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Tag: Lt. Gen Tukur Yusufu Buratai

  • Buhari’s decision that changed Boko Haram narrative 

    A South African adage says;” Even an ant can hurt an elephant.”  So, on May 29, 2015, when President Muhammadu Buhari took the oath of office as Nigeria’s democratic leader, it was clear, his first, second and third immediate  priorities  centered on ending Boko Haram terrorism. It was not controvertable even to the blind that Boko Haram had  repressed Nigeria and it’s security forces in conquerors might.

     

    Buhari’s first official action was to order the Security Chiefs he inherited  from the preceding administration to take the war to the doorsteps of  the insurgents. He directed the instant  relocation of  the Command Theatre to Maiduguri, the epicenter of raging Boko Haram insurgency.

     

    In his inaugural speech to the nation, President Buhari lamented how some small group of religious extremists who preached everything in  negation to Islam amassed so much power  and  morphed  from causing ” small fires, to big fires.” Apparently, President Buhari was pained that insurgents held the whole country to ransom, in anguish, sorrows, killings and other dehumanizing atrocious  acts.

     

    However, six weeks after he maintained the then Security Chiefs, they continued to exhibit the same and glaring incapacity to confront and subdue Boko Haram. A President, who somewhat concealed his indignation sacked all of them by mid July 2015 and calmly thanked them for service to fatherland.

     

    He immediately announced a new set of Security Chiefs to commence the job of dislodging, decimating and defeating  Boko Haram terrorists in order to free Nigeria from it’s pangs. The drastic  change in the apex leadership of the military enthroned trusted and competent Military officers with proven track  records  of splendid  service to the  country.

     

    Among the new arrivants on the leadership ladder of  Security Chiefs  was Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai. The  hitherto unknown soldier, who hails from the obscure village of Buratai, in Biu LGA,  Borno state, also ravaged by Boko Haram was named the Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

     

    Perhaps, satisfied with his records of excellence  and unblemish  service over the years,  President Buhari also crowned Gen. Buratai as leader of the counter- insurgency operations in Nigeria.

     

    The choice of Gen. Buratai as COAS  shocked many  Nigerians because albeit, he had accomplished much in his military career, but was unnoticed. His lifestyle attuned more  to the trenches than the urbanian display of  sophistry as done by  some  military officers of his calibre.

     

    Unknown to the hitherto “triumphant,” Boko Haram insurgents, in Gen. Buratai, President Buhari had silently packaged their nemesis and conqueror. Buratai’s colleagues in the military vouched for him as a dogged and relentless warmonger, military tactician and  strategist in the famed shadows of Chinese war veteran, Gen. Sun Tzu.

     

    Gen. Buratai’s first official conversation with Nigerians embodied the soothing message of decimating and defeating Boko Haram insurgents. And he gave time frames for reclaiming Nigeria from insurgents back to Nigerians. He was specific that by December 2015, Boko Haram would be completely decimated.

     

    A Liberian proverb says; ” Good millet is known at the harvest.” And from Gen. Buratai’s initial actions, it was clear to discerning minds that this great soldier and chief armour bearer of counter- terrorism knows his briefs . It indicated he was  quite familiar with the rudiments of battling insurgency having led the MNJTF as Field Commander.

     

    Frighteningly, the tasks  before Gen. Buratai and his troops were  quite enormous. He was to lead troops to recover  about 18  LGAs in the Northeast under the total control of insurgents with their headquarters at Gwoza and another seven others under the partial control of terrorists in the region.

     

    Also, he was battling an insurgent sect which had spread horrendous atrocities to virtually every major  city in the North, including Kano and Abuja, Nigeria’s FCT. Insurgents were also making incursions into the Southwest through Kogi state as transit camp.

     

    Added to this burden, were the over 20, 000 Nigerians  held hostage by Boko Haram in secret camps in the Northeast and the neighboring countries of Niger, Chad and the Cameroun republics, including the abducted Chibok schoolgirls. These Nigerian Boko Haram hostages yearned for freedom from captivity for reunification with their families.

     

    Elsewhere in the Northeast, there was the problem of demystifying  Sambisa forest, Boko Haram’s most fortified haven. It housed it’s most vicious leader Abubakar Shekau  and other top commanders as well as some captives.

     

    Boko Haram’s  recruitment of innocently  hypnotised  youths as  foot soldiers  and charmed consecration of female suicide bombers was also  rampant. These were the herculean tasks  before Gen. Buratai and the Nigerian troops. Boko Haram regaled in destructive might each time it staged  an onslaught on any community and often, for hours in gruesome killings,  abductions and destructions.  IDPs camps were filled to exhaustive  limits of elasticity.

