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EndSARS Panel White Paper: Government’s Action ‘ll Be Guided By Law, Public Interest – Sanwo-Olu

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By Joseph Edegbo :
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has assured that  Government’s action on the White Paper would be guided by the law and in the public interest.
He stated this on Monday while setting set up a four-member committee led by Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN) to raise a White Paper on the reports submitted by the Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for victims of SARS related abuses and other matters.
Other members of the committee are; Commissioner for Youths and Social Development, Mr. Segun Dawodu; Special Adviser, Works and Infrastructure, Engr. (Mrs) Aramide Adeyoye and Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office, Mrs. Tolani Oshodi.
Governor Sanwo-Olu said the Committee would bring forward a White Paper within the next two weeks to be considered by the Lagos State Executive Council, pledging that the reports and recommendations will be made public and submitted to the National Economic Council (NEC) for discussion.
The Governor constituted the committee after receiving the two reports of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for victims of SARS related abuses and other matters presented to him at the Lagos House, Ikeja by chairman of the panel, Justice Doris Okuwobi (retired).
The two reports submitted by the Panel to Lagos State Government are on investigation on petitions on several abuses and killings by the Nigerian Police, especially the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and the October 20, 2020 Lekki Toll Gate shootings during the EndSARS protests hijacked by hoodlums.
Governor Sanwo-Olu  reassured Nigerians, especially residents of Lagos that the Government’s action would be guided by the law and in the public interest.
The Governor, expressed hope that Lagos State government’s decision on the reports would bring complete healing, reconciliation and restitution.
“I am going  to constitute a four-member committee immediately, which will be headed by the Attorney-General, the Commissioner for Youths and Social Development, the Special Adviser on Works and Infrastructure and the Permanent Secretary, the Cabinet office.
“The four of them will immediately look through and bring forward a White Paper within the next two weeks that will be considered at the Lagos State Executive Council and would be gazetted as a white paper coming from the Panel of Inquiry.
“We will ensure that the recommendations that are coming out that will be turned into a white paper and would be made available to the public. We will do it appropriately so that history will judge us well and we will have a document that will stand the test of time. That is what the tribunal law says, so that it will be properly documented and gazetted in government’s records,” he said.
Governor Sanwo-Olu who pointed out that the panel had operated independently, commended members of the Justice Okuwobi-led panel for a job well done and also expressed appreciation to Lagosians for their cooperation during the exercise, which lasted for almost a year.
Speaking earlier, Justice Okuwobi expressed deep appreciation to the Lagos State Government and all the stakeholders who appeared before the Panel. She also thanked members of the Panel for their uncommon resolve to bring closure to the assignment and good team work.
She said part of the recommendations of the panel is establishment of a body to take over human rights abuses in Lagos.
Justice Okuwobi, who disclosed that the panel awarded a total of N410 million to 70 victims of Police brutality, said 235 petitions were received with only 14 of it being on the alleged Lekki Shooting incident.
“As much as the panel desired to have taken all petitions, the ones that were not taken by the panel were those that did not comply to our rules, so in this report, we made recommendations for a body to take over human rights abuse cases in Lagos State,” she said.
It would be recalled Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on October 19, 2020 inaugurated the Judicial Panel of Inquiry to investigate alleged cases of brutality and human rights violations perpetrated by the Police and operatives of the dissolved Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
The panel was also saddled with the investigation of the alleged shootings that took place on October 20, 2020, at the Lekki Tollgate.

Contrary to Denials By Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Government Panel Indicts Military, Police in Lekki Gate Shootings

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Africaprimenews
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#ENDSARS Protests at Lekkki Toll Gate

By Iliya Kure

Against the denials by Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Mr. Lai Mohammed, that no shootings had taken place at Lekki toll gate during the #ENDSARS protests, the Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution set up by Lagos State Government, has indicted the military, describing their action at Lekki as “massacre.”

The Judicial Panel was set up to look into cases of alleged police brutality, and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, as well as investigate last year’s Lekki toll gate shootings, when Nigerian Army opened fire on peaceful protesters.

Despite documented video evidence of military presence at Lekki Toll Gate and sounds of gunshots, Nigeria’s Minister of Information had consistently denied any killing by the military at Lekki.

