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Gregory Copley, President of ISSA |
The Defence and Foreign Affairs latest report published by the
International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA) based in the United
States of America, has stated that the deaths of a former Chief of Air
Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh (retd.) and a former Chief
of Administration of the Nigerian Army, Major General Idris Alkali,
“were not a coincidence”.
ISSA is a Washington-based non-governmental organisation with a
worldwide membership of professionals involved in national and
international security and strategic policy.
President of ISSA, Gregory Copley, told ThisDay that their analyses
were not released to the public but to governments that the organisation
has affiliation with.
The report released over the weekend and obtained by the newspaper
stated that corruption among top military chiefs appointed by President
Muhammadu Buhari is the reason Nigeria is losing the war against Boko
Haram terrorists.
It stated that at present, the Nigerian government had completely and
comprehensively lost control of the engagement with Boko Haram and
could show no instance when the government presently had tactical,
theatre, strategic, or information dominance of any aspect of the
conflict.
It reads in parts, “It is fair to say that the Nigerian intelligence
community itself is no longer sure what groups even comprise ‘Boko
Haram’, nor has it addressed the international logistical, ideological,
and support aspects contributing to the ongoing viability of the groups.
“The conflict will almost certainly prove the undoing of the present
government of President Muhammadu Buhari at the February 16, 2019,
presidential elections.
“Despite this, the only significant engagement which the Nigerian
military leadership — up to and including the National Security Adviser,
Maj.-Gen. (rtd.) Mohammed Babagana Monguno – seems to prioritise is the
fight to stop the leakage of information about massive corruption,
running into the equivalent of several billions of dollars, in the
purchase by senior military officers of major military capital goods and
military consumables, including the troops’ own food.
“The conduct of the war in the North is tied to the corruption in the
military, and Buhari — ring-fenced by his own team — is unable to
tackle the issue.
“His poor health does not help, but he had always (even as a military
president, taking office on December 31, 1983) been indecisive and
vindictive.
“This ongoing set of characteristics mean that the coming months will
be dramatic, even more than the dying days of the preceding
administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
“It is significant that Buhari, who received the findings of the
commission as much as a year ago, has refused to allow it to be made
public and he, through National Security Adviser Monguno, has attempted
to have the commission disband.
“However, it is believed that Monguno and Buhari are aware that
copies of the report are beyond their reach and could be released
unofficially if further attempts are made to assassinate commission
members.
“The commission, investigating defense procurement from 2007 onwards,
made significant strides which were initially accepted by the Buhari
government, until the scope of the inquiry went beyond the period
relating to the former government of Pres. Goodluck Jonathan, and began
to show corruption patterns extending into officers still serving under
President Buhari.”
The report stated that the death of a former Chief of Air Staff, Air
Chief Marshal (retd.) Alex Sabundu Badeh (who became Chief of Defence
Staff), and that of a former Chief of Administration of the Nigerian
Army, Major General Idris Alkali, on September 3, 2018 were not a mere
coincidence .
It said, “Given the upsurge in momentum by ‘the highest levels of
government’ to stop the findings becoming public from the corruption
commission on defense procurement, it is plausible that the attribution
of a criminal ‘kidnapping-attempt-gone-wrong’ against the Air Chief
Marshal was a convenient excuse to ensure that the victim — Badeh —
could not divulge in court the pattern and details of corruption which
has grown even more rampant in the current generation of defense
leadership.
“On September 3, 2018, the retired Chief of Administration of the
Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Idris Alkali, was also killed, ostensibly by a
gang of youthful protestors who set up a roadblock near Jos, the capital
of Plateau State. His body was discovered on October 31, 2018. And his
death was blamed on ‘an irate mob’, who were protesting in the Du-ra-Du
community against the September 2, 2018, killing of 11 members of their
own community.”
The report further stated, “No significant economic or political
progress can be achieved in Nigeria until the issue of the Boko Haram
insurgency is resolved. Other insurgencies are also expected to emerge,
or re-emerge, particularly in the Niger Delta. And while other pending
internal security issues are important, it is on the BH issue that the
prestige, credibility, and reliability of Nigeria is assessed by the
international community. Thus, all questions of the viability of Nigeria
as a candidate for inward foreign direct investment (FDI) and
international cooperation are dependent on a resolution of the BH
issues.
“Domestically, resolution of the BH issue is a pre-requisite to
enabling issues of intra-Nigerian regional equity imbalances to be
addressed. Moreover, the credibility of the Federal Government as an
arbiter of justice is assessed by the domestic electorate and the world
community.”
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