Standup9ja: Why Boko Haram Took Over Sambisa Forest – Col A.
Aminu (rtd)
As the pioneer commander of the defunct National Guard you
must have been to the Sambisa Forest. We learnt that the training ground of
that outfit was there. What is the nature of military facilities in the forest?
Yes! I was the pioneer commander of the National Guard and
Sambisa was one of the places we identified as a suitable training ground. I
think the mobile police were using the facility at that time, but we eventually
took over because they abandoned the place. The National Guard was established
with the best of intentions. It was for the national security of this country,
but it was misconstrued by politicians and other people in the military to be
intended to perpetuate Babangida as the president of Nigeria. But sincerely
speaking, if the National Guard was allowed to stay as designed and planned to
operate, we wouldn’t have been experiencing all these kidnappings, armed
robbery and even Boko Haram. It would have been tackled before it became what
it is today. We had the wherewithal, the facility and the equipment to tackle
all kinds of situations. As a commander, I visited about nine countries in the
world where there were established National Guard, and they were doing well.
But ours was disbanded.
Before the establishment of the National Guard, Abacha was
the minister of defence and chief of defense staff. He saw the establishment of
the outfit as what would usurp his power and authority because it was supposed
to have officers and men from the air force, navy, army, police and the State
Security Service (SSS). It was supposed to be a very mighty venture. In any
case, I wouldn’t blame Abacha because anyone in his shoes would feel the same
way. They did all they could to stop its establishment, but they did not
succeed. That was why one of his first assignments Abacha undertook as head of
state was to retire us and disband the National Guard.
I am not saying they should establish National Guard again
because there is the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). It
should play the role of the National Guard. They should be well equipped and
exposed to different kinds of trainings. The National Guard was to participate
in the territorial defence of Nigeria in case of outside aggression and other
challenges. They are supposed to be the first outfit to engage the enemy. Where
they cannot handle the enemy from outside, then they need to call the military
to take over from there. At that stage, the enemy must have been weakened. The
military is overstretched the way they are being used. The military is called
in any small thing, and that shouldn’t be. That is why the NSCDC needs to be
strengthened. When the economy improves, this government should try and
strengthen the NSCDC.
From what you are saying, it would have been a capital
intensive project.
Any security outfit has capital intensive components. The
question is: Do you want security or you want to keep your money? Let me tell
you that security is the first and foremost requirement for any government. If
the people are well secured, everything will fall into place. When we don’t
have security, even the economy will fall. If money is spent on security, it
will pay itself even if it will take time. Sometimes we don’t see the physical
benefit of it, but the social aspect. We have to shield the military from the
civilians. We can also engage the police and the civil defence, but the only
way to achieve this is to train them properly and motivate them well.
So you don’t support the current involvement of the military
in many operations that have made them mix up with the civil populace?
It’s not a matter of support; this is the only option they
have now. They don’t have any alternative. If they had developed the police and
the civil defence properly, there would not be any need to have the military
everywhere. In most cases, they can’t be replaced because we don’t even have
the manpower to do that. People are kept in that place for one or two years,
and you will discover that their output will be degraded and their morale will
be low. Even their commitment and discipline will be degraded as well. So there
are a lot of negative things as a result of that.
What about the suggestions that the civilian JTF be absorbed
into the army?
The civilian JTF is a good omen for the country. They did
very well. I like the way they operate, but you see, people can’t just be
absorbed just like that. Even people that are recruited into the military go
through a lot of screening, not in terms of whether they can do the job but in
terms of their background and so on. This is because if care is not taken,
wrong people can be recruited into the system. I am not against recruiting
them, but proper screening should be conducted. The military should give them
whatever help they can afford.
What kind of facilities do you have in Sambisa Forest? Does it have an underground bunker that
cannot be detected through air surveillance?
No, which bunker? I told you the police were training there.
Is it the police that would establish a bunker? The police were using it as a
range for small trainings. You could see
small buildings around the place, but it is not big.
As the military governor of Borno State, my intention was to
establish Sambisa Forest as a tourist
site like the Yankari Game Reserve, but when I left, the entire idea was abandoned. Maybe if we had that and the National Guard
was there, the insurgents wouldn’t have found the place convenient to establish
their base. It was because the place was
abandoned and no activity was going on there that it was easy for them to take
it over. The forest itself is massive. You need to go and see.
