Ex Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh has identified the military’s lack of equipment and motivation for the inability to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency ravaging the Northeast.
Badeh also blamed those he referred to as fifth columnist among the Armed Forces and other security agencies for leakage of intelligence information to the insurgents in the counter insurgency campaign.
“For the first time, I was head of a military that lacked the relevant equipment and motivation to fight an enemy that was invisible and embedded with the local populace.
“Added to this, was the exploitation of a serious national security issue by a section of the press and the political class to gain political mileage.
“Furthermore, the activities of fifth columnists in the military and other security agencies who leaked operational plans and other sensitive military information to the terrorists, combined to make the fight against the insurgents particularly difficult”, the ex Defence chief stated.
Badeh stated this Thursday in his valedictory address at the pulling out ceremony to mark his exit from the Armed Forces. He was removed alongside other Service Chiefs on July 13.
He regretted that unpatriotic activities of certain members of the military blunted the effectiveness of the fight against the insurgents, leading to the needless death of officers and men in the hands of the insurgents.
He continued, “The decision by certain countries to deny us weapons to prosecute the war also added to the challenges we faced. Despite these challenges, I am glad to note that a lot was achieved during our time in the fight against terror.
“The achievements recorded are largely due to the commitment, patriotism and fighting spirit of our men and women in uniform who saw the fight against terror as a task that must be accomplished no matter the odds and inspite of the campaign of calumny against the military by a section of the media with their foreign collaborators.
“The support of our teeming populace who have continued to stand behind their military has been quite encouraging. Also, our true friends who stood by us in our time of need and provided us the weapons we are now using to conduct the operations will always have a special place in our hearts”.
Further lamenting the underfunding of the military by successive administrations, Badeh said the development left the nation’s military ill prepared for the Boko Haram insurgency.
According to him, this left available military facilities and personnel overstretched, leading to the devastation in the Northeast occasioned by insurgent attacks.
“Permit me to also add here, that nation’s militaries are equipped and trained in peace time, for the conflicts they expect to confront in the future.
“Unfortunately that has not been our experience as a nation. Over the years, the military was neglected and underequipped to ensure the survival of certain regimes, while other regimes, based on advice from some foreign nations, deliberately reduced the size of the military and underfunded it.
“Unfortunately, our past leaders accepted such recommendations without appreciating our peculiarities as a third world military, which does not have the technological advantage that could serve as force multipliers and compensate for reduced strength.
“Accordingly, when faced with the crises in the Northeast and other parts of the country, the military was overstretched and had to embark on emergency recruitments and trainings, which were not adequate to prepare troops for the kind of situation we found ourselves in.
“It is important therefore for the government to decide on the kind of military force it needs, by carrying out a comprehensive review of the nation’s military force structure to determine the size, capability and equipment holding required to effectively defend the nation and provide needed security.
“This is based on the fact that without security, there cannot be sustainable development. The huge cost that would be required to rebuild the Northeast and other trouble spots in the country could have been avoided if the military had been adequately equipped and prepared to contain the on going insurgency before it escalated to where it is today,” he submitted.
