Why Zulum wants permanent military bases in troubled spots in the state

Bodunrin Kayode

Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Zulum recently called for the establishment of permanent military bases in Sambisa and other known troubled spots in the state. The call was obviously one aimed at ending the insurgent war which has eaten over 15 years of the GDP of the once commercially vibrant state which should have grown more than it is now. Borno should have been competing with Kano if not for the destruction of the state by Boko Haram.

For keen observers of the insurgent war in the north east of Nigeria, “known” means that the insurgents are still milling around specific areas of the topography of the state and residents see them and avoid their locations. They have obviously been cleared from a large chunk of Borno State but still loiter around the Tumbus islands for instance. The islands are so many that nobody has record of the exact number of them since God put them there with loads of fish and crude oil underneath. The Nigerian Navy has equally not been able to make much impact progress either because of the massive thickness of hyacinth on the top of the water or lack of the right equipments which itself is a major challenge. Some security observers who spoke to this reporter on anonymity feel the navy is just being lackadaisical because it’s a lake and what if it dries up one day? But these are not tenable excuses for them not to be able to dominate their environment from Baga to the last island on the Nigerian border.
And that is why a permanent base of the Nigerian Navy must be built that will dominate the environment long after the war has ended. There presence in Baga is still very skeletal compared to the work load ahead. One agrees with Governor Zulum on this because the Nigerian section of the islands must be well secured if tourists must come in long after the war is put behind us.

The insurgents really don’t have the guts anymore to barge into the capital Maiduguri neither do they disguise and visit relatives regularly like before as sources tell us they still do in Ngamdu, Jakana and Kareto. Even the relatives some of them visit before are under watch by the intelligence services making life difficult for such relatives who used to get gifts and phone calls from them. But going by the observation of the civilian jtf boys who fight along with the troops, they are still inside the density of the savanna at alageno forest. But more noticeable is their presence on the Mandara mountains which has given them cover for a long time sending discomfort to the people of Gwoza. They always go back to Sambisa even after being chased out which is why one of the biggest permanent barracks must be built inside the place for elite forces as soon as possible.

Zulum made the statement during the last Chief of Army staff conference which took place in the 7division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri Borno State. Even though the Army top brass did not make any open acknowledgement to the suggestion, it obviously may have rang a bell within the ranks of defense policy makers and the Commander in chief of the Armed forces, President Bola Tinubu who were present during the occasion.

The establishment of a special forces military base in the Sambisa forest for instance will assist in ending the lingering insurgency which has paralyzed development in the entire Borno State and North East Nigeria. As a matter of fact, this is exactly where special forces trained for counter insurgency should be asked to pin down now before the war ends. There are so many natural resources placed under the ground by God apart from oil which has been confirmed in adjoining areas for troops to be pinned down permanently under the 7 division of the Nigerian Army, the Airforce and Navy components. Imagine the Airforce with one of the biggest bases in the country on the Mandara mountains which can enable them to see anyone entering the country on espionage mission. By the time the right resources are put together to mount sophisticated platforms, a complete surveillance of the border territorial areas can be guaranteed.
Nigeria’s hundreds of porous borders will begin to get special attention to ward off the next set of aggressors.

Looking back with hindsight, even though the military has been able to retrieve a large chunk of the nation’s territory from the hands of the insurgents in Borno Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states, it is obvious that it is not yet uhuru for the ordinary resident because the insurgents keep tormenting them by instilling fear and making life difficult for them in the hinterlands. That is why it is difficult to predict when the war will end even after 15 years of this lingering asymmetric war. A war that has caused so much pains for Nigerians and our troops. Hundreds of our troops have paid the supreme sacrifice in the last 15 years and the counting continues. And that is why it makes sense for the three arms of the military to take over these sensitive territories and pin down permanently. That to me is what Zulum meant by the creation of bases in the comfort zones of the enemy and pitching our elite troops against them once and for all. After they must have been cleared the expansion of the base with all the sophistication of a modern army will begin to fall in place.

