Dasuki and the complex security challenges

Dasuki and the complex security challenges; an article by by Hammid Taju published by the Vanguard newspapers on July 14, 2013



The ominous stratagem targeted at dismembering the corporate existence of Nigeria was designed and implemented by Boko Haram, portentously aggravated by sporadic militancy in the Niger delta, massive oil bunkering and theft on the high seas. Alongside the foregoing is the mindless kidnapping for ransom or extortion, occasionally culminating in murder of citizens including foreigners in various parts of the country which compelled President Goodluck Jonathan to recognize the inevitability of a radical security strategy aimed at restoring social cohesion in affected areas and Nigeria generally.

The appointment of Mohammed Sambo Dasuki, to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) as the nation battled the onslaught against the country was thus interpreted by security experts as strategic and pragmatic. Dasuki, a retired colonel and son of ex-Sultan of Sokoto, cousin to incumbent Sultan, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’adu Abdulkadir III, Amirul Muminin, has had a distinguished career in the military, having served extensively in the artillery corps with meritorious stint as aide –de- camp to military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. This, coupled with the fact that he is progeny of the Caliphate, stands him in an advantageous position with highly respected former patrons of security services of northern extraction. That Dasuki has developed rapport with incumbent service chiefs underscore the foregoing point.

It is significant to conceptualize the NSA’s personality, integrity and clout even as it is trite to portray him as no-nonsense, detribalized, compassionate and dedicated achiever. Consistently, and indeed routinely, his comportment yields these personality traits. Credible sources in ONSA confirmed that the NSA eschews bigotry in whatever manifestation; ethnic, religious, class or elitist; qualities that create opportunity for growth and development enabling crossing of barriers and facilitating social mobility.

Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.): New NSA
Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd)
Dasuki seemed to have been cut for greatness from his youth: He was commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 1972, a product of the Nigerian Defence Academy and developed in the Nigerian Army School of Artillery. He attended United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and the United States Army School of Artillery, Oklahoma. Also in the United States, he bagged BA International Relations and MA in Security Policy Studies. Honed in academic qualifications, security studies and military expertise, the NSA deploys multiple competences for strategic decisions and complex challenges encountered at current campaign to restore order wherever constituted authority is threatened in the country.

On his appointment as the Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc where he demonstrated high managerial competence during 2002 and 2003, Dasuki identified the logic of delivering superior corporate performance by strengthening the quality of human capital. On resumption of office at the MINT, he enhanced staff morale with immediate upward review of employee entitlements and total compensation. The company’s output of banknotes and security documents soared during his tenure. In addition, the new factory and office complex in Abuja was commissioned while the Ink Mill, Tawada Ltd was established. The latter supplies security inks to the factories in Abuja and Lagos. Encouraging participation in NSPM’s key activities, the Managing Director maintained strong rapport with stakeholders and former Directors.

However he expressed reservation on the contemplated privatization of the company, the result of which culminated in his involuntary severance.

Following the perception that the incessant Boko Haram onslaught constituted a threat to the sovereignty of Nigeria, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan restructured the ONSA. The restructuring was followed by the declaration of emergency rule in three north-eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa as well as the proscription of Jamaatu Ahlis-Sunna Liddaawati Wal Jihad, (Boko Haram) along with the amendment of the Terrorism Act.

Dasuki assessed the complexity of his new task in terms of resource development, allocation and deployment as soon as he became the NSA. Consistent with his managerial philosophy, he promoted team work as critical tool for implementation and delivery of targeted goals.

Indeed, the NSA recognized that strategic utilization of cumulative expertise would facilitate optimal deployment of resources required for rapid restoration of social integration and peace in conflict areas throughout the country. At ONSA, staff morale and commitment derived from effective delegation of responsibilities have been sustained at high level during the one year of NSA Dasuki’s tenure. Indeed the synergy within national security network culminating in early control of conflict states is the translation of Jonathan’s strategy of confronting remote causes of Boko Haram insurgency rather than what observers hitherto perceived as use of “ excessive force”. In conjunction with other security agencies, Dasuki coordinated holistic and focused campaign consistent with international best practices.

