Vanguard News Nigeria interviewed General Isola Williams (rtd) over the attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) killing two officers and kidnapping one, the decadence in the Nigerian army of today, the retired Commodore Olawunmi’s revelations, the late General Azazi’s warning on Boko Haram men in government, the sponsors of Boko Haram and other insurgencies, hear him below:
“As Nigerians are still in shock over the attack on Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA, by bandits, a former Chief of Training, Operations and Plans (CTOP) at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ), Major-General Ishola Williams, retd, in this interview, takes a critical look at the incident. Williams analyses the situation under which the military operates, identifying the roles political authorities may have played in making the institution an object of attacks by armed non-state actors.
What does it mean for a military institution like the NDA to be attacked and about 72 hours later Nigerians are still wondering what hit their military?
What happened at NDA was what people can call a breach of local security in the institution. It appears to me that those people who really breached security know the NDA security system itself. In a situation where Kaduna is known for kidnapping, what is happening is no more banditry but terrorism. When you get to the stage of what is happening in Kaduna, Zamfara and Niger, it becomes terrorism. Therefore, for them to be able to carry out such a breach, it means they are familiar with NDA. I am not surprised they attacked NDA because when you go to some military installations, sometimes, you see soldiers with slippers.
Even at checkpoints, you see them sitting carelessly. Even the only one of them carrying a gun will be walking aimlessly, meaning they are not on alert. The point is that if they have CCTV, CCTV alone is not enough. You also have to do cover-up with patrols because Kaduna is a hot spot for terrorism, kidnapping and other forms of violent crimes. If there are areas CCTV cannot cover, the human patrol would take care of that. The two support each other.
Whether that one was done or not, I do not know. Normally, there is always a duty officer who is supposed to be checking throughout the night to ensure all the security systems are in place and on alert. In a place like Kaduna it should not be only one. There should be another senior officer to be reported to. He can now mobilise any platoon or troop they have to be able to trail that sort of breach. They may have an arrangement for that, but one doesn’t know.
What happened shows that the system they put in place was breached by known people or they didn’t do what they were supposed to do to prevent what happened. If it were other places the commandant would have resigned because the responsibilities rest with him. In some places, even the Chief of Defence Staff would go because the incident has affected the integrity of the armed forces. It has affected the integrity of the commandant. It has affected the integrity of the whole security hierarchy of Nigeria. Already, we have been having this problem of integrity for 10 years or more.
As a retired general, how did you feel when you first learned of the attack on the institution that symbolizes the strength of the military?
It has affected the integrity of the military as an institution. From the Commander-in-Chief to the last person in the military, it has affected their integrity. The British army that we developed from has a saying that there are no bad soldiers, there are bad officers. Therefore, when this sort of incident happens, it is the fault of the officers and not the soldiers. In the military, you never blame a soldier, the officer takes the responsibility.
That is why I said in other climes, the commandant would resign while every other person that needs to be court-martialed would be court-martialed. That we have not been able to contain what is happening in Kaduna is sad. And the Commander-in-Chief keeps talking all the time without results. You can see that the whole world is not taking him seriously. Even Nigerians do not take the military seriously anymore. They don’t even have confidence in the military and other security agencies. The reason is that the situation in Kaduna where people pay ransom to live means the political authorities have given up.
Some questions need to be asked. Why is it that the money given to terrorists is not marked? Who are the people who trade with them? Where do they buy their motorcycles and fuel from? I don’t know how the Commander-in-Chief sleeps at night. Imagine the governor of the Commander-in-Chief’s state saying his people should protect themselves. What does that mean? One of the fundamental principles of governance is to protect your citizens. But the governor said he can no longer protect the people. What did the Commander-in-Chief say? Governor Matawalle also said the Commander-in-Chief should declare a state of emergency in the North. I wonder if he knows the implication of the call because it would affect all the governors in the North. It means some ex-military officers would be appointed as sole administrators of all the northern states.
Wait and die
I keep saying that Nigerians appear to people as people who do not think. If the Federal Government is saying citizens do not have the right to defend themselves and the chief security officer of a state is saying he can’t provide security any longer, what does that say about the country? Government is indirectly telling people to wait and die or be kidnapped and pay ransom. We are losing control of the security architecture. And I keep saying that there is a need for the security and safety system to be reformed. I keep saying that all the time but nobody listens to me. I also tell people that Amotekun is working.