Also the relaxation of troops seen by observers is like getting 60 percent marks in an examination and just when you want to relax with your pass, you are told that the external examiner is saying that you are not worth more than 40%. A lot of gains were made by the present Defense Chief General Chris Musa while he was theatre Commander. Many more were added when he became the Chief of the Nigerian infantry under the management of Lt. General Farouk Yahaya. Major General Ibrahim Ali who took over the theatre after General Musa also did his best in the kinetic and non kinetic aspects but they all suffered from the same malaise of not having enough boots on the field because there were no strong bases around these strategic locations to assist. Bringing troops from all the way maiduguri is usually a long process when one considers the dangerous roads constantly endangered by improvised explosive devices (IED’s).
Equipment matters in war but when you don’t have enough boots on the ground in some areas, it is a disadvantage in non conventional wars like this. As a matter of fact if there were bases on those three designated areas of lake Chad, Mandara mountains and Sambisa forest, this war would have long been concluded at this axis and the bandits would not have been emboldened at the north west axis of the country by boko haram or Islamic state of west Africa (iswap) within the Bay states. The iswap have more refined rules of engagement but any armed person in uniform is a common enemy.
The north east end of the country is a vital portion which is why the Commander in Chief President Tinubu must listen to this timely call of the Chief security officer of Borno State who is Governor Zulum to establish these bases to end this war once and for all.

Indeed, a large chunk of the boko haram insurgents and their Commanders have been decimated including the notorious Shekau but the inability of the security agents to finish the job has given the insurgents enough operational space to re-strategize and return to vacuums left unfilled by the security forces. Creation of these bases would be done as soon as defense headquarters makes up its mind to do so. As for progress made in the war, one expected the last theatre Commander to have improved on what his last two predecessors did but unfortunately he was very weak in the kinetic and paid more attention to the non kinetic aspect of his job.

Why Zulum wants permanent military bases in troubled spots in the state

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After the damage of Boko Haram: Battling with the battered health sector in Borno state using the partnership model for emergencies

By: Bodunrin Kayode

Reporting the health sector within the web of humanitarian crisis in Northern Nigeria is my hobby. Health is one of the beats I have chosen to ensure that I contribute to further the cause of humanity before I say good bye to this world and to enhance excellence my calling journalism. Reporting health up here means one must have enough empathy for the people who are at the mercy of the terrorized health sector in Borno state and North Eastern Nigeria. This sector is so important to humanity that each time the insurgents want to plunder primary health centres, they cart away the drugs and skilled workers before bringing down the structure by fire. That is an indicator that even the wrong doers in the bush know the value of health in our shared humanity.

Prying into the Borno Health Partners Forum

I do not attend the Borno health partnership forum to report on everything that is happening but to contribute my quota to the best of my ability to belp rebuild the sector which has been battered by lingering years of insurgency. By this I mean about 14 years of insurgency where almost every infrastructure was destroyed by the insurgent Boko Haram in their trail.
And that I have been doing to the best of my ability especially the guidance of the meeting as a catalyst in the “risk communications pillar.” The subsector where massive enlightenment is given to the people whenever emergencies like sickening cholera out breaks chokes the medical practitioners or the recent diphtheria which has killed over 67 people in its trail. Sadly the ” risk communication” is one of the most badly managed pillar because the bank rolling world partners refuse to allow the Borno State Government to lead as it should. Deciding which path to walk at any given time and even choosing where to go with the permission of the health Commissioner who is equally guided by the Governor of the state Professor Babagana Zulum. Representatives of the two world health bodies have rather decided to turn themselves into a cabal or a caucus who meet separately and impose their decisions on the rest of the partners regardless of the interest of the Commissioner who is represented by the incident manager (IM) at any given time. That itself has created a shaky foundation for that pillar and the mounting of lingering lacuna which strips them bare whenever their own managers are in need of action or solutions in certain ways.

Out of interest, I have seen many non medicals like myself in the house and they all do their best to help out in one way or the other to make things work out. The only pillar which has not existed in the last seven years is that of “security” which will go a long way to act as a liaison between the military, police and the health sector. But I have a belief that with the evolution of the sector over the coming years, we would soon have a sitting security personnel who would be an instant reference point whenever challenges of that nature falls on the table of the IM.

