Prof, I agree with you that we can do better in the areas of logistics and intelligence gathering, but I think you may be missing the central issue.
In the words of Dr. Val Ozigbo, “what we lack, painfully and visibly, is unified, unmistakable political will.” He recently wrote an open letter to the President on this issue, and I believe he captured the true crux of the matter.
Regrettably, successive governments have lacked this political will. When the Commander-in-Chief prioritizes political survival or success over genuine leadership, there will be no real determination to confront the problem head-on. We can all agree that these terrorists, no matter how well funded, cannot outspend even the security vote of a single Nigerian state, let alone that of the federal government.
Trust me, the generals prosecuting these wars fully understand the body language of the political leadership, and the effect of that understanding travels down the chain of command, all the way to the soldiers with boots on the ground.
For example, if not politics, tell me what qualifies Matawalle, a governor whose state was totally ravaged by banditry while he held court, to be appointed Minister of Defence. What happened to capable retired military officers with real combat experience? Prior to joining politics, dude was formerly a school teacher.
When they are ready to tackle insecurity and terrorism, we will know. For now, the priority is not really to solve the problem but to win the optics of it.
