Expectedly, Nigeria’s resolve to approach a select number of western nations to assist her in waging serious and sustainable war against the Boko Haram Islamist terror group elicited myriad of positive and negative reactions. Yes, government thought it wise to cry out when it matters most. This however doesn’t imply that its military men are laid back and incapable of engaging these bloodthirsty elements. The intensity of the offensive calls for a multilateral approach to ending it. While some applauded the initiative, referring it as brilliant, others picked holes in the decision, insisting that it is tantamount to tampering with Nigeria’s sovereignty.
Without doubts, the frenzy this development has generated is yet to settle. Trust Nigerians, some are beginning to view the issue from a rather narrow and selfish point of view. We oftentimes allow primordial sentiments to becloud our sense of sound reasoning. The issue before us is frightening and calls for serious thinking and reflection. The question we should all be asking ourselves is, for how long shall we continue to watch insurgents visit mindless terror on our fellow brothers and sisters? This madness has to stop. What should probably bother us is how to collectively think ourselves out of this ugly situation and not engage ourselves in unnecessary debates on whether we should seek for foreign military assistance in rooting out terrorism from the country or not.
We need not be told that terrorism is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. Nigeria is not the only nation weighed down by activities of terror groups. Even the so-called advanced nations also have their ugly stories to tell. This is however not to say that we have resigned to fate and watch terror elements reduce our nation to rubbles. Ideally, not for this rising security tension, Nigeria, with her abundant human and natural resources should by now be flourishing in affluence. But all hope isn’t lost. It is phase of our struggle to nationhood that shall soon overcome.
The sudden (though delayed) resolve by neighbouring West African countries of Cameroun, Chad, Niger and Republic of Benin to join forces with Nigeria to end terrorism as soon as possible is indeed a fallout of various offensives launched by the Boko Haram terror group. Recent developments, with regards to terror activities have revealed that a few of our neighbouring countries are also contending fiercely with insurgent groups under different names and identification. Boko Haram has seized to be a Nigerian problem. It is now a global headache. Nations, especially the ones within the West African sub-region are no longer safe as their citizens are daily coming under serious terror attacks.
As often said, no nation is an island. The interdependency of nations in this fast- changing world in other to realize certain economic and social goals cannot be over-emphasised. Nations depend on each other to attain their national goals and aspirations. So, seeking for military assistance to crush our common enemies isn’t a bad idea altogether. Nigeria had in the past offered similar military help to several nations in the recent past. Just recently, it contributed large troops to prosecute the Mali war. Nigeria has played prominent role in the restoration of peace and normalcy in several nations. For instance, countries like Liberia, Sierra-Leone, Mali, are all beneficiaries of our military might and power. Our troops, through the ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) restored unity in some of these countries.
That our military men are putting in their best in the war against insurgency is to state the obvious. Against seen and unseen odds, these guys have fought gallantly. They have vowed to prosecute the insurgency war with all they have. Regrettably, some Nigerians hardly applaud the military even in cases where they have done brilliantly well. They rather capitalise on their few shortcomings to summarily condemn them and tag them incompetent. We have lost some of our brilliant soldiers to this anti-terror war. The army and other security establishments have become prime targets of terrorists.
I personally see a lot of sense in the argument of the National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Dasuki Sambo (rtd), when he said Nigerians only accuse the military of incompetence when terrorists strike, but remain completely silent each time they record success against insurgents. It is as though we are more sympathetic to the Islamist sect, Boko Haram than our security men. We really need to encourage our men to excel in this must-win battle. This negative attitude must change.
It is an obvious fact that these invited foreign soldiers won’t operate all alone. They would rely heavily on the expertise, strategies and operational tactics of our military men to perform. We must learn to appreciate and encourage what we have. Our military guys are up to the task of rooting out terrorism in our dear country. They need our support and encouragement to excel in this regards.
Let us all free our minds of fears that inviting foreign military assistance further exposes us to more troubles. These foreign military troops are not coming in to take over country or military operations. Of course their activities would be closely monitored for the period they will be around. Nigeria remains an independent nation. Our sovereignty is very much intact. God bless Nigeria and Nigerians.
Sunny Osaze Asaba, Delta State
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