How Army Changed the Tide against Boko Haram
The notorious activities of Boko Haram terrorists gained momentum immediately the current Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Kenneth Minimah, and other Service Chiefs were appointed over a year ago, expanding territories and capturing women and children. Howeve
Early last year, President Goodluck Jonathan surprised Nigerians with sudden changes at the top echelon of the military hierarchy with the removal of the then Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim; Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika; and Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Joseph Ezeoba, with many wondering how the new leadership would impact the ongoing war against terror, particularly in the North Eastern part of the country.
Jonathan, in a strategic move to inject new hands and fresh ideas in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists, quickly announced new replacements for the former military chiefs; in an ultimate push to bring the State of Emergency rule in three North Eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, to a successful end.
Consequently, the President in a statement issued on January 16, 2014, by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, directed the then Maj-Gen. Kenneth Tobiah Jacob Minimah to take over from Ihejirika as the new COAS; and Rear Admiral Usman O. Jibrin taking over from Ezeoba as the new CNS; while Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Adesola Nunayon Amosu took over from Badeh as the new CAS. They have since then been promoted to the ranks of Lieutenant General, Vice Admiral and Air Marshal respectively.
However, the decisive changes with special focus on the leadership of the Nigerian Army and Defence Headquarters (DHQ) saw Badeh as the only service Chief to have survived the purge in the military high command, and Minimah taking over from a hitherto trusted and effective Ihejirika, thereby marking a new phase in the CounterTerrorism and Counter-Insurgency (CT COIN) operations.
Accordingly, the removal and replacement of the former service chiefs, especially Ibrahim and Ihejirika brought to an end an era described by some as that of the old guards, paving the way for the senior officers with more contemporary ideas.
One of the top security experts in the country, Mr. Max Gbanite, while analyzing the changes a year ago, expressed belief that the newly-appointed crop of service chiefs represented beginning of a new era in the ongoing transformation of the nation’s armed forces
As serving officers, Gbanite said, they have witnessed the challenges presented by global terrorism and the unconventional way modern conflicts were being fought and are therefore expected to bring fresh ideas to the table.
According to him, the President is aiming at new reforms and new strategies by appointing the new service chiefs.
“He has once said it that the service chiefs need to come up with new reforms, ideas and strategies. So, with that aims and objectives, he can decide to bring in new hands. The issue now is this: Are the incoming service chiefs capable of taking the military to the next level? Anybody who has reached the rank of Major-General in the Nigerian Army is capable of handling the position of COAS,” Gbanite said.
The security and defence analyst also emphasized that Nigeria is not fighting a conventional and symmetric warfare with uniformed adversary where the enemy’s battle lines are known.
“This is an asymmetrical warfare where you do not know where the battle lines are drawn either within your barracks or outside but collectively, the service chiefs with other supporting agencies have been able to contain this bombs from coming into Abuja and various cities of the country. The only remaining tactics of Boko Haram is to come in and do a lightning strike in schools or even in barracks”, he said.
The Shaky Beginning and Baptism of Fire
There was no doubt that the shake up at the top military hierarchy, effectively brought to an end the era of the last service chiefs who inherited a military structured and accustomed to conventional warfare, but to their credit successfully laid the foundation for a modern and efficient force that would be better able to tackle contemporary security challenges posed by terrorism and insurgency. Therefore, it was expected that when Minimah and the new team took over, it would be a smooth consolidation of the success on ground. Unfortunately, it was not to be so as the challenges facing the armed forces in general and Nigerian Army in particular was deep and chronic.
Consequently, instead of hitting the ground running, the new Army Chief faced baptism of fire accentuated by the plethora of surprising and humiliating defeats suffered by the troops at the hands of rag-tag Boko Haram terrorists. Suffice it to say that there was already a stalemate and lull in the counter-terrorism operations by the time Minimah inherited the war, owing largely to the barrage of criticisms by the Borno Elders Forum, Northern Elders Forum and other foreign human rights bodies against what they claim as the aggressive but effective tactics of Ihejirika led Army, and as well as simmering crack in the relationship between the leadership of the service and the rest, particularly the DHQ and Nigerian Air Force (NAF).
Forced to adopt new strategies toward successful prosecution of the CT-OIN operations, Minimah and the entire military force suffered severe setbacks, losing grounds, territories recovered by their predecessors and more alarmingly, Boko Haram expanded beyond their original enclaves.
The worst part of this episode however, was the kidnapping of over 200 girls who were participating in the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) at the Government Secondary School (GSS), Chibok, Borno State by the Boko Haram terrorists on April 14, 2014. Consequently, this particular event conspired to ridicule the image of the Nigerian military and particularly, that of the Nigerian Army.
Not many were happy that such large number of girls could be abducted in a state and area expected to be under the protection of the Army without a trace, giving an ample weapon to those who ended up making merchandise out of lampooning and ridiculing the military under President Jonathan. And for Minimah, there could have never been a worse and embarrassing start to ones reign at the helm of the Nigerian Army.
It Even Got Worse Before it Got Better
Not only did Minmah’s reign start on a shaky footing, it worsened over time as the news of general indiscipline, lack of morale, funding and bizarre form of cowardice, desertion and acts of mutiny by some officers and personnel became the order of the day.
Afterwards, appalling videos emerged in