Last month, during the first anniversary of the Lekki shooting, Mr. Mohammed was hard on the matter, dismissing the incident as “phantom massacre” and labelling CNN’s reports on the incidence as fake news.

In its report, the panel accused the Nigerian Army of having “shot, injured and killed unarmed helpless and defenseless protesters, without provocation or justification, while they were waving the Nigerian Flag and singing the national anthem and the manner of assault and killing could in context be described as a massacre.”

Furthermore, the report alleges a cover-up attempts by the Nigeria police, for cleaning up the scene of the shooting and failed to preserve the scene for investigators. “The police officers also tried to cover up their actions by picking up bullets,” the report says.

It also accuses Nigerian authorities of tampering with CCTV footage and removing the bodies of the dead from the scene.

Except for one Major General, the panel recommends that all members of the Nigerian Army deployed to Lekki toll gate that night should face “appropriate disciplinary action and be stripped of their status,” before dismissal. “They are not fit and proper to serve in any public or security service of the nation,” it says.

The investigating panel was set up in October 2020 to look into cases of alleged police brutality, and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. Their work was later expanded to cover the investigation of the Lekki toll gate incident.

Below is a list of victims of the Lekki Toll Gate incident

Source of casualties: PMNews

Lekki Tollgate Incident Was a Massacre — Lagos ENDSARS Panel

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Lekki Toll Gate Protesters

By Agbonkhese Oboh

The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters (Lagos EndSARS Panel) has reported the Lekki Tollgate shootings of October 20, 2020 as a massacre.

The panel indicted soldiers and implicated Nigeria’s security agents in the killing and forced disappearances of harmless and unarmed youths protesting at Lekki Tollgate on October 20, 2020.

The Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel made the revelation in a 309-page report submitted to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Monday.

Findings

According to the report, at least 48 protesters were either shot dead.

Also, page 294 of the report read: “The atrocious maiming and killing of unarmed, helpless and unresisting protesters, while sitting on the floor and waving their Nigerian flags, while singing the National Anthem can be equated to a ‘massacre’ in context.”

In page 295: “It was alleged and corroborated that the soldiers had their vans parked at the Lekki Toll Gate and removed as many bodies and corpses of the fallen protesters which they took away with their vans.”

Executive Summary

According to the report, “the Nigerian Army was invited for intervention in the State and was deployed to Lekki Toll Gate on the 20th of October 2020.

“At the Lekki Toll Gate, officers of the Nigerian Army shot, injured and killed unarmed helpless and defenseless protesters, without provocation or justification, while they were waving the Nigerian Flag and singing the National Anthem and the manner of assault and killing could, in context, be described as a massacre.

“The Panel  also  found  that  the  conduct  of  the  Nigerian Army  was  exacerbated  by  its  refusal  to  allow  ambulances  render  medical  assistance to    victims  who  required  such  assistance.

“The Army was also found not  to  have adhered  to  its  own  Rules  of Engagement.

“The  Panel  found  that  the  Nigerian  Police  Force  deployed  its  officers  to  the  Lekki  Toll Gate  on  the  night  of  the  20th  October,  2020  and  between  that  night  and  the  morning of  the  21st  of  October,  2020,    its  officer  shot  at,  assaulted  and  battered  unarmed protesters,  which  led  to  injuries  and  deaths.

“The  police  officers  also  tried  to  cover  up their actions by  picking  up  bullets.

“The  panel  found  that  LCC  hampered  the  panel’s  investigation  by  refusing  to  turn  over some  useful  and  vital  information/evidence  as  requested  by  the  Panel  and  the Forensic  Expert  engaged  by  the  panel,  even  where  such  information  and  evidence was  by  the  company’s  admission,  available.

“It  manipulated    the    incomplete  CCTV Video  footage  of  the  Lekki  Toll  Gate    on  the  night  of  the  20th  of  October  2020,  which it tendered  before  the  Panel.

“The  Panel  found  that  there  was  an  invitation  of  the  Nigerian  Army    to  Lagos  State made  by  the  Lagos  State  Government  through  the  Governor  before  the  hierarchy  of the  Nigerian  Army  deployed  its  soldiers  to  the  Lekki  Toll  Gate  on  the  night  of  the  20th of  October.

“The  Panel  found  that  there  was  an  attempt  to  cover  up  the  Incident  of  the  20th  of October  by  the  cleaning  of  the  Lekki  Toll  Gate  and  the  failure  to  preserve  the  scene ahead  of  potential  investigations.