     

    But Gen. Buratai convinced himself in the wisdom enunciated by a Ghanaian adage that says, “If there were no elephant in the jungle, the buffalo would be a great animal.” Thus, he personally led troops into the jungle of Boko Haram for the battles.

     

    And sticking to his words, Gen. Buratai and the Nigerian troops effectively decimated Boko Haram  by December 2015. The hard confrontations of terrorists marked the beginning of the reclamation of Nigerian territories under insurgents control at the dawn of Year 2016.

     

    He achieved substantial progress, alongside rescue of hundreds of hostages in their gulags. By the twilight of December 2016, Gen. Buratai delivered a demystified and dismantled,  dreaded  Sambisa forest as Christmas gift to Nigerians. Troops encounter with insurgents was fierce, with Abubakar Shekau escaping narrowly, after  abandoning his personal copy of Holy Koran and his Jihadi flag. He reportedly disguised as a woman and sneaked out of the region to nurture his wounds.

     

    It is unquestionable that Gen. Buratai has presided over  sustained winning streaks against terrorists. Presently, no Nigerian territory is under the annexation of Boko Haram. Insurgents are pained that despite their repeated attacks to regain control of lost territories, but none has afforded them such luxury because of the strong resistance by troops on the frontline.

     

    And despite the multiplicity of terror sects operating in the region and with increased funding from foreign sponsors like the Republic of Iran, insurgents are still licking wounds of  defeat as troops do not only repel their attacks, but most them have met their waterloos in gunbattle with soldiers.

     

    Over 18, 000 Nigerian hostages have regained their freedom and reunited with families. Boko Haram has also lost scores of top commanders and foot soldiers to the Nigerian Army. Gen. Buratai has ended the scourge of  female suicide bombers with the introduction of Army Female Corps. He battles both field and cyberspace terrorism with same vigour and in all dimensions.

     

    Most strikingly, Gen. Buratai has not only been able to conveniently halt Boko Haram ingress into Southern Nigeria, but has effectively holed  and confined their operations in the obscure  parts or bushes  of the Northeast, in occasional sneaky and isolated  attacks.

     

    Yet, sequel to Gen. Buratai’s leadership of counter-insurgency operations, Boko Haram had the generous liberty to bomb Kano, Kaduna, Gombe, Bauchi, Jos, Yobe, Adamawa, Borno  and other parts of the Northern  region very freely and recklessly, without hindrance.

     

    The tears and sorrows of Abuja residents from terrorism has also ended, as no one has heard a bomb blast since the July 2015 date of the assumption of duty by Gen. Buratai. But it was a mega city, citizens were essentially  driven by the phobia of Boko Haram which would sometimes bomb the city twice in a week or serially.

     

    Nigerians have not experienced any detonated bombs in Nyanya bus station,  Police Headquarters, UN building, Media Houses or Shopping Malls in the national  capital city in the past four years.

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    Significantly too, the number of IDPs in the Northeast has also declined incredibly. And death toll from Boko Haram insurgency has reduced drastically  under the Buhari Presidency despite the spirited battles launched   by insurgents to regain  control of  rescued territories in Nigeria.

     

    Evidently,  in five years, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan told the United Nations Security Council in New York on  Boko Haram  that,  “The costs are high: over 13,000 people have been killed, whole communities razed, and hundreds of persons kidnapped.”

     

    However, independent accounts from reputable organizations pegged casualty figures much higher.

     

    For instance, the Nigerian Security Tracker (NST) a project run by Africa Program of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) estimates the death toll covering a shorter period from May 2011 to August 2014 at over 17,500.

     

    And between January 3- 7, 2015 alone, Boko Haram serial attacks on Baga town reportedly massacred  up to 2, 000 people in just four days.

     

    And a report by the same NST &  CFR stated that Boko Haram is  responsible for the deaths of “only”  about  5,598 people in the last four years of the Buhari Presidency. This is in spite of the intense pressures mounted against Nigeria by a conglomeration of terrorists sects competitively  gunning to retake the country.

     

    It is certified and indisputable  that the appointment of Gen. Buratai as  COAS was an ideal  decision by President Buhari. It has  changed the  Boko Haram narrative in favour of Nigeria.  His leadership of the  counter-insurgency operations has really changed the terrorists’ perception of the Nigerian troops now,  as  a formidable Army which is ever ready to see to the complete routing out  of insurgents from Nigeria.

