It was neither a vacation trip nor a tour for seasonal ceremony. It was a journey to attend a crisis communication seminar for humanitarian workers and journalists covering disasters which was held in Maiduguri in the first week of December 2015.
My family members could not dissuade me from the trip that hopefully would provide me another opportunity to assess one of the Boko Haram worst-hit cities in Nigeria.
The flight was smooth from Abuja to Maiduguri but I was glued to the window to see if I would sight soldiers and terrorists engaging in shoot-out… At the same time, the dreadful feeling that Boko Haram members could shoot down our aircraft with their home manufactured rockets lurked in a corner of the mind.
Driving into the town, it was easy to observe that the city wasn’t bubbling as most roads were deserted, exotic mansions abandoned and fine hotels had low patronage even with their generous discounts on accommodation.
I used the opportunity of the seminar to interact with some of the highly patriotic and exceptional Nigerian journalists who have been covering the war on terror with great responsibility. For the national interest, they have observed self-censorship against sensational reporting.
On a visit to the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, the sights of orphans and widows were quite disturbing even though NEMA and other stakeholders are taking good care of them.
Passing through security check-points, the sacrifice of Nigerian troops, especially young soldiers in their zeal and determination to defeat Boko Haram terrorists was obvious from their faces. While some of them are bachelors with parents, others are married with children they left at home to defend Nigeria.
Incidentally, almost everyone was concerned about the presidential directive for the military to end Boko Haram this December. During the inauguration of his service chiefs on July 13, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the military to end the Boko Haram terrorism in three months.
Immediately after the directive, the national security adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno led service and security chiefs to the frontline to seek the cooperation of community leaders, traditional rulers and pressure groups to support the new drive against war on terror. He also visited and commiserated with IDPs and reassured them that the war would soon be over.
The chief of army staff, General Tukur Buratai has not led from the back, he was in the warfront by actively participating in some of the operations where terrorists were either captured or killed. He has so far spent most of his time on the battlefield. The chief of air staff, Air Mashall Sadique Abubakar, has personally commanded fighter jets in the war on terror to motivate fighter-pilots into putting in their best.
The chief of defence staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin has ensured effective coordination and cohesion in the operation so far through mechanism of inter-agency collaboration, as the chief of naval staff, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas has also confirmed that special forces from the Navy are actively involved in the operation.
The military has so far destroyed dozens of Boko Haram camps and freed more than 1,000 kidnap victims since inauguration of President Buhari. Nevertheless, there is the fear that the military may not be able to end Boko Haram by the deadline. The executive xecretary of Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC), Air Commodore Anas recently disclosed that there is nothing wrong in imposing targets on the military, but due to the asymmetric warfare which Boko Haram is prosecuting against civilian “soft targets” the December deadline is unrealistic.
There are also worrisome reports of fresh kidnap of dozens of girls and burning of buildings in Bam village of Yobe state, reports of missing and fleeing soldiers in Galtumari town in Borno state, destruction of military base in Gulak, Adamawa, and media allegations that terrorists snatched military trucks, artillery guns that were bought by the previous administration.
During private conversations with stakeholders, many expressed beliefs that concerted efforts are required through credible intelligence to address the insecurity in the North-East.
Beyond the “body language” theory and political grandstanding, others were of the opinion that some tougher actions taken by the past administration could be deployed in curtailing the excesses of terrorists. For instance, a journalist observed that even though many doubted the sincerity of the former national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, when he sought and obtained approval for postponement of 2015 general election to enable the military to degrade Boko Haram and ensure maximum security of voters, all known terrorists’ camps were destroyed before the emergence of new government on May 29. The Sambisa forest was stormed by “Special ‘M’ forces” and about 300 kidnapped women and children were freed, 22 terrorist occupied towns in three states were recovered, and Boko Haram could not disrupt the elections.
It is public knowledge that some of the towns recovered from terrorists during the administration of Goodluck Jonathan include Abadam, Askira, Baga, Bama, Biu, Damboa, Gwoza, Hong, Konduga, Kukawa, Marte, Madagali, Michika, Monguno, Mubi. In fact, an official statement by the Defence Headquarters on March 16, 2015, with reference number DHQ/ABJ/901/32/DDI announced the routing of terrorists from Bama after massive casualty was inflicted on the terrorists before the remnant fled. The statement further stated that the Chadian partners in the MNJTF were mandated to pursue the terrorists who were heading for the borders after being dislodged from Bama. Gujba, Gulani, Goniri, Buni Yadi were all retaken by Nigerian troops within the month, the statement concluded. It seems Nigerians have forgotten all these.
If the military fails to meet the December deadline, we shouldn’t blame the previous administration of Jonathan or the current government of Buhari, but encourage the military to improve the tempo. After all, the Nigerian troops have succeeded in the past and are succeeding now. We should therefore avoid taking actions that would rubbish the integrity of critical institutions including security and the media.
Yushau Abdulhameed Shuaib is a Nigerian author, public
relations practitioner and freelance commentator on national and international
issues. He tweets @YAShuaib.
