Babagana Zulum, the governor of Borno State, comes across as a forthright man. He says it the way he sees or knows it. As governor, his greatest challenge is the insurgency in the North East axis of the country. He is particularly challenged by the way this malaise is affecting his home state of Borno. His state is under the vice grip of terrorism. Life in his state has become brutish and short since Boko Haram established its foothold in the territory.
Even though the nasty set-up precedes his reign, Zulum seems poised for action. He does not want to pretend about the degenerate state of affairs in his domain. This explains his outspokenness over the matter. He is at the frontline. He sees what many do not see.
In confronting this menace, Zulum has had to speak matter of factly. He has seen through the capacity of the Nigerian armed forces and he is convinced that they cannot deal decisively with the blight of terrorism crippling the country’s North East. What should be done? He did not beat about the bush. He told the Nigerian government to hire mercenaries in order to rein in the terrorists. He does not believe in the capacity of the our armed forces in the fight against terror. Zulum has suffered consequences for his crusade. Not too long ago, his convoy was attacked by the insurgents. He escaped death by the whiskers.
But the man is not about to be silenced. He is still confronting the odd situation headlong. And he has just stepped forward with a fresh outcry. This time, he is warning Nigeria against the imminent invasion of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Zulum has said that this terrorist organization is poised to take over Nigeria. The governor is worried by their steady incursion into the North East. He said he is scared stiff of this because ISWAP members are more educated and are better financed than Boko Haram. He drew attention to the fact that the group is massing up in Borno State, exploiting its closeness to the Sahel. To nip this emerging danger in the bud, the governor has renewed his call on the Nigerian government to engage the services of mercenaries. For him, that is the only way Nigeria can escape from the danger posed by the terrorist activities of Boko Haram and, now, ISWAP.
To underline further the seriousness of the situation, Zulum has revealed, to our chagrin, that two local government areas of Borno State are not occupied by human population. The inhabitants of the two local government areas are now living as internally displaced persons elsewhere in the state. Some others have strayed further into new territories in search of a new life.
It can only take a Babagana Zulum for us to be confronted with these bitter truths. Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who told us that Boko Haram occupied 14 local government areas under the reign of President Goodluck Jonathan, even when that was not the case, has not told us anything about the embarrassing situation in Borno State. How come the entirety of two local government areas are deserted by its inhabitants? Zulum has told us why. He said the capacity is not there to protect the human population in the affected local government areas. Consequently, the people have to run for their dear lives. In other words, the armed forces cannot do better than they have done. In fact, they may have done their best. Yet, a yawning gap exists. The governor’s verdict is that this gap cannot be filled without external support. That explains his insistence on engaging mercenaries.
But why is government not responding to the desperate situation in Borno State? Why has Lai Mohammed not addressed a world press conference on the desertion of a huge chunk of Borno State by its inhabitants? We understand why? He will be eating his words if he does that. It will be difficult for Minister Mohammed and the government he serves to admit the fact that they have failed in their fight against terror. The administration came into being partly on the strength of its much-vaunted capacity to deal with terror. Now, the matter has become, as Zulum tells us, even more complicated than it was before the Lai Mohammed disorder took over the landscape. The failings of the government of the day, like incompetence, has no hiding place. The absence of human population in two local government areas of Borno State smacks of incompetence and embarrassing lack of capacity on the part of government.
This ugly scenario makes Zulum’s warning on ISWAP urgent. If Boko Haram can render our armed forces prostrate, what ISWAP can do is best left to the imagination.
But we do not want to imagine the possible calamity. We need a way out of this blind alley. So, is the Nigerian military incapable of dealing with the terrorism in the North East, as Zulum said? Whatever position anybody assumes here is very debatable. Quite a significant number of Nigerians believe that our armed forces are well equipped, well manned and well funded to withstand any external aggression. But what beats the imagination is that the military that the people believe so much in has been a lame duck since Boko Haram insurgency reared its ugly head. From the beginning of the confrontation until now, the country’s military has not shown any remarkable capacity. Its performance in the field of battle has been uninspiring. It has not, at any point, roundly routed the insurgents. This situation has left many wondering. Is that the best that our military can do?
While many are still wondering what could have gone wrong with our armed forces, some others believe that the incapacity they have exhibited rests roundly and squarely on the shoulders of corruption. The system, it is being suspected, and even believed in some quarters, has been infiltrated by saboteurs. The suspicion here is that some of the armed personnel who are supposed to be fighting insurgency are, in themselves, complicit. They have sympathy for the cause they have been sent out to fight. Here lies our Achilles heel. The system is weakened from within.
Whatever may be the case, Muhammadu Buhari, the President of the country, still has a chance to leave a mark in the area of the fight against terror. He should pay attention to the alarm raised by Zulum about ISWAP. If he fails to do something, he would be compounding his place in history as the President who did not just fail to decimate Boko Haram but also cultivated a more dangerous brand of terrorists called ISWAP.