At the weekend, American Special Forces rescued an American citizen, who was held hostage in Nigeria.
The American citizen had been kidnapped in Niger Republic and taken to the kidnappers’ criminal hideout in Northern Nigeria.
United States President, Donald Trump, who spoke against the background of the success of the operation, said securing the freedom of Americans held in captivity abroad was a top priority of his administration.
Trump remarked that the success of the operation should serve as warning to terrorists and criminals who have the temerity to kidnap Americans.
The success recorded by the American Special Forces has underscored the ability and preparedness of the US military. It goes to show how precise the American intelligence had become from the World War II till date.
The success underlines the fact that the life of every American matters. If the Americans can fly more than 7000 kilometres to get to Nigeria and rescue their citizen, then, the Nigerian military is only a pawn in their hands. Indeed, the American military is superlative.
The rescue operation is reminiscent of the 90 minutes at Entebe in Uganda, when Israeli forces rescued their citizens held hostage by terrorists. The Ugandan head of state at the time was Field-Marshal Idi Amin Dada, who prided himself of being a man of valour after he overthrew the government of Milton Obote.
The rescue operation has proven that insecurity in the North-East could be contained or ended if the Federal Government exer-cises the will and determination to do so.
Also, it has exposed the weakness of the Nigerian military. Firstly, it proves that intelligence and technology are part of modern day warfare. The precision with which they acted has given credence to their ability.
Secondly, it shows that insurgency in the Northeast is pampered by the present administration with a handful of high ranking soldiers sabotaging the efforts of the Nigerian Military. What goes against the grain, is that many Nigerians are killed on daily basis over issues relating to insecurity but our government appears indifferent, yet the right to life is one of the most protected fundamental rights in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.
The major function of government is the protection of lives and property. In America, every life matters but in Nigeria, lives do not matter. Everybody can die but everything must be done to keep the government in power, including killing citizens.
The rescue operation swiftly conducted by the American Special Forces has exposed the porosity of our security architecture. It means that hoodlums from neighbouring West African countries find safe haven in Nigeria without constraints.
Again, it must be pointed out that the Nigerian military does not have modern technologies to fight insurgents all over the country. With Boko Haram in the Northeast, Niger Delta militants in the South-South and Indigenous People of Biafra in the South-East, the nation is divided along regional lines; a house divided against itself cannot stand.
The handwriting on the wall is clear, people of different regions want to have their own nations they can be proud of. Nobody is proud to be called a Nigerian. The call for restructuring has fallen on deaf ears as many leaders, who are benefitting from the present agreement want to maintain the status quo.
Some people believe that the fight against Boko Haram is with kid gloves as pockets of northern leaders want to use them as bargaining chips. If there are militants in the Niger Delta, IPOB in the South-East, why should there not be Boko Haram in the North? A military chief who fought Boko Haram to a standstill was removed for being thorough with his job. The present army chiefs are retained simply because they have been soft with the terrorist group.
There is a widespread allegation that the Nigerian Army has suffered more casualties in recent times as a result of apologists of the terrorists among them, who leaked information.
In spite of the huge sums of money spent on prosecuting the war in the Northeast, there is obviously no sign that the insurgency is about to be defeated.
Unfortunately, Boko Haram is the worst terrorist group in Nigeria. It brandishes its brazen hatred for western education and civilisation. Therefore, it craves to eliminate western influence in the country. There is obviously no trace that it is fighting western education but it is certain that the group has engaged in wanton destruction of lives and properties especially in the northeast.
In the South-South, what the militants want is a fair share of oil revenue for the oil producing states.
In the South-East, IPOB wants to pull out of the skewed Nigerian federation.
Apart from the issue of insurgency, Fulani herders are killing, raping, maiming and kidnapping people yet the government feels unconcerned.
Many Nigerian leaders are not patriotic but exhibit awful tribal sentiments and neopotism.
All these seem to suggest that the country should either be restructured or ethnic nations be allowed to go their separate ways. The arrangement foisted on the country by British colonialism is replete with injustices. A situation where only one region feeds the rest of the nation is regrettable and iniquitous.
Apart from oil, which is produced in the South-south, there are other natural resources that are abundant in the north.
In Zamfara, which is in the northern part of the country gold is mined by the state, while it pays tax to the federal government, while in the South -south, oil is drilled by the federal government while a paltry 13 percent is given to the states on the basis of derivation. This again is iniquitous. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
By: Chidi Enyie
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