Analysts say religion; ethnicity and regionalism have been part of Nigeria’s politics. Consequently, since the youth control the ballot box, disenchantment with leadership would most effectively be undertaken through the group. Boko Haram insurgency might have therefore been ignited by worsening socio economic conditions as well as loss of political power in affected areas. Professor Ali Mazrui, Kenyan born historian and expert on Africa, identified economic inequalities, ethnic rivalry, religious animosity and misdistribution of economic skills as a hindrance to development in Nigeria. While proffering economic quota for northern entrepreneurs, he emphasized the significance of empowerment.

Direct link between Boko Haram and external terror groups may not been officially confirmed. However, recent discovery of imported sophisticated arms and weaponry, allegedly sponsored by Lebanon based terror cell, Hezbollah, was traced to locations in Kano and Abuja thereby raising considerable anxiety in security circles. It is strongly suspected that Lebanese Shiite and Shia adherents loyal to Hezbollah might be facilitating possible attacks of Western and Israeli interests based in Nigeria.

Prior to the restructuring of the ONSA, terror acts were frequent in vulnerable states of the North-east spreading to Kano, Kaduna and suburbs of Abuja. Victims of terrorism spread through worship centers, initially churches, but subsequently mosques and faith based functions where prominent traditional rulers were targeted. Despite assurance that peace was imminent, many citizens in other parts of the country treated issues affecting them in conflict states with heightened anxiety or apathy.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/07/dasuki-and-the-complex-security-challenges/#sthash.UQocM2Pg.dpuf

The Website Question

I do not want to come across as an opportunistic blogger or an unscrupulous parasitic writer who will latch on to Mr. Obafaiye Sham’s unfortunate interview gaffe and the ensuing viral comebacks from the everyday Nigerian to gain readership, however I was left with no choice than to respond in my own way as the endless graphic posters, songs, skits and the almighty Blackberry Broadcasts (BCs) will not allow a man be.

It was on Tuesday last week when I received a link to a video of the interview from a friend in the UK, we exchanged a few smiles about it and life went on as usual, I honestly felt that was the end of it but then my feelings do not count when Nigerians are willing to exploit a situation for entertainment—and so it came to pass that in the next 48 hours the part of the video where the man kept repeating “my oga at the top” was on everybody’s phone and Tending on Twitter with over 2 million results on Google.

From watching the interview it was apparent that the man was a very confident man in a quixotic way and for him to have become the Commandant of Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps Lagos State, he must possess certain good qualities that may not be revealed in a morning’s interview, that said, the man also displayed among other unknown qualities that he is used to bossing people around by the way he shouted his interviewers down at every point.

The man showed us the personification of “kowtow” there was no question too big or too small for him to exploit as an avenue to acknowledge or praise his oga, a shameless demonstration of sycophancy which kept me wondering if he deserves that seat if at that status as the commandant of Lagos State he still has endless numbers of issues he could not handle without reference to his oga at the top.

By the weekend millions of Nigerians have responded, some for, others against. For a bit I was confused as to either join the train of those who plead for mercy for the man’s error or those who call for his head. After all was said and sentiments set in we began to carelessly pity the man that had every chance to prove his competence and expertise to the whole world, but rather chose the contrary path of exposing his bootlicking abilities and ignorantness. Yes, we all make mistakes, alas, not knowing the website of an agency you command was not a mistake that was a proper case of nescience.

The man does not have a right not to know the website address and no one has a right to request for a stop to the endless jokes. I laughed when I read the defensive essay for his forgiveness, the essay was as laughable as the interview itself; shouldn't he have apologized to Nigerians for misleading the populace by quoting a wrong website address on satellite television? Well, the youths rose to the occasion with a gusto alloyed with anger and idleness; they were angered that another of their leader has revealed his cluelessness and because they are unengaged they went into a frenzy of "my oga at the top" inspired ingenious jokes, which no doubt demonstrated the depth of creativity embedded in the minds of our youths. However we can only wish this kind of energy and passion could be vented on something more gainful and advantageous to us as a people.

In any case, we should not forget that "this too will pass" and very soon we shall have another of our oga at the top to laugh at.

With all due respect to our president, he has already given us a new reason to laugh out loud (perhaps roll on the floor too) with the Alamieyeseigha presidential pardon although we were yet to recover from the throes of the “oga at the top” laughs, I am sure very soon he will give us another one.

