By Senator Iroegbu
Time, it is said, is a revealer of all things as it would help to unravel
lies and perpetuate the truth. This is exactly the case with a former Chief
of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Onyeabor Azubuike Ihejirika who was at the
helm of the Service from October 2010 until January 14, 2014.
He was subjected to so much scrutiny, harassment, accusations and unsubstantiated
allegations throughout his tenure by groups and individuals with vested
interests. But like Jesus asked Mary Magdalene, after his traducers
abandoned their mission of stoning her; “woman where are they accusers?”
They have all disappeared!
Who could easily forget the almost daily barrage of allegations by the now
muted Borno Elders Forum, Northern Elders Forum, Arewa Consultative Forum
and other groups as well as individuals? Even the allegations reached some
ridiculous levels that his patriotic zeal, determination and efforts then
to crush Boko Haram terrorists were instead interpreted as trying to take
revenge for the Nigerian civil war. And when that did not succeed to
distract and detract his mission of “transforming the Nigerian Army into a
force better able to tackle the emerging security challenges”, a foreigner
was hired to malign him with a tag of ‘terrorist sponsor’.
But today there is no denying the fact and with the evidence of hindsight
as well as the prevailing reality since he left office that he
distinguished himself creditably within the confines of the situation;
resources and support he was provided. In addition, Ihejirika and his time
of emergence as the top dog in the Nigerian Army was both historic,
symbolic and transformational in many ways, which are key legacies that
could not be impeached and have even be solidified over time.
It is also gratifying for lovers of truth to know that in as much he also
made some mistakes like every human being would, the reality is that the
lies orchestrated against Ihejirika have been discredited overtime,
especially with the current spate of insecurity across the country. All the
contortions have since fallen like pack of cards and it would be worth to
remind us some of the legacy events and signature projects that helped
defined his tenure.
End of old guard and pioneer of modernisation
came in with conventional ideology but had to quickly adapt to the emerging
demand for asymmetric warfare
Ihejirika and his peers had the unique place in history of Nigerian Armed
Forces by effectively seeing the end of era of conventional ideology of
warfare and at the same time, pioneered a Nigerian military trained to
better tackle the fluid nature of modern conflict.
Recall that the then President Goodluck Jonathan had just appointed
Ihejirika, ex-Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, Air
Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar as Chief of Air Staff (CAS) and Air Chief
Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin as Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), when the October
1, 2010 twin bombings in Abuja took place.
It was an event that greeted these service chiefs who when they assumed
office inherited a military structured along old and conventional doctrine
of warfare. However, credit must be given to Ihejirika and his co-Service
Chiefs for successfully laying the foundation for a modern and efficient
force, better and able to tackle contemporary security challenges.
Indeed, this novel development ushered in series of deadly bombings by the
outlawed Boko Haram terrorists that did not only caught Nigeria and
Nigerians napping but also rattled the security chiefs who were now forced
to improvise and re-strategize to be able to deal with the reality of
unconventional warfare and terrorism.
To this end, Ihejirika introduced various reforms, trainings and
retraining, especially on counter-terrorism and Counter-Insurgency required
to effectively deal with the emerging security challenges.
He laid the ground work that helped to overcome the challenge of re-tooling
the military that were usually detached from the civil populace and mainly
schooled on conventional warfare to properly understand their increasing
role in civil conflicts and asymmetrical wars engulfing the whole country.
Accordingly, the Nigerian Army under Ihejirika created the Department of
Civil-Military Relations, the new 7 Division Maiduguri, Counter-Insurgency
and Counter-Terrorism (CT COIN) training, Department of Transformation and
Innovation Centre (COTI), and Nigerian Army Special Operation Command
(NASOC) on terrorism amongst others.
counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations
Strengthened national security
Ihejirika’s leadership of the Nigerian Army together with other members of
the Military High Command during his period, while working in collaboration
with other security and intelligences agencies achieved tremendous success
at reducing the rate of kidnappings and assassination in the South East and
South Southern part of the country, it also helped to quell the bloody Jos,
Plateau crisis.
Confronted with obsolete, inadequate, unsuitable and sometimes non-existent
military equipment, hardware, arms and ammunition, Nigerian Army under
Ihejirika had to innovate and invent to overcome the enormous security
challenges that confronted the nation at the time. One would recall that it
was not until towards the end of Jonathan administration that Nigeria was
able to get some of the weapons needed to prosecute counter-insurgency
operations despite internal and external sabotage. But within that period,
the Army were innovative in fashioning out measures to mitigate the
limitations including the manufacturing of the first indigenous but utility
Armoured Personnel Vehicles called ‘Igirigi’, which has been effective till
today.
