The attack on NDA

THE brazen attack on the headquarters of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, by gunmen in the small hours of Tuesday August 24 is perhaps the most ominous sign that the Federal Government has lost control of the security situation in the country. According to reports in the media, the yet to be apprehended gunmen, taking advantage of a breach in the NDA’s perimeter fencing, stormed the permanent site located along Airport Road, Afaka, in large numbers and gained access to the residential area where they shot and killed two senior officers (Lieutenant Commander Awolor Wulah and Flight Lieutenant Chinecherem Okoronkwo), and abducted another (Major Christopher Datong). The NDA’s permanent site is a stone’s throw from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka, where a group of bandits abducted 39 students back in March.

This is by no means the first attack on military targets and personnel by increasingly emboldened bandits. For example, at least 31 soldiers were killed in April when Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP)-aligned fighters ambushed a military convoy at Mainok, outside Maiduguri, capital of Borno State. Over the years, general lawlessness has exacted a severe toll on various arms of the Nigerian military and law enforcement. Yet, for a cross section of Nigerians, what is significant about the attack on the NDA is not the number of officers killed or captured, but its symbolism and the message that the sheer effrontery of the assailants communicates about the state of affairs in the country. For the NDA is not just another military institution, but Nigeria’s elite military academy and a respected emblem of its military strength.

This much was clear from the anger and astonishment that greeted reports of the attack from across the political spectrum. Expressing shock at the incident even as it described the NDA as a “proud monument of the first generation of Northerners who fought hard to bring development to the North,” the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) lamented that “ordinary street bandits will invade a military institution of such high national and international repute, outwit the security system and men there, kill officers and take one away to an unknown destination.” Speaking through its National Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel Yawe, the Forum further regretted that what it referred to as “the factory where all Nigerian military officers are produced” had been invaded and desecrated, asking rhetorically: “What else do we need to show that our national security system is running in reverse gear?”

For its part, the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) directed its ire at the Federal Government, blaming it squarely for the worsening security situation in the country, of which the attack on the NDA is the most poignant demonstration. In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, the group concluded that “The effect of the apparent erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions on such serious matters as national security despite the more than N5trn said to have been invested and another N1 billion put in the purchase of arms, has invariably raised questions of credibility and probity against the administration.” Echoing the indignation of the ACF and the CNG, the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), speaking through its National Secretary Dr. Kunle Olajide, described the attack as “a special message the bandits are sending to Nigerians that we should be prepared” and warned “The security agencies must brace up. This is to say the least very frightening and the Federal Government must sit up to protect not only the military establishments, but the country as a whole. Something urgent needs to be done to rejig our security architecture.”

For the umpteenth time, we align ourselves with these and similar calls from across the country for a radical overhauling of the country’s security apparatus. Not only that: we agree with the CNG’s criticism that “Apparently, the federal and most northern states executives barely function today, while the legislature, judiciary, bureaucracy, and security forces have lost their capacity and professional independence, thereby creating a huge vacuum in the political will and capacity of government which armed criminals, bandits, kidnappers and other assortments of violent non-state actors exploit with ease.”

As is his wont, President Buhari has responded to the latest attack with fighting words, assuring that “the heinous action would accelerate the total uprooting of evil in the polity, which members of the Armed Forces are solidly resolved to accomplish in the shortest possible time.” Because they are typically not backed by any concrete action, and because they are the ones who are forced to face the consequences of the government’s habitual inaction on a daily basis, Nigerians have come to regard such assurances from their leader as mere empty words. The president and his aides have a long way to go in curing Nigerians of their justified scepticism.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…

Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train

The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…