Jungle Injustice

I have tried to pretend this didn’t happen, I have sub-consciously avoided watching the video; I have also carefully taken my eyes off the pictures of these murdered young men. Alas, thoughts and feelings are not fleas that may be swatted at will and done away with. My busy mind kept going back to their pictures, oh, their faces haunt me to the depth of my dreams, that a man must die is neither a curse nor a blessing but a must. And that man may not choose his means of death because it is destined is one school of thought I deem contestable; for who deserves to die like Chidiaka, Ugonna, Lloyd and Tekana did? Or who amongst us is destined to die like common fowls? Even fowls are given mercy killing!

The death of Cynthia was but a few months ago, the Mubi massacres are yet to be accounted for and we have once again dealt ourselves one deathly blow too many. I have heard varying versions of the tales that led to these young men’s death, none of them holds enough water to be pretense for the daylight grisly murders. Words fail me at every attempt to describe the few seconds of the video I was able to muster courage to watch. It is the worst of human inhuman action I have witnessed.

The first account I read was that these boys were thieves who specialize in stealing Laptop and mobile phones, then the one about the boys being cultist. Followed by the latest story that was credited to a fifth boy who escaped by brandishing a gun in the heat of their arrest, the fifth boy was a supposed cultist who followed the boys to help retrieve an unspecified cash debt from an indigene who owed one of the boys, the others just followed to help their friend retrieve his cash, in the spirit of comradeship.

I do not know which of the versions to believe but whichever I choose to favour , these boys still do not deserve to be lynched the way they were, honestly no one does. I have asked myself why a whole community or some part of a community would descend on young men in that horrendous manner and I am yet to find a suitable answer apart from the claims of recent robberies and killings by an armed robbery gang on the village. Even at that, everyone deserves a fair hearing as enshrined in the universal declaration human rights, article 10: “Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.”

Those people involved in the multiple murders probably never heard of this declaration but they certainly know of Nigerian Police, am sure they know also of law courts, why don’t they give these boys a chance to fair hearing? Only God knows! The people of Aluu haven’t killed any of the thieves in Abuja yet, they have not killed any of those of who steal our commonwealth and launder it away in Swiss banks, yet they kill young children for alleged stealing, I am yet to see any of the supposed phones and laptops these murdered boys stole. Who amongst the Aluu murderers was without sin? Yet they cast stones, they cast the first and the last stones too.

I have replayed the event in my head several times and all the times I arrived at the doorstep of more and more questions, more questions than answers! These boys were merely wasted by a group of bloodthirsty men in broad daylight. I wonder if there was no police “shop” in Aluu whose officers could have stumbled on these avoidable and unlawful killings. We can ask questions all we want. The truth is that we have turned psychotic and we now kill our young men in groups. The land where our mothers choose to bear us has turned on us. Men are on rampage for blood and we no longer care whose son or daughter is killed. It is gravely surprising how some people encourage students to kill the villagers in reprisal, as if it will bring the slain boys back, in Lloyds (one of the boys) own prophetic words "How can the seeds grow when the garden is weary?"

I have cried my own tears and the river of pain on my face brings to mind these excerpts from the words of the great Lebanese poet, Khalil Gibran: “Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world. But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you, so the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also…And that the corner-stone of the temple is not higher than the lowest stone in its foundation.”
Are the Aluu killers saints, even if the boys were thieves?

We may cry all we want but we must from now on be on constant guard to prevent a future occurrence, the police must do all necessary to comb out those killers and if it is true that a fifth boy was involved, this boy must be fished out to answer the foregoing knotty questions and perhaps identify the bloodthirsty killers.

“How can the seeds grow when the garden is weary?” Lloyd (Big L) in a song titled “Heart of The City” by Yetty, Big L and Tipsy (RIP).

RIP boys.

Good Night Cynthia Osokogu

Cynthia Osokogu, that name has stuck in my head since I read about her disappearance. I have followed the search with a lot of positive wishes till I got jounced by the news of her undeserved and unfortunate death, as once again our society is struck with a new dimension of crime that depicts depravity in its elegance.

The question I kept asking myself was and is still; how, how, how on earth could a 300 and 400 level student plan and execute a felony of such magnitude. I am yet to recover from the shock; I imagined the value these boys and the young murdered lady would have added to their family and the society had it not been so.

So much for meandering thoughts and questions, the reality at hand is that this lady has been killed, I have listened to various discussions on this issue so much that I began to panic about the possible upshot of this sad waste.