     

    Therefore, once a nation makes the right decision, seemingly unsolvable problems begin to ebb out gradually to the final end. With Gen. Buratai  still on board, it’s a sure bet that Boko Haram must fizzle out of Nigeria in humiliating  final defeat. He has vowed to supervise  the reign of good over evil by terminating terrorism and uprooting every  insurgency from it’s roots.

  • Re: “On the ‘lie-gend of Buratai:” when reason deserts a critic

    I least knew the concept of the book “ The Legend of Buratai,” authored   Dr. Abubakar Mohammed Sani  would elicit  excitingly   robust  attention. It is a fictional narrative of the daring escapades of Nigerian soldiers led by the irrepressible and craggy soldier, the incumbent Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai against the Islamic extremist sect, Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria.
    To assert that the book is a fine fictional rendition of these military adventures is stating the obvious. It belongs to the category of children’s literature and slated for public presentation on May 17, 2019 to an audience of school children in Abuja.  But some public commentators are having sleepless nights over a matter which has no correlation with their clearly poisoned minds.  I am excited for one reason; in academics criticisms are an implicit expression of the strength of a piece of art work.
    The article by one Abimbola Adelakun captioned, “the lie-gend of Buratai,” is one criticism which has compelled my deeper appreciation of the “The Legend of Buratai.”  It fruitlessly attempted to parody the concept of the book and, Gen.  Buratai its main character.
    In this desperation, the critic blindfolds herself  and pours out barefaced umbrage on Gen. Buratai and members of the academia who are celebrating Buratai’s heroic deeds in droves. She questions the elevation of Gen. Buratai to the mythical status of a legend. I perceive critic Adelakun as a commentator on a vengeful mission in a world she is thoroughly disenchanted and disillusioned, but does not know where to direct her anger.
    In her state of mind, I saw a replica of what writer Jack Kerouac says; “If critics say your work stinks it’s because they want it to stink and they can make it stink by scaring you into conformity with their comfortable little standards. Standards so low that they can no longer be considered “dangerous” but set in place in their compartmental understandings.”
    So, the determination to deconstruct a positive story, sees the critic twisting facts and even outrightly peddling lies  to make the imagined reasons for the  upbraid  appear convincing . But her twists and crafted lies have fascinated me more and (I believe others) to the contents of the book.
    It is not difficult to fetch the motive of the critic, as a hireling on a destructive voyage, who must demolish her target at all cost. This feeling assails with the opening paragraph. It says; “Since he became the Chief of Army Staff, a pattern of narcissism has followed the pronouncements and actions of Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai. Even the military under him comes up with funny ideas such as setting up zoos and parks in barracks, establishing cattle ranches, and producing military vehicles.”
    What begs for understanding is why the critic feels the Army under Gen. Buratai should not be narcissistic. There is no sane reason for soldiers who are winning the war on Boko Haram to flaunt the egoistic aura about their exploits on the battlefront. We were in Nigeria when poorly armed soldiers flinched at the battlefield before insurgents.  But the narrative has changed in favour of Nigeria with the winning streaks.
    And to think that in the era of economic crunch, the Army should have no business with sourcing for other channels of revenue generation to enhance its incomes by frowning at why it dabbled into agricultural investments is absurd.  It is also ludicrous to berate Buratai’s tinkering with the idea of partnership with automobile companies in Nigeria to manufacture military vehicles under a government, which sermonizes the policy of self-dependence and local content in patronage of goods and services.
    Adelakun is wailing loudly about the obsession of the academic community with the Buratai phenomenon by authoring books about him or naming structures after him. But it goes to profess that truth cannot be repressed. And the intelligentsia have seen the glaring changes in Gen. Buratai’s leadership of the Army and the daring exploits of the troops he leads against terrorists these past three years.
    The critic’s innuendo that Buratai is influencing these memorable gestures is infantile reasoning, unprovable and far from the reality.  While people like her , perhaps, enviously holds back appreciation to the legacies of Gen. Buratai and the Nigerian soldiers, everyone must not toe her mindset.
    Therefore, critic Adelakun describes the thematic thrust  of the literary rendition of Gen. Buratai as a “monstrous lie,” because she knows it, but pained to recognize that the Army Chief has reclaimed  all the 17 LGAs or  captured territories in Nigeria. It was a herculean task with his two or three predecessors.
    Buratai has demystified Sambisa forest. And Nigerians know, it is not a “monstrous lie,” that insurgents’ operations have been confined to the obscure parts of Borno state and the Lake Chad Basin, stretching into the Niger and Chadian Republics.
    Nigerians know it is not deception that the capacity of insurgents to strike recklessly and freely, visiting horrendous atrocities on every part of Northern Nigeria, including Abuja has been severely weakened by the troops led by Gen. Buratai.  It is indubitable that over 17, 000 Nigerians, including Chibok and Dapchi school girls have regained their freedom from Boko Haram captivity and reunited with families under his leadership of the Army.
    Anyone is free to hate Buratai, but it cannot obviate these historical facts. Evidentially, poorly equipped troops cannot achieve such milestones in the combat against terrorists. The critic is free to guess the armoury strength of the Nigerian Army as poor. But what is certain is that the army cannot publicly disclose or display the sophistry of its arsenal to please critics as nicely bargained from time to time. Its not done anywhere and they can howl till the end of the world, but nothing would reverse this policy.
    But truth is powerful. It triumphs over falsehood and it influences the mind into subconscious ululations in acknowledgment.  And moved by this potent force, the critic who remonstratively doubted  the legend in Gen. Buratai, still  confessed  that  “Yes, indeed, the man has been at the helm of affairs in the fight against Boko Haram. While there has been some victory against Boko Haram (and part of it preceded Buratai in office anyway), the battle is far from over.”
     Even in  this natural flow of acknowledgement, the critic still incurably anguishes in conceding all the deserved accolades to Gen. Buratai and the Nigerian troops.  But it does not escape notice and no one is begging his appreciation.
    I find the critic’s allusion to Gen. Buratai   as a politician very revolting and uncharitable.  Buratai is not a politician by any nuance, but the critic adamantly  stated;  “ Ideally, the university is where the antics of a politician desperate to write himself into history as a legend should have met the stiffest resistance.”
     It all betrays the critic’s cloudiness in the ideas she has penciled down or expressed. How does Gen. Buratai qualify as a politician?  It is spurred by the feeling that the affection Buratai enjoys from the academic community across regions of Nigeria is sponsored. And of course,  it is true, only politicians have the financial muscle to embark or fund  such projects.  But Buratai is feted naturally.
    Adelakun should know there is nothing abnormal for soldiers to die in war. American troops battling terrorism in the Middle East are killed every day by terrorists, but the American government does not make funfare of their burials. But Gen. Buratai has always accorded a befitting burial to slain  gallant soldiers in the course of battling insurgency.
    And to blame Gen. Buratai for the bandits killings in some states or kidnappings is stretching the argument beyond tolerable limits. The critic should know, the first constitutional responsibility of the Army is not for internal security. They only intervene through the instrumentality of a Presidential Order and in all instances, they have performed impressively and deserve no such vilification.
    The critic revealed her mask identity when she  delved into the controversial attack on the convoy of the COAS in Zaria and his backing of the lawless  Iranian-sponsored members of  Shiites in Nigeria. Similarly, he expressed fondness for the aberrational   Nnamdi Kanu-led armed criminal gangs assembled under IPOB. No sane or patriotic citizen of a country backs enemies of the state to torment and terrorize the people.
    Only in Nigeria, one finds critics like Adelakun, devoting pen and time defending the foreign-backed agents of destabilization against their own country.  When such incensed sects mow down innocent people in unprovoked attacks, critics like Adelakun  do not raise a voice in condemnation or lament the violation of the human rights of the victims.  No one is cowed by such empty and patronizing criticisms.
    Gen. Buratai has done enough for his country, Nigeria and deserves every adoration. Those who have embarked on baseless criticisms of his stewardship are only blinded by an illogicality, propelled by selfishness, which bows to the detects of covert paymasters. But to the contrary, he is not denigrated by it.
    The Army Chiefs uncountable admirers will always console themselves with the wisdom of novelist   Kurt Vonnegut who says;  “As for literary criticism in general: I have long felt that any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel or a play or a poem is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae or a banana split.”
    Okanga writes from Agila, Benue State.