32 Recommendations

“Upon  the  above  key  findings  amongst  others,  the  Panel  made  a  total  of  32 Recommendations,  which  included  but  not  limited  to:

“Holistic  Police  Reforms  covering  welfare,  training  and  proper  equipping  of  Policemen and  their  working  environment;

“Sanctioning  of  the  officers    of  the  Nigerian  Army  and  the  Nigerian  Police  Force respectively  who  participated  in  shooting,  injuring  and  killing  of  unarmed  protestors at  the  Lekki  Toll  Gate  on  the  20  and  21st  of  October  2020;

“Development  of  more  robust  engagement  between  the  Youth  and  the  Government;

“Setting  up  of  a  Standing  Committee/Tribunal  to  deal  with  cases  of  Violation  of  Human Rights  by  security  agencies  and  a  trust  fund  to  settle  compensation  awarded  by  such committee/tribunal;

“A public  apology  to  ENDSARS  protesters  who  were  killed,  injured  and  traumatized  by the  Incident of the  20th  of October 2020;

“The  memorialization  of  the  Lekki  Toll  Gate  and  the  20th  of  October   going  forward.

“The  recognition  of  Hospitals  and  Medical  Doctors  who  played  heroic  roles  following the  Incident  of  the  Lekki  Toll  Gate  on  the  20th  of  October  2020  thereby  saving  lives and  minimizing  the  impact  of  the  injuries  suffered  by  the  victims,  most  of  which  were on  a  pro-bono  basis;

“The  Panel  recommended  various  sums  of  compensation  to  victims  of  the  Lekki  Toll Gate  Incident,  which  must  be  expeditious  in  order to  accelerate  the  healing  process.

“The Panel  recommended  that  any  data  that  may  have  been  generated  over  the  years on  the  impunity  of  the  Police  across  Nigeria  be  studied  and  deployed  as  early  warning signs  (EWS)  mechanism.”

Curled from Vanguard News Nigeria

Intra African Trade Fair: Ramaphosa Calls For Promotion of Trade Among African Countries

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By Joseph Edegbo :
President Cyril Ramaphosa, accompanied by former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, received African Heads of State and Government at the Intra African Trade Fair 2021 in KwaZulu-Natal.

 

The promotion of trade among African countries is critical if the continent is to change the distorted trade relationship that exists among African countries and the rest of the world, says President Cyril Ramaphosa.

 

The President was speaking at the opening of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, on Monday.

 

The week-long event hosted by the South African government, in conjunction with African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), provides a platform for linking international buyers, sellers and investors, as well as allowing participants and visitors to profile and share market information and investment opportunities in support of intra-African trade and the economic integration of the continent.

 

President Ramaphosa said Africa can no longer have a situation where it exports raw materials, only to import finished goods made with those materials.

 

“We can longer have a situation where the resources of Africa provide employment and add value in other economies, while so many of our people live in poverty and conditions of underdevelopment.

 

“By promoting trade between African countries, we are strengthening the continent’s industrial base and ensuring that we produce goods for ourselves and each other,” the President said.

 

President Ramaphosa said the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the frailty of African economies and more importantly, it sent a powerful message to the continent about the dangers of over-reliance on external sources to meet its growing demand for food, medicines and other essential supplies.

 

“It clearly demonstrated that Africa needs to produce its own food and medicines, to strengthen continental supply chains, and to invest in infrastructure and capacitate African institutions,” he said.

 

To illustrate the extent of the challenge, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa estimates that Africa imports about 94% of its pharmaceutical and medicinal needs from outside the continent at an annual cost of US $16 billion.

 

Accelerating economic growth across Africa
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has the potential to accelerate economic growth across the continent and create opportunities for entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises, as well as large corporations to flourish.

 

President Ramaphosa said the AfCFTA will provide new export opportunities for ‘Made in Africa’ products and enable member countries to trade with each other without tariffs or other hindrances.

 

“All of this will help the continent to absorb the 10 to 12 million African youth looking to enter the job market annually. The AfCFTA should therefore be underpinned by strong and ambitious rules of origin, requiring a very high level of value-add here on our continent.