Don’t you think the Boko Haram insurgents took over the
place because there were training facilities there?
Initially, I didn’t know they had the capacity to do that
kind of thing. But I know that whoever is carrying out military operations will
find Sambisa an excellent place, especially when we are talking about
insurgency.
It is very difficult to fight terrorism because these are
people who can come in different ways and blend with the populace. And you
can’t kill everybody. That is why sometimes they have advantage over the
soldiers. Soldiers don’t just fight with everybody; they have to identify the
enemy. Under such circumstance, it is really difficult to pinpoint who is a
terrorist. That is why sometimes they surprise the military.
Did the National Guard leave any weapon in the Sambisa
Forest?
How can we leave weapons there? Any weapon you have, whether
big or small, has to be manned. As a soldier you need to always go with your
weapon. That is why it is called your wife. So the question of keeping weapons
there does not arise.
But you said they were used for training.
Even if they were for training, there would be people to man
them.
The Boko Haram insurgents have been operating for several
years; why didn’t you alert the country that there was such a military training
facility in Borno? Did you take it for granted that those in government knew?
Of course they know. You see, in Borno State, there has been
the 21 Armoured Brigade, which has a battalion each in Moguno, Bama and
Maiduguri. So it is part of their duty to identify good training areas, and
that place is one of them. They don’t need to tell anybody to go there and
train. The facility is there to be
developed and utilised, so I assumed I didn’t need to tell anybody.
In his autobiography, Ishaya Bamaiyi attributed the advent
of indiscipline in the Nigerian armed forces to the Babangida era. He said a
situation where majors (and you were one of them) were sent to arrest a sitting
head of state whose rank was a major-general brought indiscipline. How would
you react to that?
First of all, I have not read the book, so I cannot
authenticate what you are saying precisely. But if he said that, I would
disagree with him because we purely carried out military assignments. You don’t
expect a general to go to a general on that kind of operation. Cast your mind
back to those days - it was Danjuma who went to Ironsi. If you look at the
history of that kind of coup, you would see that rank is not an issue when you
are talking about indiscipline. I am surprised that General Bamaiyi would say
that. Bamaiyi is one of the few senior colleagues I respect a lot, and I know
him well.
You see, a major is the beginning of being a senior officer
in the military; which means you can be given any responsibility. It is usually
not in my character to castigate military officers, more so my superiors, but
for General Bamaiyi to say that General Babangida introduced indiscipline in
the military by appointing majors as military governors is totally false and
misleading. If he traced the history of military appointments into political
offices he wouldn’t have faulted Babangida for appointing two majors as
military governors. It started during the Gowon era when majors were introduced
to govern states. We had Major Mobolaji Johnson in Lagos State, Major Samuel
Ogbemudia in the Midwest, Lt. Commander Diette-Spiff, a major equivalent in
Rivers etc.
When General Muhammadu Buhari took over in 1983, he
appointed junior officers as military governors, such as Lt Col. Dayo Popoola
and David Mark. Appointment of military governors was done according to states.
Sometimes you found out that some states did not have senior equivalent ranks
to be appointed. Under such circumstance, the authority would have no choice
but to pick a junior officer to represent his state.
Recall that General Shehu Musa Yar’adua was promoted from
the rank of lieutenant-colonel to Brigadier-General, just for him to be
appointed chief of staff, Supreme Headquarters to represent the North and Islam
since the then head of state, General Olusegun Obasanjo, was a Yoruba and a
Christian.
That has been the trend in military administration, even
when there’s an availability of senior officers. I expect a superior argument
from the general, not what he portrayed.
Where was Bamaiyi when TY Danjuma was promoted and made
chief of army staff above his course mates like Martins Adamu who was made
GOC 2 Division while Obeya was made
brigade commander? How come that one did not breed indiscipline in his eyes?
As a major, there’s no responsibility you cannot handle. And
I challenge anybody to contradict me. When we were governors we never
disrespected anybody. The positions did not get into our heads; rather, we were
competing among ourselves in terms of programmes and policies. We were trying
to excel in our assignments. I was the military assistant to General Babangida
when he was Chief of Army Staff and I never got carried away by that position
even though he allowed me to do a lot of things. The system does not allow that
kind of thing, you give seniors their respect.
