At the very early stage, the immediate past Service Chiefs boldly declared that the militants had been “Technically Defeated”. But the said technical victory apparently became a wishful thinking by the thinkers .
This acclaimed victory came with the renewed wave of attacks by the insurgents on soft targets.
The appointment of the new service chiefs came at a period when the country continuously facing serious security challenges.
Definitely Nigerians have received these changes as something long overdue. If we can recall, Mr. President expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of his former Service Chiefs when he told them Point-Blank that their “best is not good enough and even National Assembly not left out which they passed a vote of no confidence on the Service Chiefs. Talk less of ordinary Nigerians of all walks of life who called on President to sack the Service Chiefs for Non Performance, but at last.
Challenge before the Newly appointed Nigeria’s Service Chiefs.
Much are expected from them to hit the ground running by tackling the worsening insecurity across the country which is making life difficult for Nigerians.
Nigerians expect total victory against all forms of insecurity across the shore of the federation not Technical Victory as earlier claimed.
Nigerians want to see a different approach in terms of choosing the right personnel to dispense with the responsibilities of safeguarding the country.
The intelligence gathering structures and efforts of nearly all the security and law enforcement agencies have almost made the war ineffective, due to Lack of critical role of intelligence sharing in ongoing efforts to overcome security threats in the country among all the securities agencies.
There is need for them to have good synergy among them and ensure professionalism in handling sensitive intelligence gathering as there is deficiency and uncoordinated in handling sensitive intelligence. To avoid the infighting of supremecy we witnessed between NSA and others .
Last year there were trending videos include high-ranking military officer and some soldiers criticising former Chief of Army Staff, for not supplying them with needed weapons and ammunition to combat terrorism which contribute dismal performance of the ill-equipped and Ill-motivated personnel
Therefore the same mistake should not be repeated while federal government to continue equipping the armies , arrest and prosecute individuals found guilty of aiding and sponsoring of insurgents, kidnappers and bandits.
On their part , they need to bear the onerous task of restoring the nation’s security and should be positioned to deal decisively with all forms of threats to security of the people considering their competence by virtue of the military trainings .
Chief of Defence, is a veteran and former commander of the counter-insurgency operation in the Northeast and Multinational Joint Task Forces has brought a feeling of optimism, particularly in the Northeast.
He will need to focus on improving coordination among the Armed Forces in furtherance of military operations currently going on in the different geopolitical zones — comprising ground, air and naval components.
Alongside the capacity of the Defence Headquarters Special Operations Force. Chief of Army Staff a one-time Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, will be facing a difficult task of rapidly rebuilding morale and recalibrating the operations of the army.
There is need for the armies leadership to focus on welfare and begin immediate relief for troops in all theatres that have been deployed longer than two years.
Rotate units first and then open a channel for individual soldiers or officers who may have been missed in the exercise to rotate.
To achieve desirable result they need to fix the operational tour minimum of one years in the country.
Overall, the military alone cannot provide long-term security and stability or replace the role of effective law enforcement and political will to solve the social, economic and developmental drivers and amplifiers of insecurity across the country.
Dukawa writes in from Kano and can be reached at abbahydukawa@gmail.com