Before Amotekun was created, I presented a paper where I said any state that does not create a security outfit would continue to suffer. Go and look at what they are doing with Amotekun. Some were shouting that herdsmen were going to invade the South-West, have they invaded since Amotekun came into existence? Is the situation in the South-West not better since Amotekun was established? One important thing in the doctrine of law enforcement is that law enforcement is the sharing of responsibility between the political authorities, the law enforcement agencies and the people they are protecting. If there are no people to protect, would there be any law enforcement agency? In Netherland, government is closing their prisons because people are not committing crime in large numbers anymore.
If people are not committing crimes, do you need the police or prisons? Therefore, responsible citizens work together to reduce crime in their communities. That is where community policing is very important. If the right thing is done, the insecurity in the North would be addressed in six months. But some people do not want the situation to change.
On Gumi, Olawunmi
Sheik Gummi said openly that government knows where the bandits are and who the bandits are. What did government say? It said it knows but can’t attack them in order not to commit human rights offences. How come we can’t find a way to solve the problem? You know where they are and who they are. And they are killing people and kidnapping people, yet you don’t want to do anything. When you read stories about Nigeria, you just wonder if there are people here who are thinking of solutions. You also wonder whether some people’s job is to sit down and defend the system.
The Attorney General of Federation, AGF, said 400 people were arrested for money laundering and supporting Boko Haram. What has happened since then? Commodore Olawumi was on Channels yesterday, last Wednesday, what is it that Commodore Olawunmi said that is new? When the late Gen Owei Azazi was the National Security Adviser to President Jonathan, he said the people supporting Boko Haram were in government. Has that changed? So, what has Olawunmi said that is different? We need to engage in serious deep thinking.
Do you share the view that the military is at its lowest ebb?
The military has superior control. If there is good political authority, the military would be good. What do I mean by good political authority? We praise the American and British systems and go to them for help. Do you know what they do? They are a group of people who are constantly looking at the problems they face and how to find the solution to the problems. The moment they propose solutions to the problems they face, the political authority would approve them. Does that happen in Nigeria? Where in the world would AGF say they have arrested 400 people for financing terrorism and they have not taken them to court?
Where in the world would a minister say they know where bandits are but can’t go after them? We seem to be a different set of people. The military is operating in a difficult situation. The military is being given the job its men were not trained to do. The police have the mobile police, which is paramilitary. Two of them have different uniforms because their functions are different. The mobile police are for anything outside policing.
How come they are so weak? I have called for the division of the police into three parts. The Inspector General of Police, IGP, part should be for training and evaluation of standardization. There should be a separate outfit for the mobile police. Another outfit should also be created for intelligence gathering and criminal investigation. If that is done, there would be changes and you won’t need to ask the army to be running after terrorists.
Having served at the top echelon of the military, can you tell us how it got to this deplorable state?
When people assess the situation in the military, they should realise that this is Nigeria. If a Chief of Army Staff or Chief of Defence Staff makes some moves, people would start thinking that he wants to overthrow the government. It may not be the Commander-in-Chief. It may come from those around him.
The position of the National Security Adviser is very important. If he is not bright, if he is not forward-looking, and if he is not a deep-thinking person, there would be the kind of problems we have today in Nigeria. If you take the example of the late Azazi, who said some people in government were supporters of Boko Haram and nothing was done about it, what do you want the army to do in that case? You can buy all the sophisticated weapons, you can recruit as many people as you like if the political authority doesn’t allow you to work, can you blame the military?
All the young people being sent to the North-East and other places to be killed, their blood is in the hands of those who sent them. Azazi made his revelations before he died and Olawunmi repeated it. Was anything done about what Azazi said? Would anything be done about what Olawunmi said? I have said that this problem can be solved in six months if the political authority wants it solved. Let government take action. It should follow up on what Azazi and Olawunmi said.