I have heard a lot of young women, even old women, appraise and blame the victim for going to see a guy she met on Facebook or BlackBerry messenger, as the case might have been, like they wouldn’t do same or have never done same. The truth is that internet is here to stay and a lot of people are meeting on the internet and getting married, or at least dating. And it will continue to be so albeit with some caution on the part of those who would be cautious.

As a human being it is part of us to trust, and as much as it is convenient to blame the victim for greed, lust or whatever comes to mind. I have done a thorough retrospection and introspection and concluded that what happened to Cynthia could have happened to any Nigerian girl or boy, she is neither more greedy nor lustful she was only trusting, perhaps too trusting.

Girls leave their homes everyday to meet up with guys they met on internet for various reasons, lots of that is happening right now. Some do it for money, some for dating, and others to feed their sexual requisite. While we may stand on an unmerited moral ground to condemn any or all of these reasons I do not think any of them qualifies a woman for what happened to Cynthia.

Even a prostitute does not deserve to be killed unless the killer is God, it is a good thing the perpetrators were caught as this will prevent them from continuing this horrific sin and probably serve as a lesson to others in the same business. But this is not enough, we must observe a minute of silence for Cynthia and another minute of silence for all the living Nigerians for being the generation that spurred and witnessed this horror.

We are all guilty of worshipping money while pretending to be religious and moral; it is sad and regrettable that we have driven ourselves and our children thus far, maybe farther than we know now.

In any case, beloveth, let us be wary of easy money, gifts and instant friends. We must shrewdly and scrupulously consider the people we let into our lives and we must watch painstakingly how we let them in.

May the soul of Cynthia rest forever. AMIN.

How many will die in God’s name?

I am sure by now we all know without need for argument that we have two kinds of terrorists in this country, Boko Haram and our politicians. The latter have actually killed more; imagine the man who stole 2 Billion Naira from some poor pensioners, do you have an idea how many innocent and hardworking men he has killed?

As much as killing a fellow human is against all my beliefs as a human being, I also know and acknowledge the truth that the human history is laden with a plethora of blood shedding campaigns and strife. That said, we Nigerians as a people have come thus far, with a fight for independence, a civil war and a bloody wrestle of power from our own military as experience, we have come to realize that beneficial changes requires sacrifices which sometimes mean loss of lives.

I have always known and said that whenever we are ready to move this country forward each and every one of us must be prepared to lose our lives and that of those dear to us, do not forget how difficult this present government has found it to expose a singular thief/terrorist. Does this mean we do not have the needed human or technological wherewithal to prosecute these men? The answer is no, we have all the needful to send them all to jail, all we need is what we lack and that is the will, the passion to want to do it right. Alas this passion is lacking in the leadership and it has ultimately cascaded to the followership, how did we manage to have all our past governors walk free today despite the level of decay in every public department and their extremely brazen flamboyances?

As it is we may make bold to say that this present kingdom suffereth violence and the violent may be able to take it by force; meaning a desirable level of normalcy will never be restored by the asking, it will definitely take some violence, believe this, the people in charge of our woes are not willing to leave— Farouk Lawan and Maina’s drama is an apt example of what obtains and there is no end to the injustice and terrorism perpetrated on our commonwealth by these very few. Now when some of the naïve youths who are passionate for a change in their situation unfortunately play into the hands of a waiting opportunist, one, who has seen their pains, need and anger and readily provides them with an option of dying for God. They happily embrace the idea of death not because they love to die but because death is a better choice than the repugnant living condition foisted on them by the past and present terrorists we call leaders. Thus the work of the man shopping for young men to unleash terror on the entire populace was made easy!

It automatically follows that a hungry and vulnerable man whose living condition is more gruesome than dying in God’s name will take up arms against any given enemy, real or imagined, in his state of hopelessness a little brainwash is necessary to make him yield.

Let me state clearly that I am against the idea of Boko Haram actions and I will never for any reason advocate killing innocent men as a means to any end. Whatever the end may be, there is no justification for shooting randomly and throwing shrapnel at unarmed individuals. If we are tired of our leadership we may want to learn from the Libyans and or the Egyptians, we can learn from their experiences before, during and after the uprisings.