     

  • Buratai and the accolades from Ebonyi State University

    Good deeds trail a leader to even forlorn corners of deserts in a natural response to the instincts of appreciation in mankind. Not all Nigerians are thankless people and in spite of the generalized degeneration in the land, good leaders are feted and honoured by foresighted and conscionable Nigerians.
    The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and leader of the counter-insurgency operations in Nigeria, Lt. Gen. TY Buratai has passionately touched the hearts of Nigerians in an unforgettable manner. Without his effective leadership of the Nigerian Army and command of Nigerian troops in the trenches against terrorism, insurgencies and insurrections, by now, Nigeria would have lost a sizeable chunk of its territories to terrorists.
    And without Gen. Buratai, most communities in Nigeria would have ceased to exist in peace and security because of the agonizing actions of armed gangs, armed militias, warlords and assailants. But the Army Chief has religiously stuck to his vow to Nigerians of terminating the reign of terror anywhere in Nigeria.
    The Army boss promised Nigerians to enthrone peace and security even if it costs him his life. So far and in the past three years, Gen. Buratai has discharged this responsibility creditably. He has fulfilled his covenant with Nigerian people in an amazing and stylish manner.
    And Nigerians are beginning to discern the efforts by appreciating Gen. Buratai, a silent achiever, rugged soldier, patriot, military scholar, reformer and the unsung hero of security in Nigeria. In far away Southeast and precisely, Ebonyi  state, Governor David Umahi, and his   State Executive Council unanimously approved and named an institute in the Ebonyi State University (EBSU) as “Lt.-Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies”.
    Naming the newly established institute after Gen. Buratai  in itself is not sensational. But what is more captivating is the reason adduced for such honour to the Army boss. As revealed by the Vice Chancellor of EBSU, Prof. Chigozie Egbu, the Army boss deserved the honour for his selfless service to the nation and humanity. They have noticed his splendor in the promotion and maintenance of peace and security in Nigeria.
    By implication, the entire people of Ebonyi  state have scored Gen. Buratai and the Nigerian Army distinctively on securing Nigeria. The people have specially recognized the contributions and sacrifices of the Nigerian Army in ending the assailing myriad of security threats, which almost consumed the country before Gen. Buratai was burdened with the task of restoring security sanity in the country.
    And the honours  to Gen. Buratai are coming in torrents and competitively. Barely two weeks ago, the Igbinedion University, Okada, opened the floodgate by  honoring  the Nigerian Army. It also named its Centre for Contemporary Security Affairs after Gen. Buratai. Its strategic and encouraging, to say the least.
    But the gesture by Ebonyi  people is particularly exciting for unique reasons. The natives of Ebonyi  state are Igbo people who are famed for their high mobility flair driven by investment motives and business pursuits. They are found everywhere in Nigeria and their investments have no geographical boundaries. Ndi’gbos  appreciate a stable and secured Nigerian more than any other Nigerian.  And it is this priceless gift of security and peace Gen. Buratai has delivered to them and the rest of Nigerians.
    Gen. Buratai is therefore, worthy of this honour and much more. For a COAS who has changed the sad narrative of the war against Boko Haram terrorism into success story in favour of Nigeria ought to be celebrated. The decimation and defeat of Boko Haram or the suppression of violent secession agitations in the Southeast   has impacted positively on the security and peace of all Nigerian citizens particularly Ndi’gbos.
    Southeasterners are now transacting their legitimate businesses in the Southeast or elsewhere in Nigeria, unmolested or harassed and or, without any fear of being killed or their businesses destroyed by hoodlums or armed assailants.
    The COAS has endeared himself to the Southeast in other numerous  ways too. Gen. Buratai enforced local content in goods and services for the first time in the history of Nigerian Army,  and launched the Made in Aba and Made in Nigeria campaigns. Through this  policy of the Army in patronizing local goods and services, the Southeast has become the greatest beneficiary.
    It  has impacted positively on businesses and  the economy of the Southeast.  Innoson Motors and others can bear positive testimony to this partnership with the Nigerian Army under the leadership of Gen. Buratai.
    And furthermore, during the “Egwu Eke” Exercise I & II launched by the Nigerian Army,  it provided free water supply to  “Abakpa” community  in Enugu State  and free medicare to different communities in the Southeast in exercise of its  Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The Army’s gesture of water supply to the Abakpa was historic hence the community was benefitting from treated and hygienic water for the first time in its history of existence.
    And assessing the leadership personality of Gen. Buratai, what strikes anyone instantly is the  de-tribalized nature of the Army Chief. He ensures that every officer and soldier is treated fairly and equitably without recourse to his or her ethnicity, religion or region. These were impossible even when a privilege Igbo son held the position he is occupying today.
    Rather, such privileged positions were used to exhume old   rivalries in Igbo land and the his powers deployed to oppress weak communities.  And there are a dozen other ways Ndi’gbo has felt the impact of Gen. Buratai’s leadership of the Nigerian Army.
    Therefore, naming the EBSU institute after Gen. Burati is considered as a step in the right direction. The people of Ebony and Gov. David Umahi deserve a loud applause for this wisdom. It is a decision that would further explore more beneficial opportunities to people of the state, the Southeast and Nigerian security agencies in the nearest future.
    And Gen. Buratai  has already indicated intention  to support the university to provide quality education and  place the institute on a development pedestal that would serve as a centre for academic research on contemporary security challenges.
    Finally,  the good people of Ebony state must not forget that the  honour to  Gen. Buratai is an honour to the   officers and soldiers of the Nigerian Army. It is a unique salute to the Nigerian Army for their commitment and sacrifices to resolving Nigeria’s choking security threats. And indeed, all Nigerians have appreciated the wisdom of the great people of Ebonyi  state and God himself will reward them richly and in ways they have never contemplated.
    Odoma wrote this article from Asokoro, Abuja.

