Africa is a continent so much in turmoil with a vast array of Terrorists waging war against nations and killing thousands of citizens in their determined global agenda to take over some territorial areas to convert to their controlled jurisdictions. This emerging scenario of wars foisted on African nations by Terrorists some of who got their trainings and inspirations from the Islamic States terror network means only one thing – that the militaries of African nations are now much more than ever frantically engaged in war on terror.

Ironically, there is a widely shared feeling, especially in African countries, that the willingness to make sacrifices for the greater good has been on a reverse trend for quite a while – both on the individual and the societal levels – and that this is increasingly problematic to the military.

A soldier loves his family the most and it is for their welfare that he chooses to sacrifice comfort, endure hardships and, above all, risk his life in a career which most in the country keep away from. Security to his family and himself with an assured future motivates a soldier to deliver the impossible.

Any threat to his well-being or even an apprehension that their future may be in jeopardy can have a devastating effect on a soldier’s mind, affecting his willingness to sacrifice. While it takes time and considerable effort to motivate the Armed Forces, even an innocuous action or word from his leaders or the government indicating a threat to his perceived sense of security can have a demoralising effect on his psyche.

Areas of concern of a soldier like any other citizen of the country include education and marriage of his children, health-care, and financial well-being after retirement. This is especially so because his capacities to earn for the family diminishes at a much younger age while his commitments are at its peak.

He believes that the nation will take care of him and his family if ever he gets wounded and disabled while on duty and his family will be cared for and respected if he had to make the supreme sacrifice. Above all, he expects the nation to recognise his sacrifices and respect him.

Are we as a nation doing enough to motivate our Armed Forces?

There have been concerns over the nomination of Gen Abayomi G. Olonisakin (retd ), Lt-Gen Tukur Y Buratai (retd), Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (retd), and Air Vice-Marshal Mohammed S. Usman (retd) were nominated as non-career ambassadors-designate barely two weeks after they retired from the military.

While some alleged that their nomination is a reward for incompetence, others expressed concern that the ex-service chiefs are being nominated as ambassadors so that they would not be probed, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) would not come after them for war crimes.

Is this the best way to appreciate hard work and exceptional sacrifice by a set of military leaders, who gave their best to the nation? Are they supposed to be honoured and remembered for their contributions to the security and survival of Nigeria as one nation?

It is the constitutional responsibility of the President to nominate people who HE BELIEVES are deserving to represent the country, and that of the National Assembly to scrutinise the nominations and decide on them.

What is important is to ensure that people who will be our representatives in other countries are persons with the highest personal and professional credentials and character. Are these retired service chiefs persons with the highest personal and professional credentials and character?

Until he assumed duty as the 20th Chief of Army Staff in July 2015, Mr Buratai, who was commissioned into the infantry corps of the army in 1983, held sensitive military positions, locally and internationally.

The Borno-born officer served at different times as administrative officer at the State House, Abuja; Directing Staff at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji; Commandant, Nigerian Army School of Infantry, Jaji; Director of Procurement, DHQ and Force Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTNF), among others.

The critics claim the Service Chiefs failed, but before Buratai came on board in 2015 almost 20 local government areas where under full Boko Haram occupation. By full, I mean they had planted the flags of their so-called caliphate in those places.

Insurgents sat on the stools of emirs, as the latter had fled for dear lives. Roads, schools, markets, NYSC orientation camps had been shut, as Boko Haram was the law in those places. They were collecting taxes and tolls, and running the local government offices.

But in came Buratai as Chief of Army Staff, who with other service chiefs, confronted the insurgents with renewed vigour and sacrifice. Drove them out of places they occupied, even went after them into their spiritual headquarters, Camp Zero, in Sambisa forest, and took it from them.

Though Buratai and his colleagues did not make a clinical end of insurgency, banditry, and other criminalities in the country (but not for lack of will), they did their level best, made huge advances, even as the times were very difficult. Did they fail? Maybe, only in the eyes of those who appreciate nothing, and don’t even know what success is.

It is not in doubt that Buratai was so committed to the war against terror that several attempts were made at his life during his tenure as COAS. In August, 2015, Buratai as army chief survived an attack on his convoy by suspected Boko Haram fighters in volatile Borno State.

The media reports had it that gunmen ambushed Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai's convoy in a village between the towns of Mafa and Dikwa wherein 10 attackers were killed, five captured, one government soldier killed and five wounded.