It was said that senior military officers had to pass
through some of you who were governors to see Babangida. How true is that?
That’s not true. For example, I was in Borno at that time;
so how could officers in Lagos come to me before seeing the president.
When you talk about military assignments in political
dispensations, there are many things you find difficult to explain because the
authority might not explain the reason why they did what they did.
Those of you identified as IBB Boys had terrible experiences
during the General Sani Abacha era. What
was your experience?
I think they were scared that we could become threats to
them; hence a lot of us were targeted during the regime. Our movements were
restricted and we were prevented from getting involved in so many things. They
did not arrest me, but I was ready for it. I didn’t care.
I don’t understand why we were termed the IBB Boys, but I
know that for any administration, whether military or civilian, the leader
always looks for people that are loyal to him. It is not a question of
favouring anybody; it’s a question of those you are comfortable with. That was
why Abacha was not comfortable with us and had to retire us. He had his own
loyalists. So why was Babangida wrong in
identifying those loyal to him? I know the people who instigated that we should
be removed. It will be made known in my book. They know that we know all these
things, but we thank God because everything is His wish. We are still alive and
kicking fine.
When we called to ask for this interview, you said you had
an English Premiership match to watch. Britain has been able to develop their
sports to the extent that it has attracted world interest. As former NFA
chairman, what do you think is the problem with sports in Nigeria?
I don’t want to call it a problem. There are certain things
we were supposed to do that we didn’t do. However, the situation is not the
same with Europe. The economies are not the same.
Today, sport is beyond leisure; it is a business venture.
Unless we tune ourselves towards that direction, I don’t think we will achieve
what we want to achieve. Sports, if properly organised, controlled and
developed, could fend for itself and earn a lot of money for Nigeria for other
sectors to develop.
I don’t want to blame sports leaders or any government, but
as I said, the Nigerian economy is not strong enough to handle sports. If you
look at the clubs in Europe and how they are being managed, the property,
marketing, television rights and so on, you see what keeps them going. They
make a lot of profit from that. But in Nigeria today, which company can sponsor
a single club? The situation is so bad that it is the government that is
running sports when it should have been the other way round. Take a look at the
clubs in Nigeria today and tell me which one is not funded by government? Maybe two or three. And it is very expensive,
it is not easy. The sector is also filled with corruption. And unless we remove
that, nobody would want to invest his money there because investors are looking
for profit. To commercialise sports in Nigeria, government has a responsibility
to put the place in order. People are clamouring for government to hands off,
but it is not possible at this stage. Eventually, that would be the last thing
to do, but at the moment, government has to play a key role in sports
development. For sports to develop in Nigeria, government needs to provide an
enabling environment by way of providing all the necessary facilities. There
are a lot of experts in this country who know about sports development and how
to market it. With all these talents and the advantage we have in terms of
population, we can go places. For me, all hopes are not lost. It is a gradual
process, but we need people who are committed and patriotic.
When you were the military governor of Borno State, you were
able to revive the El-Kanemi Warriors within a short time, to the extent that
it climbed to Division One. What was the magic?
I established the club. There was nothing like El-Kanemi at
that time. It was as a result of my knack for sports and football in particular
that I established the club. The first-eleven Nigerian footballers, including
three reserves, came from there. That was because I looked for the best in the
country, and I was paying them well, buying them cars and houses. They were not
missing anything. As a result of that,
everybody was looking forward to joining the club. Most of the players were not
from the North. At that time, most of the fine players were from the South. So
it was like a mini Nigeria. That was what made the club unique and very strong;
plus, of course, the excellent leadership we had. Once you have people
interested in a venture and they have the passion, you cannot fail.
When you were the chairman of the then Nigeria Football
Association (NFA) you took a controversial decision of paying bonuses to the
Nigerian contingent to France ’98, even after Nigeria lost the match. Why did
you take such a decision?
When we went for the World Cup in France, you could see the
zeal, motivation and patriotism in the players; but unfortunately, luck was
against us. Six or seven key players were injured. What people don’t know is
that nobody wants to lose in any competition. The players wanted to win. That is why I hate a situation where people
would start castigating players once they lose. That is not the way to manage
people and situations. In our own case, I ordered that they be paid even though
they lost. To me, that was a way of motivating them and others who will join
later. They should know that the country cares for them and is prepared to go
along with them, whether they lose or win. In terms of accountability, we were
given $4.2million and we returned $2million plus. Everybody hailed us, saying
it was the first time in Nigeria’s history that a contingent would go for a
competition and return money. When you are prudent with what is entrusted in
your care, you will go places.
