BY BEN KERRIGAN
Time is up for Muhammadu Buhari- former army general and President of Nigeria and former army general, for his failure to stamp out Boko Haram, according to the UK Guardian newspaper.
Buhari, who last May took over the reins from former president, Jonathan Goodluck, vowed to stamp out Boko Haram within 12 months – but has failed to do so, despite a tough military crackdown in the country’s north-east.
The notorious terrorist group, guilty of several thousand deaths in the past decade are still in action despite fierce military attacks by the government since Buhari came into power. The paper condemns ”the official winning narrative” as contradictory, asserting that the more intense military pressure by Buhari’s regime has led to Boko Haram ”resorting to wider use of suicide bombings, carried out by women and children, and increased attrition, including more hostage-taking”. This, the implication goes, shows that Buhari’s time is up as president, according to the Guardian.
ADMISSION
An admission by Buhari, of the difficult task of obliterating the extremist militant terror cell, by Buhari, at a summit in Abuja underlines the ever growing challenge Nigeria’s tough talking president has in this area. Increased support from London and Washington, both of which have sent about 300 troops to the region has failed to result in the absolute paralysis of the terror network.cooperation via an expanded international effort.
The Nigerian military have conquered the territorial hold previously assumed by Boko Haram, leading to a notable fall in the vicious and callous terrorist attacks they formerly inflicted so mercilessly on innocent civilians.
DESPERATE
The Guardian’s writer, makes reference to the fact that when one of the 276 Chibok school girls abducted in 2014, (Amina Ali Darsha Nkeki) was eventually rescued earlier this month, Buhari made great play of it, having her flown to meet him in Abuja in a fuss that ”looked like a slightly desperate bid to deflect attention from the fact the other girls remain unaccounted for”.
The big issue and reason why failure to defeat Boko Haram should spell the end of Buhari’s brief time in office is also because, according to the 2015 Global Terrorism Index, a survey by the New York-based Institute for Economics and Peace, Boko Haram remains the most deadly terrorist group in the world
A recent claim by Amnesty International that the Nigerian army, notorious for past human rights abuses, had killed 350 Muslim civilians in northern Kaduna state and secretly buried them in a mass grave, males for very grim reading.
However, the fact that the independent Based Brussel international group have said Boko Haram was “seemingly on a back foot, but it is unlikely to be eliminated in a decisive battle”, shows it a difficult battle to finish Boko Haram. Regional powers should “move beyond military cooperation”, according to their report. This comment alone makes it harsh to use this single factor to pronounce failure of the newly elected president, and state his time as being up.
More relevant issues that may question the efficacy of Buhari’s leadership are reports of growing unemployment, soaring prices, growing number of prostitutes of female graduates and reckless sackings of workers in a country where the standard of living is low for a majority of ordinary members of the populace.
CHANGE
Buhari may well be in his rights to argue that change takes times, particularly in a complex country like Nigeria, where corruption and frustration exists in equal measure.
Nigeria has many rich people who live in lavish wealth, the sort that can take care of several generations. But the qualities of sharing and equality of opportunity is a strange language in the Nigerian realm-everyone is for themselves. The view that time is up for President Mohammadu Buhari may be shared by many Nigerians, but there are many who probably see him as the best chance of eventual change the country has.
He still has 3 years to go, that is 36 months to leave a lasting mark on the country, and will need positive and bright minds around him to do so. The creation of more jobs to go round is paramount, and the need for more international support to crush Boko Haram completely will be necessary too.
Nigeria’s Middle Belt has seen increasing levels of violence between local communities, while the 2009 peace deal that ended the insurgency in the oil-rich Niger Delta is unravelling, Obasi said. Up-and-coming militant groups included the so-called Niger Delta Avengers and the Egbesu Mightier Fraternity.
Peaceful manifestations of unrest had been met with harsh measures, including arbitrary arrests.
“Both groups have sent the government their lists of demands, mostly for local control of oil revenues, threatening even more crippling attacks if they are ignored. The government’s response – deploying more military assets and threatening an unmitigated crackdown – portends an escalation of the violence,” Obasi said.
Insecurity and social tension is being aggravated across Nigeria by its deteriorating economic situation, a 70% year-on-year devaluation of the national currency, the naira, fuel and power shortages, rising unemployment and continuing problems with endemic corruption, the ICG said