Nevertheless, Boko Haram also exploited this period which could be best be
described as transitional phase of the security and military structure
built under the old order of the conventional warfare towards an emerging
force drilled in unconventional and asymmetric conflicts. But the state of
emergency campaign declared and championed by the ground and air
operations, enjoyed tremendous success in smoking out and dislodging the
insurgents from their strongholds, while recovering the areas that was
hitherto under the control of the Boko Haram Sect.
Buoyed by this rapid victory, Ihejirika established the Nigerian Army
7Division Maiduguri to ensure a more permanent presence of the Armed Forces
in the area even though this decision, which was received with some
misgivings by some sections of the military hierarchy has since then been
embraced, expanded and by his successors. Nevertheless, Boko Haram were
roundly beaten and wiped off from the towns and villages they were
occupying and confined only at the Sambisa forest with Abubakar Shekau
fatally wounded. This was the situation of a Nigerian Army under ascendancy
until he was retired in January 14, 2014.
Ihejirika also recently disclosed that the military was able to tackle
insecurity, especially the Boko Haram terrorists during his tenure by
increasing the strength of the Nigerian Army in the span of three years.
While speaking at the 2019 Reunion and Gala Night of 18 Regular Course of
the Nigerian Army, he said with the strategy employed, the problem of
insecurity was rapidly detected, which led to the prevention of a major
problem that would have increased the challenges of insecurity that the
country is currently being confronted with.
“We were able to identify the nature and complexity of the problem. We went
ahead to quickly increase the strength of the army by 25 percent in the
span of three years. Without that, it would have been a major issue because
of several commitment both internally and externally when Nigerian Army was
involved in foreign operations,” he said.
The reformer
transformation agenda introduced a lot of reforms in the Army to meet up
with the emerging security challenges
I
Ihejirika being the first Igbo man to head the Nigerian Army since 1966
after the first military Head of State, Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi
and following the civil war. This as noted earlier, was historic and
symbolic in many ways and recognising this fact propelled him into a reform
drive that would help modernise the Service. Therefore, the mission, aims
and objectives of the former COAS who was described by many as a ‘gentleman
officer’ and a thorough bred professional whose watchword is discipline and
hard work, were to transform the Nigerian army in order to meet the
contemporary security challenges.
According to a security Analyst , Mr. Okechukwu Iheduru, the first in the
series of efforts that Ihejirika sought to transform, re- professionalize,
and reinvent the military as a political actor for democratic stability
culminated in the adoption and implementation of a Nigerian Army
Transformation Agenda (NATA). NATA was anchored on a new vision, “To
transform the Nigerian Army into a force better able to meet contemporary
challenges”, which coincided with the escalation of the Boko Haram
terrorist group whose battlefield successes have cast serious doubt on the
organizational effectiveness and combat readiness of the hitherto
conventionally trained Nigerian armed forces as they tried to adjust to the
changed asymmetric war environment.
Like earlier highlighted, Ihejirika who never witnessed mutiny under his
belt created the Department of Civil-Military Relations, the new 7 Division
Maiduguri, Counter-Insurgency and Counter-Terrorism (CT COIN) training,
Department of Transformation and Innovation Centre (COTI), and Nigerian
Army Special Operation Command (NASOC) on terrorism amongst others.
former COAS, Lt-Gen. Onyeabor Azubuike Ihejirika
He went further to establish the K-9 or Dog Department, rapid response
reserve force, and Nigerian Army Language School, improved the military
intelligence, and refurbished communication vehicles at the Nigerian Army
Corps of Artillery (NACA) amongst others.
Also important under his leadership was the welfare of the officers and
soldiers especially with the regular payments of their incomes and salaries
but more importantly, the renovation of Army Barracks.
One of the iconic symbols of that project was reopening of the abandoned
Ohafia barracks in Abia state. The refurbishment of the Barracks was to
accommodate 14 Brigade troops along with its garrison and other service
supporting elements, which effectively tamed the criminals terrorising the
people of Abia State and the neighbouring states, with kidnapping gangs and
their kingpins ran out of town for good. The Barracks also had on board
newly created units of 145 Battalion at Ikot Umoh Essien, Akwa Ibom State;
and 144 Battalion, Umuma along Aba-Port Harcourt Road in Rivers State while
an artillery regiment that would support the brigade during operations in
Ebonyi State. Up till today the South East and parts of South South are
better secured because of that singular action.
