Resilience [forging ahead] – effectiveness and legitimacy

These are really turbulent times. A headline read: “Nigeria added to Wikipedia’s list of failed states.”

Wikipedia’s list of failed states has been updated and Nigeria is now one of the countries on the list.

The free web-based encyclopaedia project which contains information on a wide variety of subjects, described a failed state as a political body that has disintegrated to a point where basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government no longer function properly.

It further added that a state can also fail if the government loses its legitimacy even if it is performing its functions properly. For a stable state, it is necessary for the government to enjoy both effectiveness and legitimacy. Likewise, when a nation weakens and its standard of living declines, it introduces the possibility of total governmental collapse.

Some countries listed as a failed states include; Syria, Somalia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Iraq, Yemen, Turkey, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Liberia, Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Sudan and South Sudan.

The statement attributed to Lt.-General T.Y. Danjuma on social media somewhat echoes what he had said previously:

“A former minister of defence, Gen TY Danjuma (retired), yesterday accused the Nigerian Armed Forces of aiding attacks by bandits on communities across the country, warning that if such attacks continued, the consequences would make what happened in Somalia a child’s play.

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Danjuma, a former Chief of Army Staff, said the military could not be relied upon for the security of the citizenry, advising Nigerians to rise up to defend themselves or risk massacre.

He spoke at the maiden convocation of the Taraba State University in Jalingo where he was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Science degree.

His Taraba home state has recently witnessed attacks and counter-attacks between herders and famers, leading to hundreds of casualties.

While speaking against the violence in the state and other parts of the country, Danjuma said it was time for everyone to rise up and defend themselves.

“The armed forces are not neutral,” he said, adding, “They collude with the armed bandits that kill people, kill Nigerians. They facilitate their movement. They cover them.

If you are depending on the armed forces to stop the killings, you will die one by one,” he said.

A state can fail if the government loses its legitimacy even if it is performing its functions properly. For a stable state, it is necessary for the government to enjoy both effectiveness and legitimacy

 

He threatened that violence would result should the killings in his state and other communities in the country continue.

The ethnic cleansing must stop in Taraba State. It must stop in all the states of Nigeria, otherwise Somalia will be a child’s play. I ask every one of you to be at alert and defend your country, defend your territory, defend your state. You have nowhere else to go.” he said.

General Danjuma said Taraba was a miniature Nigeria with diverse ethnic and cultural heritage the armed bandits are trying to bring to ruins, warning that people must rise up to the challenge and resist them.

Earlier, the state governor, Darius Ishaku said the university was a great blessing to the state and appreciated the founders for the initiative. He said he would continue to support the university. The Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Vincent Tenebe disclosed that 5,900 students graduated with various degrees. General Danjuma donated N100 million to the institution.”

Indeed, former Military Head of State and Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo spoke in the same vein:

“It is no longer an issue of a lack of education and employment for our youths in Nigeria which it began as, it is now West African Fulanisation, African Islamisation and global organised crimes of human trafficking, money laundering, drug trafficking, gun trafficking, illegal mining and regime change”

However, the most strident alarm was delivered from totally unexpected quarters by Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on the “Morning Crossfire”, a radio programme on ‘NigeriaInfo FM’ on August 10, 2020:

“Some of us also have our intelligence networks. I have met with some of the bandits; we have met with some of their high commanders, one or two who have repented, they have sat down with us not once, not twice.

They told us that one of the Northern governors was the commander of Boko Haram in Nigeria. Boko Haram and the bandits are one and the same. They have a sophisticated network. During this lockdown their planes were moving up and down as if there was no lockdown. They were moving ammunition, moving money, and distributing them across different parts of the country.

They are already in the South, in the rain forests of the South. They are everywhere. They told us that when they finish these rural killings, they will move to phase two. Phase two is that they will go into urban cities, going from house to house killing prominent people.”

Even though Dr. Mailafia was invited by the Department of State Security in Jos and allegedly questioned for seven hours, he has stood by the alarm he raised in the radio interview.

Even more alarming is the statement attributed to the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ihejirika:

“Speaking to Vanguard Thursday, Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Ihejirika shot back at former minister of the FCT, Nasir El-Rufai, who earlier today accused Ihejirika of being a sponsor of terror sect Boko Haram. The former Army Chief called El-Rufai’s allegations a “diversion” to take attention from his own involvement.

“The (commanders), including El-Rufai, know where the problem is,” Ihejirika told Vanguard. “He should stop deceiving Nigerians by trying to divert attention”.

He continued, pointing an accusatory finger at the former minister, claiming it was he who kept the necessary weaponry and equipment needed to fight the insurgency from the military. “The likes of El-Rufai have been supporting Boko Haram. In fact, El-Rufai and his likes are the same group of people that ensured the army did not get the requested equipment to deal with this menace once and for all, as they used their cohorts to tell the government that procuring modern equipment was not necessary.”

The former Army Chief also said that El-Rufai and others allegedly green-lighted Boko Haram’s activities and attempted to divert concern from the atrocities of the sect. “When the Boko Haram operation started, supporters of the sect like El-Rufai said that there was nothing like Boko Haram and that the army was just killing innocent youths,” he said, furthering, “El-Rufai said that I was re-inventing the killing of the Ibos during the Biafra war following government’s determination to rid the country of terrorism.”

Iherjirika also says that he was the first person to declare that the country was dealing with a war situation, but El-Rufai and others allegedly denied the gravity of the situation, disagreeing with his judgment. This move, the General says, gave Boko Haram time to regroup and redevelop.

“It is the same group of El-Rufai that started the human right abuses campaign. It was done in order to block any international assistance after the state of emergency was declared and the sect was initially tamed. That gave Boko Haram time and respite to build up again”.

Ihejirika also told Vanguard that El-Rufai and others are further involved with Boko Haram and its operations, but that he could not yet disclose that information.”