NAUB: Prayers of our enemies shall not come to pass.

NAUB: Prayers of our enemies shall not come to pass.

By: Dr. James BWALA

When the bill for the establishment of the Nigerian Army University Biu was taken to the National Assembly, VP Kashim Shettima, then as Senator representing Borno Central in the red chamber, added his voice in support of the establishment. He was among the top voices who spoke to make the university come to light by giving the university the legal instrument that established it. The VP, then governor of Borno State, is the one who speedily granted the approval of the site and delivered the C of O of the site when General Buratai came up with the idea of the university. 

Certainly those who came up with the idea to merge the Army University Biu with the Nigerian Defense Academy did not consult widely before reaching the decision, and we are hopeful that the prayers of these enemies of Borno State, the northeast, and Nigeria will not come to pass. We are also confident and firmly believe in our unity and loyalty to our leaders that they will see the reasons for the existence of this great institution that has continued to give direction to our mass of youths who seek education through the university.

The President and his Vice President are men of integrity who love education, especially for the children of the masses. They are aware of the benefits these children of Nigeria are getting through the army university, blending character and learning in the most civil and regimented system. As our governor pleaded alongside many other Borno indigenes of note, we are praying for the president to give a listening ear to those pleas for the future of the children of Borno State, the northeast, and Nigeria.

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Those who are bent on the idea that the university must be merged are like those who did not want it to be established in Borno and in Biu in the first place. But they never care to learn why the Army University of Biu was established in the first place. The understanding of some Nigerians perhaps prior to the establishment of the Nigerian Army University Biu was either lopsided in their regional beliefs or in their political thinking or born out of outward envy to attempt to deny the people of northeast Nigeria the opportunity to have such an outstanding university that brought glory to the region and Nigeria as a whole. Today, not only the children of the northeast are the beneficiaries of the Nigerian Army University Biu, but largely students from the southwest and southeast, south-south, northwest, and north-central parts of the country.

I recalled having a chat with some of the staff of NAUB, sometimes in late 2022, where the discussion led to how the funding of the university was almost becoming an issue under the former COAS, the late General Ibrahim Attahiru. It was at that time that I also learned of certain plans by some forces working against NAUB for their political and regional interests, and I was not surprised when certain questions about the merger issues came up in the Steve Oronsaye report. The sighting of NAUB has been fought against, but Biu struggles. Thanks to the support given by sons and daughters of the northeast, who stood to defend the establishment of the army university in Biu,.

While the cracks were on about the Steve Oronsaye report, I went back to the argument on the floor of the National Assembly to revisit earlier arguments about the establishment of the Army University Biu. I took the case of Hon. Uzoma Nkem-Abont and Hon. Kingsley Chinda, both of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP. They kicked against the establishment of the university, seeing the institution as a ground for military training, with the NDA in focus throughout their argument on the floor of the green chambers. Comparing their argument with the explanations put forth as to why the Army University Biu was established, I realized that the two Hon. Members were not armed with the right information as to why the Army wanted such a university in place, in parallel to the NDA, which is a purely military institution for regimental purposes.

When the President’s Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala-Usman, announced the agencies to be merged to include the merger of the Army University Biu and the Nigerian Defence Academy, there was a lot of roar from the northeast part of the country, with thousands of people who are directly or indirectly beneficiaries of this establishment pouring out their reservations on the adoption of the Steve Oronsaye report by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, particularly with the mention of the Army University Biu being one of the universities in the country that does not go on strike.

Some people who commented have this to say: We can’t afford to lose the NAUB; the effort and energy our leaders put into establishing it can never go in vain, Insha’Allah. Blame the defense ministers from the north-west; they’ve always been against NAUB. The greatest undoing of a democratic government is to clamp down, merge, or relegate a vibrant, important, and exceptionally good tertiary institution that is located in a disadvantageous state or state that needs education, a state that was ravaged by Boko Haram,… What happens to Admiralty University? Is it not a military university? Or is it a private holding of the Nigerian Navy devoid of FG funding? Why has it not been merged with the NDA? Any explanation to defy this? Answers to these would clarify premature assumptions on the need or otherwise for the merger. On a literal perspective, NDA, NAUB, and AFIT are funded by FG. Why NAUB? These are the questions trending. 

But the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, had last year, while speaking during the graduation of some 500 students, given an explanation of why the Army University Biu was established. He explained that the Nigerian Army University in Biu, Borno State, was established as a means to explore a non-kinetic approach to service operations against insurgency. He also said the institution was established to achieve social inclusion, gender balance, and expand diversity through education. The COAS, who is also the Pro-Chancellor of the institution, disclosed that by establishing the Nigerian Army University in Biu, the Army adopted the strategic option of exploring a non-kinetic approach to its counter-insurgency operations in Nigeria.

According to him, the Army sought to achieve social inclusion and gender balance and expand diversity through education, adding that the emergence and growth of the institution in the heart of the North East was a testament to the successes the Nigerian military has collectively achieved in its counter-insurgency efforts. I hope that the COAS, at this time of debate, will add his voice to the plea by Governor Babagana Umara Zulum and the highly respected leaders of Borno to press on the president to see the reasons in this matter and to know the hands of Jacob from those of Esau.

* James BWALA, PhD, writes from Abuja.

NAUB: Prayers of our enemies shall not come to pass.