 

“We need, as Africans, to resist the temptation to simply become transhipment centres, adding only limited industrial value in Africa,” he said.

 

The AfCFTA, the President said, will unlock more value and give effect to the dream of African development if it promotes complementary trade between countries.

 

“It is about using the combination of the continent’s raw materials and industrial capacity, finance, services and infrastructure to produce quality finished goods to local and global markets. It is about creating a market large enough to attract investors from across the world to set up their production facilities on the continent,” President Ramaphosa said.

 

He called on leaders to unite and leverage platforms such as the Intra-African Trade Fair to mobilise all African governments, together with social partners, to work tirelessly to address youth unemployment.

 

He said half of Africa’s people are women, and they are the dominant actors in the informal sectors of Africa’s economic landscape.

 

“Despite this, women only generate about a third of the continent’s combined GDP. It is important that the Intra-African Trade Fair gives special attention to African women in business, recognising their great potential as drivers of economic change across the continent.”

 

The President urged the continent to find ways of attracting more investment into economies, and encourage African businesses to invest in each other’s countries.

 

“This requires that we improve the ease of doing business in our countries and provide protection for investors through strong and independent legal systems that will ensure the sanctity of contract, and fair and expeditious legal processes,” he said.
The Statesman said the hour of action is now, and countries must work with speed to resolve any outstanding issues around the AfCFTA, and take the necessary steps towards domestication.
He reiterated that South Africa stands ready to work closely with all African countries to forge more balanced, equitable and fair trade relations among African nations. –

Nigeria: Ahmadu Bello University Alumni To Review Constitution …Call For Contributions 

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By Joseph Edegbo :

The National Executive Council (NEC) of Ahmadu Bello University Alumni Association has said that a committee has been set up to review the constitution of the Association.

To this end, inputs are expected from members for consideration at the 15th Annual General Assembly of  the Association scheduled to hold in February 2022
The President of the Alumni Association worldwide, Dr. Ibrahim Sani Khalil announced this at the 2nd National Consultative Council (NCC) meeting held recently in Abuja.
Dr. Khalil  further explained that the National Executive Council of the alumni would also re-design and re-development a website towards the mobilization of its members
According to him, membership mobilization is critical to the association, adding that plans have been concluded to  tour all states in the country.
 He said efforts are being made towards securing a plot in the Federal Capital Territory and the completion of the Postgraduates students hostel as well as the Association’s Secretariat building in Zaria.
 Dr. Ibrahim Sani Khalil enjoined all members of the association  to contribute to these laudable programmes for the success of their alma mater.
He disclosed that the National Executive Council paid a courtesy visit to the Vice Chancellor of ABU Zaria,  Professor Kabir Bala and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Maigida Mustafa as part of the efforts to reach their members.

Why People Trap Themselves In Abusive Relationship, By Malate Peter

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Africaprimenews
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Overtime people have trapped themselves in wrong relationships due to the following:

  • I will change him/her
  • Time is not by my side
  • Low self esteem
  • Lack of self-love
  • Lack of setting boundaries
  • Lack of emotional intelligence
  • Lack of self-worth, value and confidence
  • Fear of starting afresh
  • Being too emotionally attached

Dear someone in love,

Trapping yourself in abusive relationship is not a virtue. You need to realize that your mental and emotional health is important. In a world of more than 6 billion people; I don’t see the reason why you must go and hook yourself in a place where you’re not wanted or valued.

You deserve better! Please, anytime you find yourself in an abusive relationship that has become so hard to let go despise all the red flags. Don’t hesitate to seek for help from a professional counsellor and go for emotional intelligence therapy too.

Your partner is not the last man/woman on earth, stop killing yourself on someone who doesn’t give a damn about you. If people can stay happily without you, discipline yourself to do same.

