Chadian President Idriss Deby has said that lack of synergy between Nigerian military and its Chadian counterpart is responsible for the continued disappearance of wanted Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, Hausa service of the BBC has reported.
Deby, who stated this after a closed door meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja yesterday, said it was regrettable that the two armies, those of Nigeria and Chadian, are working separately in the field, adding that the war against Boko Haram had not yet been totally won because Chad and Nigeria were not working together.
“They are not undertaking joint operations. If they were operating joint operations, probably they would have achieved more results,” he said.
Deby had, sometime in March, accused Nigeria of downplaying the threat of Boko Haram and failing to cooperate with the regional coalition battling the jihadists, saying there had been zero contact between the armies involved.
The republics of Chad, Cameroon and Niger joined forces since January to battle Boko Haram, whose insurgency has claimed over 12,000 lives since 2009.
The Chadian president at the time said he was baffled by the Nigerian government’s lack of cooperation in the offensive.
“Two months after the start of this war, we have not had any direct contact with the Nigerian Army units on the ground,” he had told a French weekly.
Deby, who earlier this year was quoted as saying he knew the whereabouts of Abubakar Shekau, has backtracked on his claim, insisting on keeping any possible knowledge of the location of the terrorist to himself.
“I cannot tell you today that I know where Shekau is hiding and even if I knew I won’t tell you,” Deby told journalists.
In his response to journalists yesterday, the Chadian president said it was important for him to come to discuss with his Nigerian counterpart as he leaves office to review “what we did together, what we achieved together in the fight against Boko Haram”.
He further stated that Boko Haram had not been completely eradicated, but only weakened.
He recalled that when Chad had its own problems in the 70s and 80s, Nigeria assisted the country during those difficult times.
Deby added that he was also in Nigeria to congratulate Jonathan for his noble role in the success of the 2015 polls.
“On the 2015 general elections, I came principally to congratulate Mr President for the statesmanship he demonstrated during the elections. We all know that elections in Africa are always keenly contested but Mr President demonstrated a lot of statesmanship; he is a real democrat by conceding and congratulating the president-elect,” he said.
“You all know that when Nigeria sneezes, the neighbouring countries catch cold. If Mr President had not taken that laudable initiative, you all know what would have happened now. Nigeria is still living in peace; that would not have happened but for that laudable initiative he took.
“So I came to congratulate him for leaving a legacy not only for Nigeria but for Africa as a whole. As you all know, we both work together to fight Boko Haram. I thought it was important that before Mr President leaves office, I will come for us to have an overview of what we did together, what we achieved together in the fight against Boko Haram.”
Responding to questions on the multinational task force fighting in Lake Chad, he explained, “In the Lake Chad Basin, there are four countries, Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger, that are currently securing the area. The four countries have managed to form a multinational mixed force that will metamorphose to what is probably known as a Rapid Response Force that the African Union is trying to form for Africa.”
Journalists bundled out of Aso Rock – for asking ‘wrong question’
Meanwhile, the presidency yesterday walked out a journalist representing a foreign media from the presidential villa, Abuja.
Mallam Ubale Musa, the State House correspondent of German Radio, Deutsche Welle, was expelled from Aso Rock for asking visiting Chadian President Idriss Deby a question the president’s men considered embarrassing.
Musa had asked Deby to explain the relationship between the multinational task force fighting in Lake Chad and the South African mercenaries fighting along with them, a question which the Chadian leader responded to by saying he had no information concerning mercenaries from South Africa.
Musa’s accreditation tag was immediately withdrawn by security operatives attached to the presidential villa.
As soon as Deby and his entourage left the villa, Musa was picked up by security operatives who immediately drove him in a vehicle out of the forecourt of the president’s office through the service chiefs’ gate.
After pleading with the security operatives that his backpack containing his work tools was still inside the press briefing room often occupied by journalists, the security men drove him back and escorted him to retrieve his bag before finally taking him out of the villa again.
LEADERSHIP gathered that when State House reporters approached the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, on the development, he simply assured them that the issue would be taken care of accordingly.
At the time of writing this report, however, nothing had been done to resolve the matter. Musa told our correspondent that his accreditation had not been returned.
Post-BokoHaram: Military Plans New Defence Strategy
The military authorities have been told to begin planning for how to earn and sustain credibility with the public as the war against terrorism gradually comes to an end.
This call was made by a panel set up to draft a new defence policy for the country with a view to making it relevant and responsive to present challenges.
To do otherwise is to risk being labelled “occupation forces” in communities where they serve, and this could constitute a credibility problem.
Presenting the draft defence policy yesterday to the minister of defence, Lt.-Gen. Aliyu Gusau; the chairman of the panel, Air Vice Marshal M.I. Muhammed Ndatsu Umaru (retd) listed some areas that need urgent attention.
He said the factors to be considered include, but not limited to, better readiness to protect the people no matter the cost, an all-encompassing professional education and training mechanism for all the services and a personnel recruitment system that accommodates only the best in the society.
According to him, due to lack of employment and the perceived good condition of service of the military, those seeking recruitment are attracted to the military even without the zeal to serve, adding that a professional military is key to national security and the pride of any democracy.
He argued that how the armed forces is managed also matters, as the committee observed that the issue of a big bureaucracy or civil service for supporting the armed forces without the understanding of military ethos is a big challenge under the prevailing conditions.
Speaking further, the chairman said civilian staff supporting the military must be well trained and familiar with appropriate military traditions and the imperatives of their employment.
AVM Umaru lamented that, for now, the nation had a huge gap to fill and recommended that the Ministry of Defence be reorganized in a professional manner that promotes a more collaborative working relationship between civilian and military professionals.
Also, he noted that the review of the national defence policy should be seen as a process that must be conducted periodically in line with changing security situation; hence the policy should be reviewed every five years.
The new draft defence policy also proposes that the military personnel in performance of their duties must be guided by policy, a product of politics; hence they must be aware of their ultimate responsibility to a political leader.
This expected ideal situation, the policy says, requires that the political leaders do not drag the military into politics as the dynamics of democratic control of the military is domiciled in the centres of power, Aso Villa and Ship House (Defence Headquarters).
Also, the military leaders must understand the set up and not miscalculate as the military leaders are the “precious jewel of the state” and in the understanding and conduct of their business, they must remain the “arbiter of the nation’s destiny.”
Umaru also stated that the first step to having strong armed forces is for the society to be based on the ethos of democratic governance, as a strong democracy breeds a strong military capable of defending it and projecting power beyond borders when necessary.
In his remark, the minister of defence, Gusau, who praised the work of the panel, observed that the dynamic nature of the environment, globalization, new and emerging threats to defence and sovereignty of nation states necessitated that such important document be reviewed periodically to accommodate new developments.
He said that the national defence policy, which was promulgated in 2006, had never been reviewed even though the nation had undergone a lot of transformation in terms of development, as well as facing new security challenges.
The minister added that there had also been new developments and challenges in the global environment that had direct impact on national defence and security, hence all these highlighted the need for the review of the national defence policy in order to bring it to terms with the new developments, emerging and anticipated threats and challenges.
He told the members of the panel that they had started a process which could not be completed before May 29 (when the current government leaves power), adding that as a non-partisan group of professionals, what they had produced would be handed over to the next administration for a continuation of the review process.
Source: http://leadership.ng