Under Funding As Frustrating Albatross of Nigerian Army
By Wale Adegoroye
The core constitutional responsibility of Nigerian Army before year 2009 when Boko Haram surfaced in the North East was to defend the nation against external aggressions and to also defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria. However, the army has since been combining its core constitutional responsibility with getting involved in internal security of the country.
The operational reality of Nigerian Army for instance is that its responsibilities have simply doubled; yet the funding and personnel have merely experienced marginal increment. As things stand today with the army, it is engaged in counter terrorism operation in the North East, anti banditry operations in the North West and North Central as well as illegal oil bunkering and refining operations in the South South. The army is also involved in anti- kidnapping operation in virtually every state of the federation. Occasionally, the army is also called upon for election duties. These operations have seriously impacted on the human and material resources of Nigerian Army. In reality, Nigeria is in a state of war; while the military that is prosecuting these wars has sadly remain grossly under funded and under staffed.
While the realities of under funding and under staffing remain unaddressed, Nigerians still expect some sorts of magical performances from the nation’s Service Chiefs. We seem to have forgotten that Service Chiefs can only be blamed for poor performance only if the military is robustly funded, modernly equipped and adequately staffed. As a matter of fact, Nigerians that have been calling for the sack of the nation’s Service Chiefs are simply neglecting leprosy to give attention to ordinary ringworm.
It is very much doubtful if anyone could have a better knowledge of the nation’s security architecture than President Muhammadu Buhari. He is the Commander in- Chief of the nation’s Armed Forces and definitely knows where the problems lie. However, the president has been honestly enough to confess that the military is truly ill equipped. He has also not denied the claim of under funding of Nigerian military. Even the Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi had made it known on several fora that Nigeria military was understaffed and underfunded to tackle the various security challenges that is confronting the nation.
The earlier we do away with the preconceived notion of always blaming Service Chiefs for the poor performance of the military, the better for us as a nation. It should be emphasized that Service Chiefs cannot turn themselves to the needed hardware equipment, additional personnel and adequate funding that will ultimately enhance outstanding performance. If changing the Service Chiefs is the solution to the nation’s security challenges, we ought to have gotten it right by now. After all, Nigeria has had till date a total of 34 Service Chiefs since year 2001. There had been 9 Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), 9 Chief of Army Staff (COAS), 8 Chief of Air Staff (CAS) and 8 Chief of Naval Staff (CNS). In spite of this high turnover of Service Chiefs, how come the wars on counter insurgency, anti-banditry and threats of internal security are still far from being over.
As it stands today, the entire land mass of Nigeria is 923,768 km² while the entire size of active Armed Forces personnel which comprise of the Army, Navy and Air Force is 310,900. In reality, the Army is more involved in the various strategic operations and internal security than the Navy and the Air Force. However, the Army only has a total number of officers that are a little over 6,000 and soldiers that are also a little above 150,000. This number simply translates to approximate 6 soldiers per square kilometer. No honest Nigerian should expect any magic from this paltry number of soldiers. In addition to this, we should not shy away from the fact that optimum performance in the military can only be achieved through improved welfare, right staffing and acquisition of modern equipment. Until and unless these issues are determinedly addressed, sacking and replacement of Service Chiefs even on a weekly basis can only make us go round in a circle.
The current Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai had on several occasions decried the poor funding of Nigerian Army despite the military operations being carried out in all nearly all states of the federation. We are all witnesses to the fact that agitations had spread across the country since 2015 which had necessitated the deployment of the military for internal security operations.
Going forward, there must be a markedly improved and continuous cooperation in intelligence gathering and sharing amongst the nations security agencies. This strategy must be optimised for Nigeria to efficiently secure itself. Also, modern hardware equipment, weapons and fighter jets must be regularly acquired. The trainers must equally be appropriately trained on the equipment usage before they are deployed to the field.
Also of importance is the need to work out alternative model of funding for the military aside the traditional budgetary allocation. It is a fact that no military around the world that is worth its onion is being funded robustly all alone with budgetary allocation. The federal government must also as a matter of urgency do away with the envelope budgeting system which is evidently restricting the access of the military, especially Nigerian Army to funds. In addition, Nigerian Army should be placed on a first-line-charge of funding for the security outfit to achieve optimum efficiency.
In the face of the litany of under performance of the military, the armed forces still have their high points after all. The army has significantly succeeded in its Sahel Sanity operation in the North West. To a large extent, a good number of armed bandits in the North West had been killed while the people have returned to their communities and farms.
Similarly, President Buhari had openly commended the satisfactory level of Naval activity in the Gulf of Guinea where newly acquired equipment are being used. But this is not to say that forests that have become safe havens for armed bandits and the hard-to- reach parts of Lake Chad where Boko Haram terrorists are hibernating should not be completely rid of the criminal elements.
In all, the quantum of energy being exerted by Nigerians on a daily basis to call for the replacement of the Service Chiefs can as well be channelled toward calling on the federal government to do the needful for the Armed Forces in terms of adequate funding, acquiring of modern equipment and recruitment of adequate personnel. Changing of Service Chiefs at this critical period of various wars can at best serve as a setback for the counter insurgency and anti-banditry wars. All the Labour Unions in the country can even take the Service Chiefs to task by declaring a national strike to demand for their sack and replacement if the needful is done by the government and they still fail to perform to the exception of Nigerians.
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