PORTRAIT OF A GENERAL: MANSUR MUHAMMAD DAN~ALI (RTD)

By Musa Dangiwa

MANSUR Muhammad Dan~Ali,
A Brigadier General, retired from the Nigerian Army in 2013 and became Nigeria’s Minister of Defence.

Upon his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari in November 11th 2015, at a time when parts of the country were on the seethe.

The North East was under the siege of ideological extremists who have picked up arms with a ruthless ambition to create a state within the Nigerian State and were indeed, already controlling a number of local governments in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.

The extremist fighters, who became popularly known as Boko Haram were also already advancing their attacks to parts of the North West and North Central states.
They dared Abuja, Nigeria’s seat of Power where they bombed a mammy market at the popular Mogadishu Barracks in Abuja, the Nigerian Police Force Headquarters, the United Nations building and even motor parks, where they killed and maimed, while fear of possible attack gripped the rest of the other parts of the country.

Dan~Ali assumed office as Minister of Defence to confront the rise of all forms of criminal elements in parts of the Southern states, who engaged in militancy and economic sabotage like, kidnapping expatriate oil workers for ransom and vandalizing oil pipelines for illegal- bunkering activities in the Niger Delta and Lagos axis .

As a retired General, his challenge was to find solution to these security challenges and assure Nigerians of their security to lives and properties, as well as restoring order; peace and stability to the troubled parts of the country.

Picking up this challenge, Dan~Ali assured Nigerians on Friday November 13th 2015, at a News Conference towards the 2016 commemoration of the Nigerian Armed Forces Remembrance Day that;

“…the Armed Forces is committed to doing all within its powers to maintain the indivisibility of Nigeria…”

He demonstrated that he was on top of the task of decimating the enemies of the state when the Chief of Army Staff Conference was held at Dutse, Jigawa State in December 2016, where he declared during the closing ceremony that
“… A few months back, it would have been unthinkable or even impossible to contemplate the hosting of this conference here in Dutse; but here we are today in a very secured environment…”, saying, “…let me seize this opportunity to once again reassure you and the world of Mr President’s resolve to degrade all activities of terrorism in our nation.

To demonstrate that we are succeeding, we decided to host this Conference just at the border state to the theatre of Boko Haram activities…”

When it was time to start handing over areas liberated by the Military from Boko Haram to Civil Law Enforcement Agencies in April 2017, MANSUR Dan Ali, warned and i quote;

“… Let me also use this opportunity to warn any person or group of individuals or organizations under whatever cover who wish to test the collective will of this administration to know that we will not fold our arms and allow them to destroy our nation… adding that “… All Security Agencies of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have been mobilized and directed to swing into action to identify and crush any possible threat to our national security…”

He was concerned that the country was assailed by different degrees of crisis ranging from terrorism to kidnappings, armed banditry , cattle rustling, farmers~herders clashes, pipeline vandalism, ritual killings among others, saying “…all these are potent and sensitive crisis situations…”

He believed that the priority of government was to secure lives and property of citizens, guarantee a secured environment for socio-economic activities to thrive without hindrance, pointing out that “…our security and response agencies are constantly engaged in the essential tasks required for meeting the internal security objectives of ensuring safety and security of Nigeria’s territorial integrity, its population, all critical infrastructures and vowed that “… Government will not relent in this primary objective…”

He ensured that under his administrative watch as Minister of Defence, the Armed Forces of Nigeria made significant progress in the fight against insurgency and militancy in the country.

In the North East for example, the Nigerian Army in conjunction with other security forces were able to decimate and degrade the capacity of the insurgents.

The Armed forces further advanced the fight with the formation of “Operation Crackdown” which took the fight into the stronghold of insurgents at the Sambisa forest to clear the Boko Haram terrorists out of their camps.

There was also the “Operation Gama Aiki”, to flush out the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists within the lake Chad basin.

The Nigerian Army recaptured most of the territories previously under the control of the terrorists, reclaimed towns and villages, rescued over 12,000 persons held hostage by the Boko Haram terrorists and reopened several socio~economic and academic infrastructures that were being closed due to security risks in the North East.

Under his administrative leadership as Minister of Defence, the Nigerian Army established “Operation Safe Corridor” to deracalise and rehabilitate terrorists who renounced violence or those captured in battle and set-up a Human Rights Desk Committee of the Nigerian Army, to carry out proactive response to cases of abuse by troops in operation.

There was also the “Operation Awatse”, which was a joint operation between the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Police and other security Agencies to flush out all manners of criminals, including; Militants and Economic saboteurs who specialized in pipeline vandalisation to steal the nation’s oil wealth in the creeks and other riverine areas.

When he turned to the Niger Delta tegions of Nigeria, where violent crime against humanity and high profile sabotage against the economy of the country was on the rise, he stormed Port Harcourt, the heart of the Niger Delta in July 2017 to operationalise the headquarters of the then; newly established 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, to handle various security challenges in the region.

Explaining that the region has suffered a lot of criminal activities like sabotage of oil facilities, illegal bunkering, kidnappings and other violent crimes against humanity and declared that the newly established 6 Division would perform its duties with the highest sense of professionalism and respect for human values, while decrying the rampant criminal activities and un- patriotic agitations which could not be tolerated, saying, ” Nigeria is greater than any individual or group…”

In Novemeber 2017 he was at the meeting of Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition in Riyad, Saudi Arabia, where he appealed for humanitarian assistance Programme for the North Eastern Nigeria and other areas affected by the activities of the insurgents.

