For those whom the gods love to prolong their lives, they first make their enemies to announce their death before their time. As it was with the ‘Owelle of Onitsha’, Chief Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, and the former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, so it is with the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, whose news of his fake death and rebuttal gained traction on social media platforms on Monday.
The Defence Headquarters described the callous fake news of General Musa’s death as lacking in credibility. The statement disclosed that the CDS, who had just returned from a foreign trip on that same date was hale and hearty and had resumed his duties of “prospering” the Nigerian Armed Forces.
As it was with Zik, IBB…
This is not the first time a prominent Nigerian is rumoured dead. Prominent Nationalist and Statesman, Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe, was once a victim. The news of his fake death triggered anxiety among his teeming supporters who, despite denial from family members, thronged his residence to convince themselves that the Owelle was indeed alive. It was only after he had appeared on the balcony of his home that news of his rumoured death was refuted.
In 2016 and 2019, the fake news of General IBB’s death sent waves of apprehension among his associates and admirers across the country. Many years after this unfounded news of his death, the former military president is still hale and hearty and living in graceful retirement. When I met him last year, he was looking so healthy to live for some decades to come. When I spoke to him some two months ago, his voice never faltered as we conversed delightfully for over 20 minutes. It seems to me that those who have lived well and left behind astounding footprints in the sands of times were once rumoured to have died.
Bitter truth for NASS
Monday’s rumoured death of the CDS eventually turned out to be a prologue to the appearance of the security chiefs before the House of Representatives on Tuesday over the manner the military has combated insecurity. Unlike in the past when the federal lawmakers proved impotent in inviting security chiefs to brief them, Tuesday’s briefing provided an insight into some of milestone achievements by the nation’s security forces in the fight against insecurity and the challenges faced by security personnel in defeating terrorism and banditry, among other crimes.
Briefing the lawmakers, General Musa blamed the judiciary for the slow prosecution of terror elements and other members of other non-state actors involved in terrorism. He said the granting of bail to Boko Haram members and the many acts of collusion between terror agents and some rogue elements in the Nigeria Correction Service (NCS) in financing terrorism was providing oxygen to insecurity. When people standing trial for terrorism are granted bail, Musa noted, the lives of military personnel are put at risk.
On purchase of equipment for the military to effectively defeat troublers of the Nigerian state, the military boss lamented that the dollar crisis was making it almost an impossible feat to get value for money, despite huge budgetary allocations for the Defence sector. In his words: “All the items we procured were bought with hard currency, none in naira. Most times when funds are released, by the time you turn these funds into dollars, they can only get us very little.
More worrisome is the issue of poor welfare for members of the armed forces. That each military personnel was fed with only N1,500 per day did not only shock the lawmakers; but is reflective of the sorry state our fighting troops are subjected to while protecting us from criminals lurking in the shadows to unleash violence on us.
What has changed?
The CDS inherited a military that was poorly equipped and suffered from a dearth of synergy in tackling terrorists that were and still, though degraded, wreaking havoc on the nation. The prevailing improved synergies brought about by the current headship of the military have led to the surrender of over 100,000 terrorists, just as rising militancy and oil bunkering experienced in the past have been reduced considerably. Increased military and civilian engagements have provided a platform for all to understand that security is not only the business of the military, but the entire populace.
The recent success in the just concluded governorship poll in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states attests to the determination of the military in making our democracy devoid of electoral violence. Though there has been a remarkable reduction in recurring insecurity in Nigeria, the military is set to obliterate forces battling to enthrone insecurity in the country.
The nation’s military under General Musa has more than ever before deployed both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches in dealing with security challenges facing our nation. Compared with the past, our military is now more committed to fighting forces threatening our security. What is needed now is increased funding for the military to enable them discharge their duties of making our country safe.
More significantly, national leadership must display political willingness to go the extra-mile in supporting our troops with funds. It should be clear to all by now that the Nigerian military is now poised to defeat terrorists and other criminals.
