Nigeria's political elite areat it again. This time around the defence budget is being slashed at the most security critical period of Nigeria
since the civil war. The Chief of Army Staff declared that the reduction will affect its operational efficiency.
He specifically asked the commitee to facilitate the exclusion of the Army and other military outfits from routine annual envelope. This reduction would impede the capacity and tempo of the Nigerian Army in carrying out its constitutional duties, particularly the war against
terrorists and other criminalities across the country. He is making a passionately appeal to this committee to begin the release of year 2022 capital budget in the first. This would help the Nigerian Army to rehabilitate dilapidated training facilities across NA formations
as well as procure the needed equipment and platforms to prosecute the war against terrorism and other criminalities across the country. The Army boss added that the provision for the Army to combat insurgency and banditry was grossly inadequate.
Now heres the thing. Slashing the salaries of Nigerian lawmakers by just 20% will tripple the army's capital budget expenditure. For a terrorists there will be no better way to make a statement that stage attacks in Abuja. It will be a propaganda victory unlike any before.
Abuja has been spared the destruction you find in the northeast/west. Its not luck. The terrorists do try. Basking in the security provided by the military, and then slashing their budget expenditure shows the disconnect between the political class and the military.
There is no price tag for peace and the lives of our all volunteer servicemen and women.
Who remembers when the Senate raised the alarm that Nigeria risks losing $493m paid for the purchase of Super Tucanos over bad runway.
They claimed that the runway does not have the capacity to carry the A-29s and said that there is the urgent need to make provision for additional N9 billion (Yes. NINE BILLION) that will take care of the runway or else Nigeria will lose the money and the Aircraft.
This was in late November 2020. Dont take my word for it. Lets quote verbatim Senator Mike Ama Nnachi.
QUOTE
It is very serious issue, they are running around, they have gone to the CBN, The money needed is not part of the main budget. Nigeria has already paid $493 million
for the aircraft, and the Americans who came to Nigeria last week said that the Kanji runway is not capable to carry that fighter jet and that Nigeria might forfeit the Aircraft
END QUOTE.
Remember one of the primary reason the NAF went for the Super Tucanos
was their ability to operate from dirt or obscure airstripes. An obviously irritated Air Chief, Sadique Abubakar debunked the claim and shot down the notion. What followed next was a campaign by the Senate to fire the Service Chiefs.
And here they are once again. It never ends well when the poltiical class intefere with war efforts. Starving the army of funds is the embodiment of self sabotage. Its selfish, ill adviced, dangerous.
It gives the enemy hope there might be a miracle. Thats how the United States lost the Vietnam war. If the Americans had told their people they were going to stay and keep fighting until they either won, or they were dead, there was not much Vietcong could have done to win.
The near defeated Vietcong looked at the political infighting and shelved plans for negotiations. All they had to do was hold on just a little longer. It worked.
Nigeria needs a strong military and the enemy needs to see the resolve of a military ready to fight to the end.
It is crucial that the President have the necessary assurance that no aggresor can escalate a crises beyond Nigeria's control. A strong military ensures that our vital interest will be safeguarded. Its not just about Nigeria, but the entire region at large.
Nigeria is commited to helping secure peace and stability in the region. A strong military underpins our ability to do so even in the most challenging of circumstances. For decades it has been used only to deter aggression against our vital interest, never to coerce anyone.
Whats baffling is that the army is fighting against slashing its budget by N131 billion. From N710 billion to N579. N131 billion is less than 20% of the operational expenditures of Nigerian lawmakers, who are eating the country wealth with insane allowances. They are entitled to
monthly sundry expenses of N13.5 million ($37,500). Each Senator earns $450,000 annually in allowances, minus basic salary. The U.S President, the most powerful man in the world only earns $450,000 (including bonus) annually.
The Nigerian Senate has a lot of power to make laws to suit personal interests. Lets remember that the provision for the Army to combat insurgency and banditry is grossly inadequate already. Despite the inadequate funding the Nigerian army is tasked to
to securing the territorial integrity of Nigeria from any violation. It is deployed in all geopolitical zones of the country, stretching the military to near breaking point for more than a decade. The army tries to compensate for this with the acquisition of modern equipments
leveraging on technology. Yet the Senate still wants to slash N131 billion out of the army's already meagre allocation, when they can easily cut their monthly allowances that goes to the tune of over N400 billion.
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The Nigerian army Mechanized Infantry is finnally living up to its name. More IFV's en-route. Nigeria's quest to repair two decades of neglect is firing on all cylinders.
No less than three foreign militaries are covertly understudying the Nigerian military’s exploits in COIN operations. The United States, a traditional admirer of the Nigerian military as far as land operations is concerned, Britain and Belarus.
They are paying particular attention to how the Nigerian military cut Boko Haram’s supply line and isolated the insurgents. Admirers of the tactics are said to have described such as unbelievable even by the standards of those that have been much longer involved in COIN warfare
The Horn of Africa is arguably the most complex and conflicted region in Africa. Its one of the few places in the world where inter-state warfare is not a relic of the past.
Each of the countries of the Horn Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Sudan suffers from protracted political strife and regional inter-state rivalries.
In 2019 Ethiopian Prime minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel peace prize. Shortly after Tigray rebels carried out attacks on several Ethiopian army camps, gambling on the fact that the Ethiopia's PM Abiy Ahmed will be averse to going to war months after winning the Nobel prize
Boko Haram has been defeated. Thats a FACT. ISWAP will meet the same fate. FACT. A third of ISWAP mid level commanders have been eviscerated. FACT. Four successive ISWAP leaders have been killed in the last month. FACT.
The embittered and western media press will beg to disagree, citing attacks on soft target's or a recent abduction as proof the Nigerian military is covering up its defeate. A deliberately deceptive analogy.
Lets leave all that aside. For the objective minded and pragmatist lets delve on a few of the factors/ weapon responsible for the degradation of Boko Haram/ISWAP, the surrender of 15,000 insurgents, the neutralization of four ISWAP commanders etc. All in a two month span.
A Nigerian Army marksman providing overwatch from a cliff for a squad clearing out an area around the Mandara Mountain axis against ISIS .
The average number of rounds expended to kill one Boko Haram insurgent with an assault rifle is 50. The average number of rounds expended by army snipers to kill one Boko Haram fighter is 1.3 rounds.
On the battlefield, one of the sniper's primary role is to scout out ahead of the main force and carry out recon/ intel gathering while remaining undetected.
In the United States it is illegal for a news network to broadcast tapes released by terrorist showing the execution of American soldiers. In Nigeria anything goes. What Sahara Reporters have done (an hour ago) borders on vindictive insanity.
We all know that terrorist organizations use social media and video to show beheadings and other murders, and in the sane world news agencies rightfully do not air these because they provide no value, they are gruesome, and most importantly they give terrorists what they want,
a sense of fame on a platform that wouldn’t otherwise be available. In Nigeria its the opposite. If you are a terrorists the best place to air your propaganda is Nigeria. Our macabre media outfits are willing partner and enablers.