     

     

  • Renewed Boko Haram Attacks is caused by Economic Sabotage – Group

    Renewed Boko Haram Attacks is caused by Economic Sabotage – Group

    An anti-terror group, Coalition Against Terrorism (NCAT) has said the renewed hostility by boko haram terrorists in the northeast is being fuelled by  economic motivations of crude oil in the Lake Chad Basin and not religious philosophy.
    The National Co-ordinator of NCAT,Comrade Gabriel Onoja made the statement while addressing journalists in Jos, the Plateau state capital. He said “The intermittent suicide bomb attacks particularly around the Chad Basin region, as evident in the recent terrorists’ ambush of oil geologists on research mission in the area are prompted by economic considerations,”
    The group also said the the religious philosophy of the terrorists has been dumped for economic motivations, even as it alleged that the terrorists are suspected to be sponsored by forces opposed to Nigeria’s exploration of crude oil within her territorial boundaries in the Lake Chad Basin.
    Onoja who insisted that the Boko haram terrorists led by Abubakar Shekau has been defeated by the military however advised that
    Nigerians should not lose track of this dynamism in the focus of Boko Haram terrorists confrontation of Nigeria.
    While commending the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai and other Service Chiefs who have complied with the relocation order by the President to the Northeast  with every zeal to terminate the journey of terrorism finally, the NCAT coordinator expressed confidence in the ability of the military to relentlessly continue to monitor to keep outsmarting terrorists in their changed strategies.
    He said, “this would ensure they defeat every form of new ideology or strategies that the remnants of terrorists and veiled agents may wish to adopt in the nearest future to create an impression of resurgence again.”
    He said this respite is not only felt in the Northeast region, but it has berthed in other states/cities in the country previously tormented and terrorized by the Islamic extremist sect, Boko Haram terrorists.
  • Buratai: An Iconic Army General And The Nigerian Award