The immediate past Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, illegally approved the transfer of at least N61.4 billion ($300 million and £5.5 million) from funds recovered from late dictator, Sani Abacha, to the Office of the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, few weeks to the 2015 presidential election, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report today.
The former Minister signed off on the transfer but then closed her eyes to how the funds were spent, requesting then President Goodluck Jonathan to directly demand accountability from Mr. Dasuki, according to documents seen by this newspaper.
The funds were never appropriated before they were transferred, a clear violation of Nigeria’s fiscal responsibility law.
Mr. Dasuki, alongside the former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa and founder of DAAR communications, owners of Africa Independent Television and Raypower radio network, Raymond Dokpesi, are being investigated for their roles in the disbursement of $2.1 billion and N643 billion meant for the procurement of arms to fight the raging insurgency in Nigeria’s north east region.
The recovered Abacha loot are funds returned to the Nigerian government from monies stolen from the country’s treasury by Mr. Abacha.
The late dictator stole an estimated $5 billion from Nigeria and the money is being returned in tranches after agreement with countries such as Switzerland and the United States. So far $700 million has been repatriated from Switzerland.
It is not clear whether these funds in question were part of the arms procurement funds for which Mr Dasuki is being investigated.
But a letter signed by Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, showed that 50 per cent of the recently recovered Abacha loot was allotted for “urgent security need” such as the procurement of arms and ammunition while the other half was set aside to be used for development purposes.
The letter, dated January 20, 2015, which was addressed to Mr Jonathan revealed that the money was transferred following a January 12, 2015 request by the office of the NSA under Mr Dasuki for funds for the procurement of arms and ammunition as well as intelligence equipment.
“Please find a request by the National Security Adviser (NSA) for the transfer of $300 million and £5.5 million of the recovered Abacha funds to an ONSA [Office of the National Security Adviser] operations account,” the letter read.
“The NSA has explained that this is to enable the purchase of ammunition, security, and other intelligence equipment for the security agencies in order to enable them fully confront the ongoing Boko Haram threat.
“His request is sequel to the meeting you chaired with the committee on the use of recovered funds where the decision was made that recovered Abacha funds would be split 50-50 between urgent security needs to confront Boko Haram and development need (including a portion for the Future Generations window of the Sovereign Wealth Fund),” Mrs Okojo-Iweala wrote.
She added that the letter was to seek Mr Jonathan’s approval for the funds to be disbursed to the ONSA. The former minister further explained that the money being transferred formed part of the Federal Government Independent Revenue.
However, instead of insisting on overseeing how the disbursed funds were spent, as the country’s chief financial officer, she abdicated her responsibility, expecting and asked Mr Dasuki to account directly to Mr Jonathan.
“This letter is to seek your approval to borrow these funds, for now, to disburse to the NSA. These funds form part of the projected Federal Government Independent Revenue, to be appropriated, in the light and for accountability, given the peculiar nature of security and intelligence transactions, we would expect the NSA to account to Your Excellency for the utilisation of the funds,” she concluded.
In a January 30, 2015 letter, Mr. Jonathan approved the transfer.
Governor Adams Oshiomhole vindicated
This latest disclosure appears to have vindicated Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, who last week called for the prosecution of Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala for transferring funds that were not appropriated.
The governor stated that neither the president nor the minister has power to unilaterally transfer funds that were not appropriated by the National Assembly.
He therefore argued that Mr. Jonathan and Mrs Okonjo-Iweala should be charged alongside Messrs Dasuki, Dokpesi and Bafawara for allegedly misappropriating funds meant for arms procurement.
“The issue is whether the Nigerian President under the constitution has the power to approve funds belonging to local, state and federal government- funds that have not been appropriated by the National Assembly. That is a criminal offense for which Okonjo-Iweala ought to face criminal prosecution. These things are just discussed and wished away. For me, I will stick for the truth and don’t care what people will say,” Mr. Oshiomhole said.
“Talking about revelation, look at the letter credited to Dasuki – the immediate past National Security Adviser. In his defence which I read in your paper, he seems to admit that money was spent but it was approved by the President. Does the Nigerian constitution empower the President to spend money which has not been appropriated by the National Assembly? And they took cash from the CBN. The Money Laundering Act says if you take cash in excess of N5 million transaction, it is money laundering and it is criminal.
“So, by Dasuki’s letter, he has also confirmed that Okonjo-Iweala is privy to spending money never appropriated and therefore criminal, and that cash were being moved contrary to the money laundering act. Just using Dasuki’s own defence, you can see a case of conspiracy has been established between Dasuki, Okonjo-Iweala and all those involved in that transaction,” Mr. Oshiomhole said.
But in a stern statement, where she described Mr Oshiomhole as reckless, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala asked the federal government to call the governor to order.
She stated that she had “absolutely nothing to do with” the $2.1 billion arms procurement money.
“It is unconscionable for the Governor to embark on a campaign of lies against her because she thwarted his dubious loan request,” she said.