And Olawumi said all the people in the intelligence community know the people he is talking about. Government should also prosecute those identified to be supplying them money. Many people do not know that the recent move by the CBN to stop giving money to Bureau De Change, BDC, and operators was a strategic move. Sadly, they would continue since government hasn’t even prosecuted those identified to have sponsored terrorism through the BDC. Today, they are saying some insurgents are laying down their arms, but they are coming out without their arms. Where are their arms? Who is collecting their weapons of warfare? The Shehu of Borno and other people have kicked against reintegrating them, but they can be reintegrated. We have seen examples in Africa. There are rituals to be performed for them to become members of the community again. It depends on what you use them for in the community.
In the light of what you have seen so far regarding the war against insecurity, do you still have confidence in this military to end Nigeria’s security challenges?
In every organisation, whether it is the army or private sector, there are some bright people with ideas. If you suppress them, how can the organisation fight its challenges? There are bright boys in the military, but has the authority allowed them to put their ideas into practice? I think that is the first problem. Some of us who have ideas and offer suggestions, do they accept our suggestions? They sometimes say the way we talk is an issue. Should I be polite to anyone or beg anyone when people are dying every day? You want me to beg you and be polite to you when people are being killed every day. No, I won’t do that. For me, if they carry out necessary reforms, things would change in six months.
Various measures have been suggested to end insecurity. They include negotiation with bandits and Boko Haram, amnesty, payment of ransom, declaration of a state of emergency, state police and restructuring among others. What do you make of this?
This is the best time for people to sit down and look for the right people with the best ideas to solve the situation. But it won’t happen in Nigeria. For instance, we are complaining about alarming insecurity, the President is concerned about grazing reserves. And he said they should treat the matter with dispatch. He knows that grazing reserve is a contentious issue that should not be a priority now. These are examples to show that the military is not the problem. We know that within and outside the system there are bright people who would make a difference if given the chance. In other countries, it happens, but it doesn’t happen in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, it is better for people to die just because of other people’s means of making money. I have told people that what is happening in the North would become a revolution. We are just calling it banditry, but it is terrorism. And terrorism can develop into a revolution. Now, it is coming from the North and not the South.
In your view, do you think Nigeria would collapse as has been suggested in some quarters?
No, it won’t happen. We are going through a trying period. It is just that we are not approaching it the right way. Even as successful as the United States is, a state like Texas is always threatening to pull out of the United States. But it never pulled out. Quebec in Canada tried three times but never left the union. What is important is for there to be subsidiary in our federal system. It means that anything that can be done at the state level should not be taken over by the central government.
Is there any role retired Generals like you are playing to help the military out of the current mess? Or the current leadership doesn’t want that?
Before the current leadership, we have been offering suggestions that can help the situation. Since 2014, I have made a lot of efforts through delivering papers and others. Even at the NDA 50th anniversary, I delivered a paper on the way out of the current problems. They would listen. Some of them would smile and forget about what they heard afterwards. I often put it in a powerpoint and send to them but they didn’t care.
For instance, the late Chief of Defence Staff, Badeh, who was killed on his way to farm, was charged for collecting half a billion naira monthly. If I now come and start talking to him about reform, what do you expect him to do? When Buhari came, he set up a board of inquiry to find out who did what in the armed forces. Where is the report? What has happened to anybody? I even sent some papers to a governor who is an authority in security, but he did nothing. The governors are also obstacles.
In retrospect, can you compare the army of your time with the army of today that is being literally ridiculed by attacks like the NDA incident and the Zamfara downing of a military jet by bandits?
It can’t be the same. I left the army 25 years ago. If they don’t allow those who think and have foresight to be in charge and work with those with ideas outside, the problems would remain. We are buying expensive equipment, but we don’t need them. For example, America has the best equipment in the world but they have never won any asymmetric war. We are just wasting money. In the past, we bought some aircraft for the Airforce.
After some time, we couldn’t maintain them. Now, we are buying more expensive ones. Let’s agree that we are going to defeat ISWAP and Boko Haram one day, what do we do with the new aircraft we bought? We have to decide whether we should continue to give the kind of amount we give to security and safety forever.
The situation is so bad that the bright ones may not even be allowed to get to the position where they can make things work for the better. Any sensible person knows that no matter the battle we fight, we must come down to a political solution. From Vietnam to Afghanistan, didn’t it end with a political solution? Another solution is socio-economic development. If people are comfortable and happy, would they want to die?”
Source and credit: Charles Kumolu, Vanguard News Nigeria