By Jide Ojo
Close your eyes and imagine Nigeria without security personnel – police and military. Will there be law and order? Will you and I be able to sleep with our eyes closed? Would we be able to travel in comfort without being ambushed by the bad boys? What would have been the state of crimes and criminality in Nigeria? Will foreign investors be coming to do business in Nigeria? Don’t you think the much-condemned japa syndrome would have quadrupled with everyone fleeing to saner climes? Sincerely, without the Nigerian Armed Forces, Nigeria would have disintegrated. This country would have been in what the great philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, called the State of Nature, where life is short, poor, solitary, brutish and nasty.
Yes, Nigeria still faces a Herculean task in terms of insecurity. Crimes and criminality daily occur and many Nigerians are living under perpetual threat from bandits, kidnappers and insurgents. Nonetheless, governments at all levels are trying their best to bring the situation under control. It is noteworthy that insecurity is a global phenomenon. Even theocratic states like Saudi Arabia and Vatican City have their fair share of crimes and criminality. I completely agree that the Nigerian government can do more and should bring about a society of peace and tranquility where people can live without let or hindrance.
Today, January 15 marks the celebration of 2025 Armed Forces Remembrance Day. According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, “The Armed Forces Remembrance Day, also simply known as Remembrance Day, is observed on 15 January to commemorate the servicemen of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It also honours veterans of World War I and II as well as the Nigerian Civil War. In 2024, the name was changed to “Armed Forces Celebration and Remembrance Day”. This is to celebrate members of the Armed Forces still serving and remember the fallen heroes thus correcting the notion that the day is meant mainly for the fallen heroes.”
Indeed, serving, retired, incapacitated and dead members of the Nigerian Armed Forces namely those of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force and Nigerian Nany deserve accolades. They fought in the First and Second World Wars and battled the separatist Biafra Army for three years from 1967 to January 15, 1970, to keep Nigeria one. They have been fighting against other separatist movements such as the Niger Delta Avengers, Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra better known as MASSOB and more recently Indigenous People of Biafra aka IPOB agitators. Members of the Oodua Peoples Congress and Yoruba Nation Agitators are not also spared by the Nigerian military who have relentlessly quelled their rebellion.
If not for the Nigerian military, Boko Haram insurgents, Islamic State in West Africa Province popularly called ISWAP and Lakurawa ideologues would have overran Nigeria and set up their model Islamic Caliphate here. It is the Nigerian Armed Forces that have been repelling their attacks and thwarting their inimical expansionist agenda. It is worth mentioning that if the task of internal security had been left to the Nigerian Police and Department of State Services alone, the security situation of Nigeria would have worsened. That is why personnel of the Nigerian military have been deployed across all the 36 states of the federation to complement the Nigerian Police who are already overwhelmed given the fact that they are understaffed and not well-resourced financially and materially.
According to Thisday newspaper of September 11, 2016, more than any other period in the nation’s history, the Nigerian Armed Forces are engaged simultaneously in at least 10 major internal security operations across the six geo-political zones of the country. These major internal security operations include the war against terrorism, deadly herdsmen, cattle rustlers, kidnappers, oil thieves and pipeline vandals, and the joint police/military security outfits against criminal activities, such as armed robbery in the 36 states of the federation. The various operations involve huge deployment of military assets and manpower and are being prosecuted simultaneously at a period of dwindling national revenue and protracted war against terrorism and insurgency.
In the North-East, there is Operation Lafiya Dole, which handles the overall counterterrorism and counter-insurgency operations. This has dovetailed to other specialised operations like Operation Crackdown to wind down the war against insurgents and clear the remnants of the Boko Haram sect in Sambisa Forest; Operation Gama Aiki, which serves the same purpose in the northern part of Borno State and Operation Safe Corridor, set up for the de-radicalisation and rehabilitation of repentant Boko Haram terrorists.
The North-Central has Operation Safe Haven stationed in Plateau State with an area of operation extending to Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa and Kwara States to quell ethno-religious conflicts and other criminal activities. There is also Operation Sara Daji and Operation Harbin Kunama in the North-West, established to battle the criminal activities of armed bandits, cattle rustlers and robbers operating particularly in Zamfara, Kaduna and fringes of Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina and Kano States.
Down South, the military has a major operation codenamed Operation Delta Safe, which was formerly Operation Pulo Shield. It is now complemented by the Nigerian Army’s Operation Crocodile Smile and the Navy’s Operation Tsera Teku. These operations are all aimed at crushing the resurgent Niger Delta militancy and other acts of criminality like oil theft, vandalism, and bunkering in the region. In the South-West, there is Operation Awase with a mandate to contain the criminal operations around the Ogun-Lagos axis, particularly in Arepo, where illegal oil bunkering and pipeline vandalism are regular occurrences. South-East has Operation Iron Fence to combat armed robbers, hooligans and kidnappers. In addition to all these operations is Operation Mesa, which is a Joint Task Force operation against all forms of criminal activities in all the states of the federation.
Without these military operations, Nigeria could have gone to the tatters. Now, this is why there is a need to celebrate our living and fallen heroes. They sacrificed their comfort and lives so that you and I can move freely and actualise our noble dreams. Imagine the sub-human conditions under which the Nigerian military operates. Thousands of them have been killed in combat and ambush by the bandits and insurgents. Several thousand have been temporarily and permanently incapacitated in the course of serving their fatherland.
These serving and fallen heroes deserve better welfare than they currently receive. Yes, there is annual ritual of holding thanksgiving services in mosques and churches and laying of wreath at the national monument erected in their honour. However, something needs to be done by the authorities about prompt payment of salaries and allowances of serving military officers.
Most pitiable is the delay in the payment of the pension and gratuity of retired military personnel. Just last week, Tuesday, January 7, 2025, news media widely reported that retired military personnel barricaded the entrance to the Ministry of Finance in Abuja with canopies and chairs, demanding the full payment of their long-overdue entitlements. This protest follows a similar action in December, during which the retirees shut down the ministry over the government’s failure to settle their claims.
For months, the retirees were told there were no funds to clear their entitlements, despite an official approval for payment. They are owed a 20 per cent to 28 per cent salary increment covering January to November 2024. The retirees are also demanding payments for other outstanding benefits, including palliatives for the period between October 2023 and November 2024, an additional N32,000 added to their pensions, a bulk payment of the Security Debarment Allowance, and a refund of pension deductions from the salaries of medically boarded soldiers. This is simply heart-wrenching!
X: @jideojong