    Buratai: An Iconic Army General And The Nigerian Award

    By Ayodeji  Abiola
    History tells a story of time past, but first, shapes the story in time present. But it never lies. It truthfully romances men and women of exceptional endowments and preserves them to inspire today’s generation. It provides today’s stamina for the anointed to excel and exceed the accomplishments of yesterday’s historical heroes.
    Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai is certainly an iconic African Army General of Nigerian descent. When President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him the COAS and consecrated him to lead the counter-insurgency campaigns in Nigeria, the clarity of his irresistible choice never dawned on many country men and women until now.
    But Gen. Buratai unmistakably knew of the dauntingly sacred and delicate task entrusted in his hands. His briefs were clear and understood, as defeating and terminating the reign of terrorism in Nigeria and in specific terms, the Northeast region, where it ferociously raged uncontrollably.
    A lot has happened positively in this direction. And this day in history, at the City of Westminster in London, The Nigerian, an online news portal, compellingly toed the path of scores of other revered institutions and governments around the world in celebrating Gen. Buratai with a unique award as the “2017 The Nigerian Man of the Year.”
    Nigerians and the world converged on the famous City of Westminster, housing the Buckingham Palace to again celebrate Gen. Buratai. He is one Nigerian Army General who has proved his mettle as conqueror of terrorists, beyond conjecture in tandem with the famous words of famed English playwright, William Shakespeare in Julius Caesar; as he came, he saw and he conquered terrorists en masse in Nigeria.
    He was anointed on a rescue mission of Nigeria manacled by terrifying and soulless, bloodsucking terrorists. Boko Haram terrorists had gone berserk for years and defied all efforts of the then military to repress it for succour and peace to berth in Nigerian communities and cities.
    Tales of sorrows and pains; torrents of tears and wailings from fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, men, women, school boys and girls, parents, relations, friends, aunties, uncles, Nigerians of all persuasions, the international community gazed into the skies artificially darkened each time Boko Haram terrorists detonated mass bombs at targets. The agonies and anxiety of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) intensified and confusion replaced reason, as insurgents freely and boastfully multiplied heinous atrocities against Nigerians.
    But the ombudsman cap on the head of Gen. Buratai perceived it as a difficult task, no doubt; but not beyond his professional competence in leading Nigerian troops to wipe away the sorrows and pains at break of dawn. He has fulfilled every word of promise to Nigerians in the counter-terrorism campaigns to the amazement cum excitement of all Nigerians and the international community.
    He has proven himself a soldier of the strong breed who does not issue empty promises; Nigerians know his credentials as a warmonger with bags of unbeatable tactics and strategies. They know him as a soldier who perceived his designation as leading the rescue of Nigeria as a patriotic, sacred vow and therefore, inexcusable to fail.
    Gen. Buratai reminds us of the war exploits of the legendary French war hero and later, Leader of the French Government, Gen. Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970). Memories of his liberation of France in circumstances similar to Gen. Buratai’s emancipation of Nigeria from terrorists have refused to fade in the people’s psyche nearly a century after his demise.
    The French Resistance Army was subdued by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi forces in World War II, and Germany captured and took over Paris. Native French soldiers were hesitant to enlist into the crucial battle to regain the freedom of French Government.
    Gen. de Gaulle patriotically picked up the gauntlet by reaching out to French colonial territories in Africa and recruited thousands of fighters of African descent into the French Army. Thus, fortified, Gen. de Gaulle launched an epic battle against Hitler’s forces that chased away the German forces that conquered the French Empire and reclaimed Paris from the invaders.
    In this historically brave act of Gen. de Gaulle, one sights the portrait, shadows, patriotism and commitment of Gen. Buratai in courageously leading Nigerian troops to decimate and defeat Boko Haram terrorists. Gen. Buratai and his men are being appreciated because they made a lot of sacrifices to come this far in breaking the chains of terrorism servitude on Nigerians.
    So, it is rare to find any conscionable Nigerian, who has restrained an applause for Gen. Buratai or any reasonable platform in Nigeria that has not celebrated or intend to uniquely celebrate his remarkable feat on Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria. Nigerians and the international community are not just elated with Buratai’s milestones in extinguishing the venom of the Islamic extremists; Boko Haram sect, but the Army Chief’s splendid eradication of other evolving internal acts of terrorism in Nigeria.
    Gen. Buratai led troops to also quench terrorism in the guise of dreary armed bandits and cattle rustlers in parts of Nigeria’s Northwest and North central regions; he rescued Nigeria from criminally violent separatism campaigners in the Southeast and eclipsed the lethal militancy in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region.
