The recent meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and Cameroonian President Paul Biya on security within West Africa is a continuation of the inward policy strategy by African Union (AU) at tackling security issues in the continent, writes Correspondent, SAM NWOKORO.
Penultimate week, President Muhammadu Buhari held discussions with Cameroonian President Paul Biya, in continuation of his administration’s strategy in countering Boko Haram insurgency in the North East part of the country.
The multinational forces, assembled by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the North East where Boko Haram has resumed atrocious killings and maiming, had been there before the general elections in March 28.
The hostilities thawed during the elections, but has been intensified since after the election. There has been no let-up post-election. The multinational forces from Cameroon, Chad and Niger have been fighting the insurgents since February when they landed in the North East. They achieved some push-back of the terrorists, recovering some villages such as Mubi, Gworza and Gusau, which the sect had captured.
During last week’s meeting, Buhari and Biya agreed to, among other things, pursue to its logical conclusion proper demarcation of the Nigerian-Cameroon border, one of ECOWAS’s most porous. It is from that border that Muslim jihadists from other countries in Africa, with sizeable Muslim population, penetrate Nigeria. The multinational forces have already been operating in Nigeria and have achieved some success that enabled the insurgents retreat before the general election last March and April. However, the re-launch of the jihadist attacks after the election has not been matched by the forces, a trend that appeared to have given the terrorists an edge over the Nigerian military.
Boko Haram’s resurgence
Observers of Nigerians onslaught against the jihadists posit two main reasons the pre-election success recorded against Boko Haram appeared to have waned. One is that the jihadists may have opted a wait-and-see tactic to study the tone of the Buhari administration, and see if he would be a sharia-compliant president or otherwise. Having noticed so far that the administration is not showing any remarkable bias for their cause, expressly or clandestinely, they decided to resume hostilities early enough, in order not to allow the new administration gap to strategise. The theory posits that what the jihadists have done was a sort of ambush, to put the new administration on the defensive, disorganise battle plans since they probably foreknew that there could be a reshuffling of the security apparatus, and thus, within the interim, make some headway.
When cornered to comment on the resurgence of Boko Haram, a military officer, a Corporal who was simply identified as Tunde, said: “In warfare, there is what is called ambush. That is what Boko Haram has done. It is not as if Boko Haram is capable of routing Nigerian army. The army is not deploying maximum force because the war against Boko Haram requires more intelligence because the terrorists are always mixing with civilians, and there is caution by the army commanders to minimise civilian casualties as much as possible.
“That is also responsible for why some of our men were felled, not that Boko Haram overpowered them. We have done a lot in routing them before the election and even during the election. But they are now trying to capitalise on the army’s main focus on precise intelligence to re-launch aggression on innocent civilians.”
Another reason being posited for the resurgence is the expectation by the terrorists that the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the pilgrimage would provide them with some sympathy and needed popularity as champions of Allah’s precepts. So, that is why they resumed attack on civilians and public places.
Why Nigeria, Cameroon meet
Nigeria and Cameroon share one of the most porous borders in Africa. Both are members of ECOWAS and have been active in the multinational expedition force against Boko Haram. Both also have sizeable populations of radical Islamic populations. It is in an effort to tackle trans-border terror trafficking that the Cameroon-Nigeria Bi-Commission was set up to prosecute common security challenges. They work under the ECOWAS and African Union (AU) security architecture.
The resort by the Buhari administration to seek deeper regional and sub-regional alliance in prosecuting the war on Boko Haram may not be unconnected with the seemingly less than encouraging response he got from Washington recently regarding supplying the Nigerian army with needed military hardware and intelligence gathering tools in fighting the terrorists.
There is the thinking in Washington that any military assistance this early in the life of the present administration may go the way previous assistance were miss-utilised due to the corruption alleged to have festered public institutions in the last civilian dispensation. Thus, the Leehy Act, which prohibits military assistance to nations classified as ‘terror-laden nations’, came handy for Washington’s security establishment. Any such assistance could only come in any other form, but not direct arms supply. Coming on the heels of the controversial arms purchase that was bungled during Jonathan’s regime, the Washington establishment has decided that it is better to allow the Buhari regime do some inward cleaning of Nigeria’s institutions, while they watch his steps regarding the anti-terror campaign.
Kindling relations
During Buhari’s meeting with Biya, both leaders reviewed the anti-terror campaign and resolved to pursue the demarcation of the Nigeria-Cameroon border expeditiously as a security measure to counter terror. They also resolved to ensure that the Lake Chad Basin Commission works for the greater economic and security interest of both countries. Most of the terrorists use the Lake Chad for their terror operation and getting external supplies.
“The Chad Basin Commission must work together against Boko Haram as no country can fight and win the war against terror alone,” Buhari said at the Cameroonian State House, Unity Palace Yaounde. “We recognise that none of us can succeed alone. In order to win this war, we need the collective effort of each one of us standing together as a formidable force to defeat these acts of terror against our people. It represents an opportunity for Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin to work together for their common security, peace and socio-economic development.