 

Yours always,

Malate Peter

Relationship Therapist/Counsellor

History of the Yoruba people

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Africaprimenews
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129
Sculpture from Yoruba Land (Credit: Paul Adoga Ogbolo, creative commons)

The documented history begins when Oranyan came to rule the Oyo Empire, which became dominant in the early 17th century. The older traditions of the formerly dominant Ile-Ife kingdom are largely oral in nature

Before Oyo Empire

The history of the Yoruba people begins in Ile-Ife. This kingdom was founded by the deity Oduduwa, who is believed to have created the world. Oduduwa was the first divine king of the Yoruba people. It is said the Yoruba people believe that their civilization began at Ile-Ife where the gods descended to earth.[1]

The Ethnic group became popular internationally due to their trading with the Portuguese which gave them guns for their trade. The Yoruba were invaded by the Fulani in the early 1800s, which pushed the people to the South. In the late 1800s, they formed a treaty with the British Empire and were colonized by Britain beginning in 1901.[2]

The people who lived in Yorubaland, at least by the seventh century BC, were not initially known as the Yoruba, although they shared a common ethnicity and language group. The historical Yoruba develop in situ, out of earlier (Mesolithic) Volta-Niger populations, by the 1st millennium BC.[3]

Archaeologically, the settlement at Ile-Ife can be dated to the 4th century BC, with urban structures appearing in the 8th-10th Centuries. “Between 700 and 900 A.D. the city began to develop as a major artistic center,” And “by the 12th Century Ife artists were creating bronze, stone, and terracotta sculptures.” The phase of Ile-Ife before the rise of Oyo, ca. 1100–1600, is sometimes described as a “golden age” of Ile-Ife.[4]

Oyo Empire

Ife was surpassed by the Oyo Empire as the dominant Yoruba military and political power between 1600 and 1800 AD. The nearby Benin Empire was also a powerful force between 1300 and 1850.

Oyo developed in the 17th century and become one of the largest Yoruba kingdoms, while Ile-Ife remained as a religiously significant rival to its power at the site of the divine creation of the earth in Yoruba mythology. After Oduduwa’s ascension in Ile-Ife, he had a son. This son later became the first ruler of the Oyo empire.[5]

The Oyo kingdom subjugated the kingdom of Dahomey. It traded with European merchants on the coast through Ajase. The wealth of the empire increased, and its political leaders wealth increased as well. This state of affairs continued until Oba Abiodun, Oyo’s last great ruler, engaged his opponents in a bitter civil war that had a ruinous effect on economic development and the trade with the European merchants. The downfall of the kingdom came soon after, as Abiodun became concerned with little other than the display of royal wealth. Oyo’s empire had collapsed by the 1830s.[6]

Like Oyo itself, most of the surrounding city states were controlled by Obas, elected priestly monarchs, and councils made up of Oloyes, recognised leaders of royal, noble, and often even common descent, who joined them in ruling over the kingdoms through a series of guilds and cults. Different states saw differing ratios of power between the kingship and the chiefs’ council. Some, such as Oyo, had powerful, autocratic monarchs with almost total control, while in others such as the Ijebu city-states, the senatorial councils were supreme and the Ọba served as something of a figurehead.

In all cases, however, Yoruba monarchs were subject to the continuing approval of their constituents as a matter of policy, and could be easily compelled to abdicate for demonstrating dictatorial tendencies or incompetence. The order to vacate the throne was usually communicated through an aroko or symbolic message, which usually took the form of parrots‘ eggs delivered in a covered calabash bowl by the Oloyes.

The Yoruba eventually established a federation of city-states under the political ascendancy of the city state of Oyo, located on the Northern fringes of Yorubaland in the savanna plains between the forests of present Southwest Nigeria and the Niger River.

Following a Jihad led by Uthman Dan Fodio and a rapid consolidation of the Hausa city states of contemporary northern Nigeria, the Fulani Sokoto Caliphate invaded and annexed the buffer Nupe Kingdom. It then began to advance southwards into Ọyọ lands. Shortly afterwards, its armies overran the Yoruba military capital of Ilorin, and then sacked and destroyed Ọyọ-Ile, the royal seat of the Ọyọ Empire.

Following this, Ọyọ-Ile was abandoned, and the Ọyọ retreated south to the present city of Oyo (formerly known as “Ago d’Oyo”, or “Oyo Atiba”) in a forested region where the cavalry of the Sokoto Caliphate was less effective. Further attempts by the Sokoto Caliphate to expand southwards were checked by the Yoruba who had rallied in defence under the military leadership of the ascendant Ibadan clan, which rose from the old Oyo Empire, and of the Ijebu city-states.