Despite that and in a show of commitment and strong will, the general continued on to Dikwa, where he addressed soldiers and a group of Nigerian civilians driven out of their homes by the fighting between Boko Haram and the military.

Also, in September, 2016, when the Boko Haram extremists released a video threatening President Muhammadu Buhari, Army Chief of Staff, Buratai (as he then was), and other top officials in a violent warning to fear the group’s renewed strength, Buratai just shrugged it off. He even relocated to the front, in North-east and said he would not return to Abuja until the war was over

On the other hand, the allegations of human rights abuses against the Nigerian Army, particularly in the conduct of counter-insurgency operation were issues of great concern to TY Buratai, who ensured that various actions were taken to guarantee that rights violations by Nigerian Army personnel are fully curtailed.

No wonder as Chief of Army Staff, he was never in doubt as to the enormous challenges he has to surmount in order to restore the dignity of an army and the nation terribly shattered by Boko Haram terrorists.

As a disciplined military strategist, he understood the key roles of excellent Civil-Military Relations/Cooperation, particularly in a period of multiple and dynamic security challenges.

Therefore, rather than recrimination and casting undue aspersions in a bid to ridicule the public standing and assassinate the character of the former military chiefs, these persons who had only just voluntarily retired from Nigeria military after 40 YEARS deserve accolades and national awards for their undiluted services to Nigeria; and the President has taken the right step in the right direction.

By nominating them as envoys, the President has demonstrated that Nigeria is not a country that would use people who did their level best and dump them unceremoniously, so that they become objects of derision in the eyes of those who like to see people fall from elevated positions. Other African leaders should emulate this.

Additionally, this gesture by the President in allowing the immediate past service chiefs move to the next level will help to inspire others if given the opportunity to serve and this transition is normal in decent democratic societies.

Not long ago, soldiers who risked their lives to save others in Helmand, including a chaplain and a dog handler, among 140 war heroes honoured by the British political system for bravery in Afghanistan as captured by The Guardian of UK.

Mind you, the terrorists in Afghanistan and North-East of Nigeria are of the same ideological bent as Islamic extremists of the murderous kind.

Others honoured include an army dog handler, a chaplain, an Apache helicopter pilot, and a military legal adviser.

The soldiers (Not Generals), all with 16 Air Assault Brigade, were deployed in Helmand province last winter in a six-month tour of duty, during which 22 were killed and more than 200 seriously wounded.

“Small acts of selfless courage became common currency,” their commander, Brigadier James Chiswell, said. The Taliban had been “hit hard”, he added, and the sacrifices of his soldiers were “certainly not in vain”.

Private Bryan Johnson, 24, of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, is one of those described by Chiswell as role models for their generation. In a “vicious engagement” last October, Johnson, under fire from close range, dragged a badly injured comrade out of a compound into cover, to give first aid. He then grabbed a rifle and continued to shoot at the enemy.

“Under enemy fire it seemed like it was going on for hours, but I don’t think it was more than 20 or 30 minutes,” said Johnson. “It was very close, we could see the rounds hitting near our feet and hear them whistling by our heads. But, you have one of your friends lying on that stretcher next to you and you need to get him back.”

Johnson, from Corby, who trained as a soldier for less than 11 months, is awarded the Military Cross (MC).

Corporal Kaye Wilson, 35, from Shrewsbury, was, as a dog handler, responsible for finding improvised explosive devices, Helmand’s biggest killer. She “pushed herself and her dog, Obama, to the limits of endurance, supporting the infantry and saving countless lives in the process”, according to her citation. It adds: “In one 25-day operation, Kaye and Obama, a Belgian Shepherd Malinois, were the only constant as 15 IEDs were discovered in a painstaking four-kilometre clearance task along the Bandi Barq road (which) was largely un-passable for the local population as it was literally seeded with IEDs planted by Taliban fighters.”

Wilson said: “I only had around two weeks with Obama before deploying … It is important to know what he is thinking and look for little signs. The first time you go out, there is a certain trepidation, but you relax into it. Because the dog is such a trusted tool and you’re working with high-assurance search teams, it gives you real confidence.” She got an MBE.

The citation for Lt Paul McFarland, 28, a Belfast-born member of the Royal Irish Regiment, tells how a grenade sailed over the wall of a compound, landing a metre away from a corporal. “(McFarland) grabbed the corporal by the body armour, spun him around, throwing him against the wall … he turned his back on the grenade, diving on top of the soldier. In doing so, he deliberately placed himself between his men and the imminent explosion.” Had he not acted so, said the citation, the soldier “would most certainly have been killed or, at the very least, catastrophically wounded.”