“Let me assure all of my relentless pursuit of all possible means to safeguard Nigeria’s territorial integrity, protect the lives and property of our citizens, as well as my commitment to continue to collaborate with Cameroon and our neighbours within the framework of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. The federal government is committed to respecting international norms to resolve this matter and to restore normalcy to all affected areas as soon as possible.”
In response, Biya said to Buhari: “A dark cloud is looming over our country (Cameroon), even as we welcome you. We are facing the same threat which may rock the foundation of our nation. This danger bears the name, Boko Haram. Its atrocities and crime are jeopardising peace around Lake Chad, especially in our two countries. The number of deaths and victims are rising. Economic activities have been crippled in affected areas. The number of refugees and displaced persons are ever increasing. We cannot allow this cancer to spread. We must pool our resources and forces and share our experiences.”
Dealing with Boko Haram
The security challenges posed by Boko Haram is one of the delicate challenges the present administration may have to confront much than its immediate predecessor had. Politically, it puts the Buhari administration in an uncomfortable squirm. Notwithstanding that the sect has generally been labelled as a base example of Islam, however, there is popular notion that it exists as a pressure tool for the Northern political interests – given the nearly five years tenure it has successfully disturbed the peace of Nigeria, rebuffing all entreaties by all manner of opinion leaders, big and small, in the North.
There were even reports that in the hey days of the group’s sweep across the North East and parts of North West, some serving council chairmen and emirs did not spare any worthwhile effort to assist the Nigerian forces, even if by way of providing confidential tips to the Nigerian side.
According to one escapee TheNiche interviewed last year, “Most emirs and local government council chairmen even collaborate with Boko Haram by not doing anything to even send signals to military high command in Abuja. They just watch gleefully as the (Boko Haram) massacre Christians, going from house to house and stopping and killing them on the way.”
According to Chris Ibeh, a human rights lawyer, “Boko Haram presents a serious dilemma for the Buhari government. If he does not move fast, the boys might be emboldened that nothing will happen to them since they are defending the precepts of Allah of which the president is a fervent adherent. And if he deploys maximum force, the world would say he is acting the military man he has been. Already the Amnesty International has already started alleging that Nigerian army is violating human rights principles in its conduct of its operations so far. This is a curious twist.”
Ibeh reasons that the president should make effective use of local intelligence to penetrate the leadership of the terrorists.
“These boys are human beings. They are not spirits. Even if they have foreign sponsors, somebody is facilitating the link. Those invisible elements are the people government should look out for and arrest. What you are seeing is just the small masquerades; the big ones are very much around and they are the ones that facilitate Boko Haram’s contacts with outside supplies like arms, intelligence and bombs.
Then after this, negotiation can still go on. There is no war that does not involve negotiation. Since ages the Israelite-Arab wars has been on, negotiations have never ceased. It is not as if neither of them is not capable of crippling each other. But at the end, what matters is you achieved results with minimal casualties; after all it is an internal thing,” he said.
The attorney also posited that nothing has been done about the economic side of the Boko Haram issue.
His words: “The Jonathan administration we know went about the world canvassing for economic assistance to revamp the socio-economic life of the terror-ravaged areas. Even some funds such as ‘Safe School Initiative’ and sundry multilateral donations have been made to help the economy of the Northern region. Those funds should not be allowed to be stolen or diverted. He should start also to put policy measures in place to empower the Muslim youth while exploring negotiations and use of force. The three should go hand in hand to achieve result, not just bullet and tanks.”
Counting on Washington
For Nigeria to effectively combat the activities of Boko Haram, it sorely needs the confidence and co-operation of at least one or two powerful nations who have had experience in dealing with terrorists.
“The swiftness with which Osama bin Laden was detailed, tracked and clinically struck down in 2011 had since reduced the ferocity with which Taliban used to strike at western targets until the Charlie Hebdo assassination in Paris early in the year. It is similar precisions that the Nigerian armed forces need in order to effectively track the insurgents’ movement.
“That is why the Nigerian authorities need to continue pressing on Washington to help in the area of surveillance and intelligence. This is most necessary even if Washington is not going to sell to Nigeria military hardware,” Godson Madu, a security consultant, told TheNiche.
The implication of a continued Boko Haram onslaught could further distract the government from tackling most pressing economic issues at a time of tight fiscal regime, as oil price continues to fall. A much prolonged war with the insurgents, without effectively routing them within a short time, would only stoke low rating of Buhari before the public.
Head of U.S. Congress Committee on Judiciary, Issa, who talked with Nigerian Defence chiefs in Abuja last week said: “U.S. has commenced the process of lifting the restrictions of the Leahy Law on Nigeria because of recent moves to professionalise the military by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Major General Abayomi Olonishakin, and service chiefs.”
He added that most of America’s support for Nigeria in the area of training, technical support and equipment provision was not tied to the Leahy Law.
To Buhari’s administration, this is a reassuring note.
