tenure has witnessed a dire reversal in the little gains Nigeria experienced in the anti-terror war before his appointment by President Goodluck Jonathan in mid-2012. On Dasuki’s watch, Nigeria has lost swathes of territory in the North-Eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe to the Islamic insurgents. Except during the Civil War of 1967 to 1970, Nigeria had never lost its territory to any group.
As Nigeria’s control of the situation wanes, while Boko Haram – a force of about 6,000 fighters (according to the US State Department) – gains more strength, the country has ceded about 130 villages and towns to the extremists seeking to establish a wider Islamic caliphate. But what riposte has the NSA offered?
Last April, 276 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram in Borno State. What is the benefit to a nation if its chief security adviser cannot be a pillar of strength in the challenge against Boko Haram, in the bid to rescue the Chibok schoolgirls? The maidens were kidnapped by the insurgents as they were preparing for their school certificate examinations.
Last year’s arms purchase scandal, in which South Africa seized planes loaded with cash totalling $9.3 million, is still fresh in our minds, and demonstrates the culture of opacity in our dealings with ourselves and the outside world. Starting with Dasuki, Nigerian security officials should be introspective in charting a way forward.
Dasuki assumed office proposing dialogue as the magic bullet to end the Boko Haram insurgency. Almost three years into his tenure, the result is clear: It is not working. More than that, Nigeria is rapidly losing territory to the misguided fanatics; this is unacceptable.
He took the dialogue approach to a ridiculous level when he devised the “soft approach” method, a strategy that has not reined in the insurgency or weakened it in any form. His fixation with this style was seen clearly last October, when, in conjunction with the Ministry of Special Duties, he broached a ceasefire arrangement with Boko Haram to release the 219 Chibok schoolgirls remaining in its captivity. Of course, the deal turned out to be a ruse hatched by scammers and the insurgents took advantage of the ceasefire order by the military high command to frontline troops to seize more territories. He needs to outline another workable proposal.
The NSA has not brought out the sound strategy to defeat these marauders. Terror is always evolving. An NSA that will battle it to a standstill should shun partisan politics, as the current one has done when he joined in instigating the postponement of the general election.
Other security chiefs around the world are making their mark by concentrating on their jobs. For instance, John Allen, a retired American general in charge of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State terrorists operating in the Middle East, recently alerted the world to the threat posed by the terrorists. Warning that “ISIS is at an entirely different level than al-Qaeda was,” Allen said ISIS “is better organised. Its command and control are better. We should take it seriously.” Nigeria too should take Boko Haram more seriously.
Security in Nigeria today is in the doldrums. The NSA should face the task squarely and stop looking for scapegoats for the failure of the security apparatus he coordinates.