However, the Oyo hegemony had been dealt a mortal blow. The other Yoruba city-states broke free of Oyo dominance, and subsequently became embroiled in a series of internecine conflicts that soon metamorphosed into a full scale civil war. These events weakened the southern Yorubas considerably as the Nigerian government pursued harsh methods to bring an end to the civil war. In 1960, greater Yorubaland was subsumed into the Federal Republic of Nigeria.[7] The historical records of the Yoruba, which became more accessible in the nineteenth century with the more permanent arrival of the Europeans, tell of heavy Jihad raids by the mounted Fulani warriors of the north as well as of endemic intercity warfare amongst the Yoruba themselves. Archaeological evidence of the greatness of their ancient civilization in the form of, amongst other things, impressive architectural achievements like Sungbo’s Eredo that are centuries old, nevertheless abound.[8]

Major towns, cities, and the diaspora

Many Yoruba peoples organize themselves into villages, towns and cities in the form of kingdoms. Major cities include Ile-Ife, Oyo, Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Ijebu-Ode, Iwo and Akure. Some towns and cities of the Yoruba people are collectively considered to be clans due to similarities in their origins and cultures. A number of other cities, though non-Yoruba, have histories of being influenced by the Yoruba. These cities are Warri, Benin city, Okene, and Auchi.[9]

The Yoruba diaspora has two main groupings. The first one is composed of the recent immigrants that moved to the United States and the United Kingdom after the political and economic changes in the 1960s and 1980s. The second group is much older, and is composed of descendants of kidnapped Yoruba who arrived as slaves to countries such as the United States, Cuba, Trinidad, Brazil, Grenada, and other countries in the Caribbean and South America in the 19th century.

Much like in the case of Yorubaland itself, many people who belong to the Yoruba diaspora are Muslims or Christians.[10] Yoruba traditional worship remains influential in diaspora communities, however.

Curled from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on 16th November, 2021

Tribute to General Dzarma Zirkushu & Three Others, By Na’Allah Muhammad Zagga

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Africaprimenews
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General Dzarma Zirkushu

“The soldier is the army. No army is better than its soldiers. The soldier is also a citizen. In fact, the highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one’s country.–Gen. George Smith Patton Jr.

The death of General Dzarma Zirkushu and three other soldiers is yet another set back to the war against terrorism in Nigeria. General Zirkushu and three other soldiers were killed by ISWAP militants after a bomb-laden vehicle rammed into their operational vehicle.

The manner they were ambushed and killed was a revelation. According to Senator Ali Ndume, the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Army, the ambush on General Zirkushu was a revenge attack because he had successfully led operations that resulted in the death of key ISWAP commanders.

General Zirkushu was, indeed, remarkable not only for his gallantry and intrepidity, but also for his inspiring leadership qualities. One of the greatest attributes of leadership is the ability to inspire and motivate those under you. Leading from the front, unmindful of the risks to oneself, is the best illustration of courage. Great thinkers say that courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to act or proceed despite those fears.

As American war hero General George Smith Patton Jr said, bearing arms for one’s country is the highest sacrifice. A soldier’s life is inherently risky. The risk is so constantly present that everyday you leave your base for operation, you aren’t sure of coming back alive. Military life is not kids’ stuff.

Therefore, no matter their limitations, especially in view of the challenges of asymmetric warfare, members of our military deserve public support. Fighting an unconventional enemy conventially is a tricky challenge. Whatever maybe their limitations, their successes and immeasurable sacrifices by far exceed those limitations.

We shouldn’t behave like the owl that sees more in darkness than in light. Let’s not behave like incurable armchair critics who always condemn from a safe distance while someone else is taking the bullet. You can’t be snoozing and snoring from your comfort zone, waking up to look for only something to condemn rather than giving credit for their successes and sacrifices.

It always irritates me when people react dismissively to story of military successes against the terrorists. Whenever the military issues a statement announcing the killing of terrorists, the cynics throw their noses in the air and ask: “where are the bodies?” Public support is critical to raising and sustaining the morale of our gallant soldiers. While the critics are snoring away from a safe distance, these soldiers suffer sleep deprivations day after day in the trenches, cut off from the comfort their families for months or years.

May the souls of General Dzarma ZirKushu and other fallen heroes rest in peace. May their sacrifices never be in vain. I don’t think words can adequately do justice to the sacrifices of these national heroes. They should be adequately honoured posthumously in order to keep their memories alive.

Zagga is a public affairs commentator.

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