McFarland, who was awarded the MC, said: “I’m not sure what went through my mind. I heard a popping sound, looked round and saw the grenade. I just grabbed my friend, threw him and dived on top of him and a couple of the other lads. The grenade went off and sprayed shrapnel against the walls.”

The MC is also awarded to Warrant Officer James Palmer, 39, from Tywyn in Gwynedd, north Wales, an Afghan national army mentor. When his patrol was ambushed and Afghan soldiers leapt for cover, Palmer, in full view of the enemy, ran to the front of the convoy where he noticed one of the Afghan soldiers with a gunshot wound.

“Acting with complete disregard for his own safety, he dragged him … to receive medical treatment,” says his citation. He then “set about gathering the Afghan drivers, coaxing them to their vehicles … Had it not been for his actions there would almost certainly have been loss of life and critical equipment.”

Palmer said: “If we had stayed where we were, we would have suffered more injuries, so I told my gunner: keep firing, I’m getting out. I’ve had bullets fired at me before; you can hear the thump to know how accurate it is. It’s always a worry, but I knew I had my gunner giving me covering fire.”

Sergeant Glen Gardiner, 35, of 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, from Ardrossan, Scotland, is awarded the MC for running through small arms and grenade fire to help a shot Afghan soldier. After galvanising soldiers into action and still under fire, he applied first aid to the injured man. He was blown off his feet by a grenade and two rounds passed through his backpack, his citation says.

Gardiner said of the incident: “He was about 20 metres away, the only cover to get to him was through the irrigation ditch which was filled with water to just below the knees. By the time we got to him he’d lost a lot of blood. The bullet had taken out his Adam’s apple and voice box. At first, I just clamped his neck to staunch the wound before the medic arrived.”

Corporal Martin Windmill, 24, from Cambridge, also of 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, is awarded the MC for taking on two enemy positions despite deep shrapnel wound in his thigh. After throwing two soldiers into cover, he drew his pistol and “with speed, aggression, and extraordinary courage, sprinted forward to post a grenade into the compound … instantly neutralising the enemy close-quarter threat. He then grabbed a heavier weapon, striking the enemy with instant and devastating effect.”

Windmill said: “At the time it wasn’t hurting, I still had both my legs, and there wasn’t blood spurting out so I was all right to carry on.”

This was the British people honouring their soldiers.

To underscore the deadly dimension of the war on terror in the North-East, which follows similar pattern as the violence unleashed by Islamists in Afghanistan, we have just been told of the extent of casualties that resulted from the attacks in 2020 alone.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has disclosed that terrorists, Islamic fundamentalists and bandits killed 8,279 Nigerians in 2020.

In the report, USCIRF, an independent government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyse and report threats to religious freedom globally, stated that the number reflected those killed in northern Nigeria.

The report, which focused on violation of religious freedom by violent Islamic groups in northern Nigeria, revealed that security challenges also slowed down the country’s economic growth and development.

“This is especially while Nigeria battles with the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impacts that claimed many lives. Borno, which has been the epicentre of Boko Haram terrorism for over a decade, claimed 3,005 persons.

“In Kaduna, 1,026 persons were killed, Katsina recorded 876 deaths, while Zamfara and Niger states lost 845 and 236 citizens in 2020,” the report stated.

It also revealed that about 37,500 deaths were recorded since 2011 due to Boko Haram activities and other violent Islamic groups.

“Despite Nigerians’ pleas for the Federal Government to “intervene and stop” the killings, not much has been done on the slaughter of innocent people. As a result of the massive killings, Nigeria’s economy is taking the heat with a 16.5 per cent inflation rate in January 2021,” it added.

The report also pointed out that the country, which has the largest economy in Africa, has become most unsecured and continued to scare many investors.

“The insecurity of life and property in the country is scaring prospective investors away. Violent Islamist groups in northern Nigeria remain the deadliest and most formidable jihadist groups globally,” it stressed.

The take-away here is that in as much as we are permitted to express our views democratically, we should be circumspect in dishing out these opinions so we do not disincentivise patriotism and personal supreme sacrifices made by our soldiers.

•Comrade Onwubiko, head of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, blogs@www. theingerianinsidernews.com, www.huriwanigeria.com

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