    Many today stand on the podium to loudly bash Gen. Buratai with edifying sobriquets like “Hero of Heroes”, “Boko Haram nemesis”, and “The Peoples General”, among others. As the Army Chief regales in the celebration of his success; millions of men of conscience have also conscripted into the celebration with him and they do it with elations.
    And with this reality Gen. Buratai feels an aura of a fulfilled man. Mr. Howard Schultz, the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Starbucks, a multi-billion dollar company, one of the largest and successful coffee companies on earth said; “Success is empty if you arrive at the finish line alone. The best reward is to get there surrounded by winners”. Therefore the victories and successes of Gen. Buratai in the counter-terrorism war are celebrated with him by hundreds of millions around the world as exemplified with the latest in Westminster.
    And like most heroic figures of his ilk, Gen. Buratai has been able to etch his memory on the psyche of the world for his discipline, hard work and dedication to all duties. His uncommon transparency, accountability, humility, knack for excellence and purposeful leadership of the Nigerian Army, laced in the constant overriding concern of patriotism for Nigeria were the pillars that sauntered him on the ladder of successes and victories over terrorism.
    These are no doubt a wide range of qualities and virtues, quite difficult to find in sufficient measures in a single leader. But Gen. Buratai exhilaratingly epitomizes all of them, which unconsciously stands him out tall among equals.
    But briefly, Gen. Buratai’s timeline as leader of the counter-insurgency campaigns in Nigeria exposes that he promised to substantially decimate Boko Haram insurgents by December 2015, after he assumed office in July of the same year. He wasted no time in setting the machinery in motion.
    The Army Chief met troops whose morale in the battlefield was dampened by poor or lack of arms and ammunitions to battle insurgency; a condition further worsened by poor welfare packages of troops in the battlefront; arrears of unpaid salaries and allowances of army personnel and zero initiative on incentives to fighting troops. He toured Army formations and heard from the horses mouth and instantly corrected the wrongs to stabilize the psyche of troops.
    A man of his words, as Gen. Buratai promised, by December 2015, Nigerian troops had decimated Boko Haram terrorists and by early 2016, Buratai’s troops had reclaimed the 16 local government areas in the Northeast annexed by terrorists and returned them to Nigeria. By mid-2016, insurgents had been pushed back incredibly and confined to few areas of sporadic bomb attacks in the Northeast, a feat acknowledged by former US President Barack Obama and later, the United Nations (UN) former Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon.
    The victory streaks against insurgents intensified as in December 2016, Gen. Buratai pleasantly astounded Nigerians with an unexpected New Year gift; the Nigerian troops’ demystification and invasion of the dreaded Sambisa forest to Camp Zero.
    Sambisa forest is reputed as terrorists’ most secured fortress of recuperation and plotting venue for atrocities on Nigeria. The feat marked the defeat of Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria, as IDPs returned to deserted homes and
    The feat marked the defeat of Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria, as IDPs returned to deserted homes and life in the Northeast advertised incredible normalcy. And with the restoration of respite and peace, the rebuilding process in the Northeast is also progressing steadily.
    Beyond it, the Nigerian troops led by Gen. Buratai have been instrumental to the voluntary surrender of Boko Haram top commanders and thousands of adherents who have renounced terrorism, de-radicalised and re-integrated into the society as sane beings. Actions of troops in the last two years served as a springboard for the rescue of over 20, 000 persons abducted by Boko Haram insurgents, including the released Chibok schoolgirls.
    Gen. Buratal is in the last phase, by leading the battle for the final termination of Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria, as he has issued a directive for the capture of Boko Haram sect’s factional leader Abubakar Shekau “dead or live; Himself and other colleagues have relocated to Maiduguri in compliance with Presidential directive to end the recurrent suicide bomb attacks on soft targets in the region; a mission that has started yielding fruitful results.
    His transparent and accountable leadership of the Nigerian Army has earned him uncontested loyalty from Army officers and personnel, which has fostered unity of purpose, mutual interactions with the civil populace, respect for human rights, patriotism and the passion of love for their country, Nigeria, as evident in the sacrifices to free Nigeria from terrorism.
    Suffice it to say, President Buhari is a blessed leader and father of modern Nigeria, privileged to see the crop of decent and disciplined officers and soldiers that God gave him the foresight to nurture with the appointment of Gen. Buratai as Nigerian Army’s helmsman. Congratulations, Gen. Buartai, “The Peoples General” for adding another feather to your cap with this well-deserved award.