As a military governor, how would you have handled the Boko
Haram insurgency?
Well, as a military governor, even though you are the chief
security officer of the state, you don’t have the operational control. It is
only the Federal Government and the military that would determine your mode of
operation. You can only advise and make suggestions, but you cannot be in
charge of the operation because you have limitations. In any case, I want to commend President
Muhammadu Buhari for what he has
achieved in clearing the Boko Haram insurgents.
I won’t say he has defeated them because we know that they are not
completely defeated yet. But what the government has achieved in such a short
time is commendable. I particularly also want to commend the military, the
governors of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, as well as the governor of Gombe
State. Sometimes the insurgents make moves, but because they are at alert, they
either clear or stop them. More
importantly, I like the courage and commitment of the governor of Borno State.
You always see him at the scene once it happens, and sometimes he even sleeps
there. He sleeps at internally displaced persons’ camps. He is always eager to
do something for the people. They have displayed a different style of
leadership as far as fighting Boko Haram is concerned and they deserve a lot of
commendation. If not for their efforts
and that of the Federal Government, Boko
Haram would have done more harm.
What is your assessment of the current administration?
Buhari is doing well in fighting corruption. I will give him
at least 80 per cent in that. This is because you cannot totally wipe it out,
but the willpower, intention and commitment are very glaring. They have done
very well in terms of security since he came. Efforts have also been made in
other areas. I think he is lucky because
of the team he has. I like his team. When you have people like Audu Ogbe,
Rotimi Amaechi, Senator Hadi Sirika, Suleman Adamu, Kemi Adeosun, Babatunde
Fashola, Adamu Adamu etc, you have a good team. You cannot fault their
abilities and competence. The president and his ministers are well tested
Nigerians. I want to also praise the governors, particularly those in the North
because, with the limited resources they receive, you will still see a lot of
physical development in their states.
Was it right for the Federal Government to have entered into
negotiations with terrorists over the release of Chibok schoolgirls?
You see, for me, the power of negotiation is always good for
any country or organisation. We found ourselves in a peculiar situation,
therefore, there must be a peculiar way of handling it. It is not always the
normal practice, as people would say. For every situation, there is always a
different answer and approach.
I am not in government, so I cannot precisely say this is
what informed the government to do it. It has everything at its disposal to
take decisions on issues of this nature. You see, negotiation has negative and
positive effects. It is left for the person taking the decision. I believe that
is what the government has done. Even if they have released some of the
insurgents, maybe they have seen that they cannot be threats to the country.
What is important is that they have achieved results. If they hadn’t achieved
results, then the people would have had reasons to condemn or complain about
the process.
But we shouldn’t assume that it is over with Boko Haram. Of
course there is success, but we should not take things for granted. There must
be a strategic plan because I am sure they will come up with a different
approach. So the government and the military have to prepare for this.
When one is fighting insurgency, there is no accurate or
book answer to it. It is based on your experience; you don’t read about how to
handle them. I think we allowed Boko Haram to grow into this bigger thing they
are today. If we had gone all out to tackle them initially, it wouldn’t have
been a menace now. We need to plan so that their activity can be curtailed. We
should make it difficult for them to try us again.
I have no doubt about our military and the government. If
they continue this way, I believe Boko Haram will be a thing of the past.
Again, we need the support of all Nigerians. The problem we
have in this country is that people are not patriotic enough. People think it
is the government’s duty and problem; but it is everybody’s responsibility. You
don’t need to fight; there are a lot of ways you can contribute your quota to
the success of fighting insurgency - by supporting the government, giving
adequate information to the security operatives etc. For me, the security
operatives have done very well, but they still need support.
You contested for the governorship of Katina State in
2003...
I didn’t contest, I withdrew.
Is that to say you have abandoned politics?
No, I’m in politics, but I only play the role of an elder or
kingmaker in my area. I am not directly involved. Whether you like it or not,
they say a human being is a political animal; so whatsoever you do, be it in
your home, there is politics in you. You cannot completely abandon politics.
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