The Saudi government promptly responded to his call and offered food items worth Ten Million Dollars in aid to the internally displaced persons in the North East.

In Ankara, Turkey in 2017; Gen. Dan-Ali called for speedy ratification of the Military Training Corporation Agreement and the Defence Industry Cooperation Agreement between Nigeria and Turkey by the Parliaments of the two countries to enable the Nigerian military benefit from training at the Turkish Military Institutions and joint Military exercises with the Turkish Army.

He was at the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence, Moscow, where he called for the support of Russia, as one of the biggest economies in the world, to ensure that criminal activities at the Gulf of Guinea which constitutes threats to the existence of humanity and economic development were stamped out from Nigerian’s Maritime environment.

At the Italian Ministry of Defence, Rome in June 2017, Mansur Dan~Ali proposed agreements between the two countries in the areas of exchange of data and experiences in the field of counter piracy, held combined counter piracy exercises and other maritime security activities, training of the Nigerian Navy Personnel among others and at the G7 Friends of the Gulf of Guinea Group meeting held at Rome in Italy in 2017, he called for a viable and implementable decisions and solutions to maritime security and economic challenges in the Gulf of Guinea.

He took the campaign against security challenges in Nigeria to Egypt in August 2018, where he proposed joint military exercise between the Nigerian and Egyptian Navy and requested for intelligence on vessels coming into Nigeria’s maritime environment for close monitoring and surveillance among others.

He was also at the Xiangham Forum; Beijing China in October 2018, where he told the world that the development of a counter narrative to the ideology of Boko Haram terrorists was imperative, saying, ” …arguably, the ideology is their Centre of gravity and thus driving force for recruitment and radicalization,”
pointing out that ” …
there is the need for greater synergy and cooperation in developing a counter narrative to undermine the Boko Haram ideology.”

Also in China, he took the campaign against terrorism in Nigeria to the Special Forces Institute, Beijing China where in a Paper on Security Challenges in the Gulf of Guinea, he called for support for the Nigerian Navy, saying ” …the Chinese Government could assist in the training of technical personnel on modern ship~building techniques and providing dockyard equipment…”

In the cause of these and other high level international meetings, including his presence at the United Nations (UN) and the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS), he became Chairman of the Sahel Sub~Saharan Defence Ministers….

By the time he left office as Minister of Defence, militancy in the Niger Delta area was subdued and the rampaging terrorists in the North East were in disarray and desperate due to lack of basic supplies, with many of the fighters deserting, others surrendered and were being deradicalised and rehabilitated, even as remnants terrorists continue to carry out occasional attacks on soft targets.

Born in August 25th 1959 in Birnin~Magaji Zamfara State Nigeria, he was Commissioned a Lieutenant in 1984, rose through the ranks and held various Commanding positions, including Battalion Commander at the United Nations Hybrid Mission in Sudan (UNAMID), Pioneer Commander, 32 Artillery Brigade Akure, Nigeria, Commander 32 Artillery Brigade Garrison Abeokuta Nigeria, Commander 301 Artillery General Support Regiment Gombe Nigeria, among several others during his career in the Military, with several honours to his credit; including the prestigious Harmony and United Nations Medals, Silver Golden Jubilee Medals, Passed Staff Course Daggar, Distinguished Service Star, Meritorious Service Star, Forces Service Star and a distinguished member of the National Defence College of Bangladesh.

A card carrying member of Nigeria’s ruling political party, THE ALL PROGRSSIVES CONGRESS (APC).

He was a delegate to the 2014 National Conference, where the nation’s wise men and women were assembled to proffer solutions to the country’s political problems.

He once attempted to contest election to represent his people at the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2015, but by providence he did not go to the Senate and rather; became the Minister of Defence.

MANSUR Dan- Ali holds double Masters Degrees in Security Studies, Bangladesh University of Professionals 2009, and Public Policy and Administration University of Abuja Nigeria in 2004/2005, respectively.

He also holds a Higher National Diploma in Photogrammetric and Survey Engineering Kaduna Polytechnic Nigeria, 1977/1982 and has presented several papers both locally and internationally, including a Paper titled, ”REGIONAL SECURITY ASPECTS’ Perspectives From Nigeria’s Fight Against Insurgency”, at the 8th Moscow Conference on International Security in April 25th, 2019.

MANSUR Dan-Ali is married with Children and Grandchildren.
He plays Polo, currently he is the Captain; Armed Forces Veteran Polo team and Founding~Member of the Nigerian Armed Forces Polo Association where he represented the Nigerian Military in various tournaments at home and abroad winning laurels and medals.

He has passion for the less privileged children for whom he built a school called El-Eman Nursery/Primary School which he donated to his community and facilitated the establishment of eight Command Secondary Schools at different locations to create more access to education by the less privileged children.

He holds the traditional titles of Yariman Birnin-Magaji and Sarkin Yakin Zamfara.

Mansur Muhammed Dan~Ali has contributed meriteriously in converging the successes of the rulling APC in his home state “ZAMFARA STATE”

He played the lead role in bringing the zamfara state governor HE” Bello Matawalle from the defunct PDP to the rulling APC.

Mansur Muhammed Dan~Ali is a househole name within the Nigerian Political Class due to his enermouse contributions to the developments of the APC Achievements..!!

Musa Mudi Dangiwa is a political analyst writes from Kaduna State Nigeria.
mudimusa15@yahoo.com.