    Ayodeji, is a columnist at THE NIGERIAN.

    He writes from 199 Watford Way, London, United Kingdom.

  • Buratai bags Presidential Award for Excellence

    Buratai bags Presidential Award for Excellence

    The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Yusufu Buratai has bagged the Presidential Award for Excellence.
    The army boss is being honoured for his victory over the Boko Haram sect in the north eastern part of the country.
    The Institute of Management, which is conferring the award on the COAS said, Buratai has been able to humble the insurgents within the last two years.
    A statement issued by NIM said Buratai has been able to restore the confidence in the military.
    The statement said, “In less than two years of Lt. Gen Tukur Yusufu Buratai becoming the Chief of Army Staff, the tide has changed to a much safer north east, and thereby restoring confidence in the Nigerian Army as a reliable agent for National Security. Many captured/deserted cities and towns were recovered and normalcy gradually restored”
    “This rare feat could not have been possible without the intervention of Lt. Gen Buratai, who upon the assumption of duty, swiftly demonstrated his leadership skills and military prowess coupled with patriotic zeal, to tackle headlong, the nefarious activities of the insurgents, which threatened our national cohesion.
    Lieutenant General Buratai was born in November 1960, at Buratai town, Biu Local Government Area of Borno State. He started his primary school in Kaduna and completed it at St Patrick Primary School Maiduguri, and thereafter, proceeded to Government Teachers’ College Potiskum, now in Yobe State, where he completed and subsequently obtained his Teachers’ Grade 2 certificate with flying colours, graduating with distinction.
    An iconic example of a citizen who places national interest above personal one, whose zeal to serve the nation with his life is inborn.
    It is this inalienable zeal to serve the nation with his life that made him apply and gain admission into the prestigious Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna as a member of the 29th Regular Combatant Course (29 RC) on 3rd January 1981.
    On successful completion of his Officer Cadet training, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on 17th December 1983 into the Infantry Corps.
    In another development, the Nigerian Army School of Finance and Administration Apapa has been Awarded the Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Award for Institutional Excellence.
    This according to observers, is another plus for the Chief of Army Staff whose administration has remained committed to institutional reforms in the Nigerian Army,  to ensure the highest form of transparency and accountability in the Army’s financial conduct.
    An officer in the Finance School who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to do so said the Chief of Army Staff’s  reforms in the finance unit of the Army is fast bearing fruits as officers and soldiers have continued to receive training at workshops and seminars, exposure to standard financial practice and due process as a way of eliminating every form of corruption anywhere in the Nigerian Army.