As I said earlier the days of an impending colossal awakening are near, we cannot continue this way, it is absolutely unsustainable. It is either Boko Haram shuts this entity called Nigeria down like they did Kaduna in the past few days or some of us for lack of what to eat, where to sleep, cloths to wear and water to drink, arise to say we prefer an uprising to this ghastly living condition and join hands to chase our number one enemy, the politicians, not only out of power but out of town.

DEATH, Once Again!

For this fear of death is indeed the pretence of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being the appearance of knowing the unknown; since no one knows whether death, which they in their fear apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good. ~Socrates.



Death forgetting that he has taken several lives over the weekend once again struck at the gate of my office this morning.

It could have been me or any of my colleagues that died at about 7: 00 a. m today June 6, 2012 at the office entrance, I was thinking of my lateness and in my worrisome mood suddenly stumbled on a couple of women wailing uncontrollably in anguish. First I was shocked, jolted and in no time I learnt that a car just rammed Joshua a guy who works in the next office, into the power pole at the gate and killed him instantly.

Like an average human, a silly thought crossed my mind to say “thank you Lord I was late” because if I had come earlier it could have been my blood being covered with sands and my shoes scattered about the ground. I instantly think again and knew better; that death comes to all it was Joshua’s time this morning and his death does not mean he deserves to die more than any one of us discussing the incidence. His death does not call for a thanksgiving service from any one of us that narrowly missed the accident, it most certainly calls for soul searching, sober reflection and a total introspection as to why we do the things we do and how we do them.

I am not sure I have seen Joshua before as all the descriptions of him were lost on me, one thing today is sure that those who know him will talk and talk about him but his legacies, what he stands for or did not stand for will live after him.

Socrates in his last speech, the apology, said “The difficulty, my friends, is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death” we can run from death all we want (albeit, stubborn death will catch up), the catch is in avoiding unrighteousness. I don’t want to sound like your pastor but my calling is to let you know that while you are alive and here, do all the good you can and avoid all the evil you can.

Ultimately I told myself that death comes to all; mine is lurking somewhere and so is yours, smile today, play with sands if you have to. We have lost a soul too many in the past few days and we shall continue to lose them until it comes around, in the meantime the little positivity we can foster will echo into the future of humanity and be a reason to smile for us when the time comes.

May we live till our dying day and may Joshua’s soul rest in peace. AMEN.

From Brain Drain to Sperm Drain!

I was going for a bottle of beer yesterday when I stumbled on this unlikely couple of a young Lagos boy and an old white woman, I suddenly remembered the speech of a chairman of the occasion at a wedding I attended, last year, between an old German lady in her 60s and a young Nigerian boy who was definitely in his 20s. Just when I was wondering how absurd the union is the so called chairman of the occasion in his speech at the reception described the wedding as a union of “opportunity meets preparation”. I was shock-sprised at his apt description of this dubious union; this generation has totally degenerated such that we no longer know what is required for a marriage.

My fear is that while our African brains are being drained in medicine, academics et cetera the drainage has migrated to other parts of our body and now it is sperm drain. Either we choose to discuss it or not it is a new and thriving small-scale-tsunami that has stemmed from our economic woes and the desperation to seek survival in developed lands. If we do not seriously watch it by instilling values in our children in a couple of decades with the help of internet and our hopelessly failing economy our entire young male population would have been exported as either baby makers or sex slaves as I do know how else to explain a union of “opportunity meets preparation” between a woman of 60 and a lad of 20.

If not for the fact that I cannot infringe on anyone’s privacy and I also cannot say there are not some few cases of genuine love, I would have posted a recent and pathetic picture of such a wedding at Ikoyi Registry. I wish I had the resources to isolate a couple of these weddings and track them into the next few years, no doubt, some of them will turn out well but a larger number will not. I know from watching married folks that it takes more than a sexually frustrated old woman and a hungry young boy to make a marriage work.

I asked myself if I would do same given their circumstance my answer was a strong NO as I am a poet and a humble man I would have written my pains and hope that someone might pay me for it than opt for a hopeless journey with a woman I do not love, and then my worry shifted. While I was occupied by thoughts that my sister’s future-husband might get carried away by this drain—I asked myself if I would be happy to see my sister marry a man that could easily get carried away by ordinary drainage waters, I concluded that such a man does not deserve my sister. The comforting news is that many young men will not do it, so have no fear my sister an eligible and credible one will come your way soon, he will not be drained away so cheaply.