By Emmanuel Oladesu
Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum is not a happy man at the moment. He knows where the shoe pinches. His state is on fire. His people are in agony. Thus, he is looking beyond the Armed Forces for solution to insurgency.
The governor inherited power and liabilities of power in the Northeastern state. Although he has done well for his people in terms of service delivery, there is a glaring shortfall. It is not his own making. He governs a highly vulnerable state. Borno, like many states in the country, is insecure.
Zulum’s attention is being diverted by terrorists who are decimating and destroying his state. On two occasions, he escaped by whiskers. The Sambisa devils nearly cut short his life. In bewilderment, he cried for federal help. But, the assistance he got fell short of expectation. The beginning of problem solving was troop deployment. But, there is nothing to cheer for the constant presence of troops without the prospects of victory over state enemies. Restoring peace has remained a tall order.
Boko Haram, according to the Federal Government, has been technically defeated. Yet, the true picture is the readiness and capacity of the sect for more surprises, incalculable damage, devastating harm and disaster.
Gone were the days of tranquility in Borno, where people now live in apprehension and pain.
As the chief security officer of his state, Zulum is now helpless. Borno is ebbing away. The fear of Boko Haram is the beginning of wisdom. The question on his lip is: when will respite come?
The President has told the beleaguered nation that he had done what was expected of him in terms of security. His best, according to observers, is not enough. To them, the bloodletting and anguish are evidence of renewed hostilities by insurgents, and not a tribute to the triumph of the military on the Northeast battle field.
Billions of naira are budgeted yearly for security. Is there anything to show for it? It is debatable.
Zulum does not have control over the police, army and other para-military personnel. He is the chief security officer on paper. But, for almost 10 years now, the security personnel have not recorded total success in the anti-terror war, to the consternation of his people. Instead, it has been tales of reversal of gains, excuses and defence mechanisms.
Many soldiers and civilians have fallen in the elongated anti-terror battle. The casualties are worrisome and embarrassing. They keep rising by the day.
The governor cried out in frustration last Monday. Since the military had failed to secure just a state out of 36 states, he advised President Muhammadu Buhari, himself a General and now Commander-In-Chief, to look for help beyond Nigeria’s shores. He called for the recruitment of foreign mercenaries to fight terrorism in Nigeria.
Zulum vented his anger, following the recent killing of 43 farmers in the state when the Federal Government delegation, led by Senate President Ahmad Lawan, paid him a condolence visit. He made some suggestions to Buhari.
The governor called for “the immediate recruitment of our youths into military and paramilitary services to complement the efforts of the Nigerian forces.”
He also asked the president “to engage the services of our immediate neighbours, especially the government of Chad, Cameroon and Niger Republic, in clearing the remnants of Boko Haram hiding in the shores of the Lake Chad.”
The governor requested the president “to provide the police and the military, with armed resistant armoured personnel carriers and other related equipment.
However, one of the recommendations stand out. Zulum urged the president “to engage the services of the mercenaries to clear the Sambisa forest.”
Other Northeast governors agreed with him. Even, on Wednesday, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum nodded affirmatively. The suggestion may be controversial. But, to observers, it is understandable.
The suggestion, which was made in distress, is not new. Instructively, former President Goodluck Jonathan had invited foreign fighters from South Africa to assist in flushing out the dreadful sect from the expansive forest.
However, the governor’s proposal has implications. The call for mercenaries underscored the apparent failure of the military, and indeed, the entire security architecture, in combating terrorism. This may have lent credence to the growing feeling in high quarters that mercenaries are more resilient, more determined, more effective, more result-oriented and superior to the Nigerian army.
This is one side of the coin. The other side is that it is possible that the soldiers face many constraints on the war front, which were not properly tackled by the government. Many of them have made sacrifices and fought gallantly. Scores have perished, leaving behind bereaved families, friends and associates. What is the assurance that mercenaries will not face the same impediments?
Are the soldiers adequate? Is the Army not being overstretched? Are soldiers well equipped for the challenge? Are they well motivated? Do they have superior weapons? Who are the forces financing the insurgents to the detriment of the country?
The nasty perception about a shortfall in role fulfilment is growing. Does it means that Nigerian soldiers cannot be relied upon to adequately defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria, a sovereign nation-state?
To analysts, the feeling that much confidence cannot be reposed in Nigerian soldiers to wipe out terrorism and the forces aiding them to destroy a section of the country has been fuelled by their lack of triumph in Sambisa. It may be nothing short of an indictment. But, past experience has shown that Nigerian soldiers are not cowards. They are patriotic and always ready to lay down their lives for their country to survive.
There is also a major puzzle. How can the governor’s call for the recruitment of mercenaries be reconciled with the presidential outcry against the invasion of the war front by suspected mercenaries, who have aided Boko Haram terrorists to wreck havoc on the far-flung Northeast?
Mercenaries are not members of regular armies. In some countries, they are threats to security, peace and stability. They are experts in brutality. They are violators of the civil code. Victims of their onslaught have complained about their atrocities, including their disrespect for war limitations, boundaries and civility; their recruitment of children into their armies and harassment and molestation of women.
The method of the mercenaries may not align with the strategy of home soldiers. The question is how to marry the two extreme strategies, ensure harmony and achieve the same goal of liberating the dispirited communities fretting under the yoke of insurgency.
The mercenaries are foreigners who may lack the knowledge of the geography, sociology and psychology of the environment of operations. The knowledge of the terrain is critical to a successful battle. Does it mean that, unlike the soldiers, mercenaries will not rely on any atom of intelligence before tackling Boko Haram sect members who are on the prowl?
How many of the mercenaries are required in the renewed onslaught against the terrorists? Mercenaries are said to be organised. But, does their ideology really align? What is the time frame for the new dimension of war against terror to be anchored by mercenaries, who do not have emotional attachment to Nigeria, but only driven by financial reward?
The service of mercenaries is not free. Mercenaries are ‘soldiers’ from foreign land paid to fight for another country that is not their root. They fight wars on behalf of the country that hires them, not out of love. Their patriotism may be doubtful. The motivation is money as they fight to earn income.
How would their reward be worked out and paid? Adjustment to the budget may be compelling to accommodate funding for mercenaries, their consultants and training organisations.
There is also the issue of procurement of mercenary weapons as mercenaries may not be able to operate in conventional battles.
What is the assurance that the large scale recruitment of mercenaries will not backfire? In old Oyo Empire, Afonja of Ilorin, who relegated and discarded his own soldiers, hired mercenaries from Sokoto, the seat of the Caliphate, to fight against the Alaafin in a bid to enhance his independence. He succeeded. But, the leaders of the mercenaries frontally demanded for more rewards and concessions. At the end, Afonja lost his territory and stool to the foreigners, his former benefactors who became his foes. Up to now, his descendants are still nursing the pains of the costly mistake.
If mercenaries are hired by Nigeria, how would a country that once constituted 90 percent of ECOMOG now be perceived by sister West African states?
Mercenaries can assist. But, the country must, first and foremost, rely on its army and rekindle its confidence in its soldiers’ abilities to fight and win.
Nigeria should probe the failed war against insurgents, or why success is recorded in a minute and there are reverses the next minute.
The spirit of the army should be lifted by motivational strategies-more weapons, more funding, more collaboration with neighbouring countries, recruitment of more soldiers and renewed determination to win.