Known as one of the most passionate apostle of transformation agenda of
ex-President Jonathan, the former COAS generously translated that mission
statement in driving the army. He embarked on transformation of the
service, modification and modernisation of the military training.
He indeed repositioned the army to be better placed to face contemporary
security challenges and fit into the democratic setting, which today has
been firmly entrenched in the country despite few setbacks along the way.
Speaking on his major achievement during his tenure, Ihejirika said the
Nigerian Army Language Institute (NALI) was aimed at facilitating the
integration of the Nigerian Army with other neighbouring countries. He
added that he also established the institute to help Nigerian soldiers on
peace keeping mission to fluently communicate after observing the poor
nature of communication between the Nigerian soldiers and their colleagues
from neighbouring non-English-speaking countries. The former COAS said the
Nigerian Army as part of his mandate, has set different languages as parts
of the criteria for junior officers to be promoted.
“The idea was to give Nigerian Army the capacity to collaborate with other
countries. Nigerian being a nation surrounded by francophone countries and
with time, other languages will be taught. With time, other languages of
interest will be taught but it is important to note that since the army has
gone further to make different languages parts of the requirements for the
promotion of junior officers,” he explained on this key legacy project
which has stood the test of time.
Encouraged civil led, peoples’ owned internal security operations
If there is one key limitation of the Nigerian Army under Ihejirika’s
tenure, it was lack of effective support from the civil populace and
crucial stakeholders, especially from the most affected regions of the
Northern part of the country in the prosecution of the war. It is true that
some of their grievances at the time were not misplaced but most of the
attacks against the Army were demoralizingly directed at the person of
Ihejirika.
In fact, several groups and individuals made statements that looked like
they were against the killing of Boko Haram terrorists and fiercely opposed
the move by the Nigerian Army under Ihejirika to crush them at the onset.
Whenever you hear the then Army Chief speak, you could feel a sense of
betrayal by the very people who should be backing him and he made it clear
that there is no how the war would be won without the support of the people
and all the stakeholders including the religious, civil society groups and
particularly, the elite cum political class from the region.
Things became so heated with constant threats of dragging him to the
International Criminal Courts (ICC) that on January 24, 2012,he formally
called on the members of the society to reject terrorism in its entirety,
saying that the fight against terrorist groups would be futile without
commensurate public support.
Speaking at 2nd Annual Seminar on National Security organized by the Alumni
Association of the National Defence College (AANDEC), on: ‘Nation building
and National Orientation imperatives for National Security’, he regretted
lack of public support, awareness and buy-in into the efforts of the
military against Boko Haram terrorists, which some prominent political
figures termed as “war against the north”.
He emphasised that no matter the measures put in place by the military to
fight the dreaded Boko Haram Islamist Sect and other terrorist groups in
the country, they could not guarantee the required level of result unless
there is outright rejection of terrorists and terrorism.
The then COAS disclosed that since the insurgency, the military had put
several measures in place, which were sufficient to curb the excesses of
the terrorist groups, but regretted that the required level of result could
not be achieved because the society was yet to reject and expose these
terrorists.
He said: “Whatever measures we put in place, we would not get the best
result and fast enough unless the society as a whole reject terrorism
without any justification. Those who try to justify acts of terrorism
inadvertently sway terrorists and some do so only to discover later that
terrorism is not a matter to be negotiated and win”.
“It is rather inconceivable that some members of the society would harbour
criminals only for them to wake up strike at targets who live also within
the society. I want to emphasise again that the Nigerian Army is not
resting on its oasis, we are transforming, retraining…but no matter
whatever measure we put in place we could not get the best result and fast
enough, unless the society as a whole reject terrorism without any
justification.”
Fortunately, those groups and individuals at the forefront of such verbal
assaults have ceased fire in the last five years, some of whom are even
today key elements of government and national security architecture. They
now have the ample opportunity to see things clearly and compare notes how
easy and effective Ihejirika was in steering the affairs of the Nigerian
Army despite such vociferous and spirited opposition and limited resources.
They will in their sincere conscience admit that he indeed deserves an
apology, though it is given that he is not looking for one more than being
exonerated from the allegations of the hirelings like the Australian Steve
Davis who was recruited to tarnish his image and reputation with ‘Boko
Haram’ sponsor tag, which was ridiculous then but even more now. Experience
and time they say, ‘is the best teacher’.
Iroegbu, a journalist and security analyst wrote from Abuja