One also realizes that it’s time to begin to analyze on a yearly basis some of the developments in the sector so that the world gets to know those that are behind the heavy toil for the sector to be moved from where it was when boko haram struck capturing 22 council areas in the entire state to the envisaged level of excellence we are trying to take it to. And there are many non medical professionals with like minds whose contributions to crushing emergency challenges over the years have been invaluable to astounding emergencies like cholera which has harassed health managers and kept them on their toes. Looking back into the sector, I remember that there was one year of the cholera scourge that everyone who was a doctor in the ministry had to abandon their files, put on their coats and gloves and were lined up at the muna garage axis ensuring that they helped slow down the mortality rate which was screaming to high heavens. That is an indication that the medical workers both serving and retired have also managed to stay above board at the primary health care level.

Pending challenges to be crushed in Borno state

There are many pending challenges before the health partners working as a team to make things better for Borno state. One of the challenges before them is the inability sometimes to understand the fact that change is the only permanent phenomenon in life and we must all prepare to embrace it. A lot of partners still do not understand why change from the old order of doing things to the new is important. Some so called financial partners want to completely adjust the ideal narrative by wrongly taking the drivers seat in almost every pillar including risk communication and sometimes, the good old surveillance. Two sensitive pillars which are supposed to go together. 90 percent of the time I have sat in that meeting, Abdu Mbaya or Modu Kyari who is the deputy head of the communications pillar in the primary health board are hardly carried along. One little brat or the other in the United Nations international children’s fund (UNICEF) and world health organization (WHO) will stand up to speak for the entire Borno State which they know nothing about. And most times when they speak, they do not impress the IM or the meeting because they talk only about what they understand in their own foreign designed system. They hardly display knowledge on how to solve problems in the 27 Council areas of the state. One particular one, name withheld in the WHO who used to be a tea boy for a previous disgraced communication expert is the most confused of them all because of his obvious limitations of what to do for the good of the state. He parades himself with some air of importance that does not align with his rascally and rude persona badly polluted with the trial and error syndrome associated with road side mechanics.

I don’t blame them completely. Its simply because the state has been unable to sit on the drivers seat all these years in some of these pillars before the advent of Dr Lawi Meshelia. Some of us who should know are equally to blame too because we saw these dysfunctional nitwits play with the intelligence of the state and we did not raise alarms to the Commissioner or the Governor of the State, Professor Babagana Zulum knowing in his disposition towards mediocrity regardless of who is involved. It is change in the old order that will bring about what will benefit the state when it comes to enlightening people on how to get the best out of the web of complex information needed to make the operations at the primary health care get better for instance.

The management of emergencies at the primary care level have seen many administrators on and off the forum of partners and each one, foreign or Nigerian did his or her best to better the system. But that does not mean that they do not have their limitations. One is talking about constraints ranging from management style to low capacity based on background training and sometimes downright timidity in stamping their feet to getting certain things right based on contemporary practices. And that is the reason why some partners used to jump into the drivers seat without permission from the State which is supposed to be the driver for everything as it concerns the building of the health sector and crushing emergencies like the on and off Polio, monkey pox, COVID-19 or Diphtheria as it is announced by the state epidemiologists from time to time.

The numerous interventions of emergency manager Beatrice Muraguri

Most of the partners have done their best. It’s not just bad news all the way because most critics of journalists believe they only do bad news without seeing the good sides of anything. I wish to report to you that we have seen quite a good number of good managers in the system. I can never forget the frantic efforts of Dr Collins Ovilli who jumped into the trenches with other doctors like Mohammed Guluze then emergency manager to ensure that the cholera mortality figures do not scream more than it was then. To us poisoned by insurgency in our backyard 50 dead is noise but 100 is really a screaming figure.
At present, Dr Beatrice Muraguri is one of the good souls of the WHO and has been making her presence felt in all the three states badly influenced by the lingering insurgency. Sometimes I have sat in that meeting hall in Damboa road, watching and listening to all her contributions and they are always for the common good of humanity. Sometimes she used to ponder and literally pressing the state to hurry up and sit tight on the drivers seat to crush these emergency headaches. To her as a clinical epidemiologist nothing is impossible if minds and hearts are brought together. Diphtheria for instance has reached 67 deaths as at the time of writing this report, do we want to wait until it gets to 100 before we deal with the challenges bedeviling the management of the disease? In as much as people are not perfect, Dr Beatrice is one woman who means well for Borno state. I have watched her from my binocular and I have seen her as an extremely transparent professional who has water tight empathy for the people of the entire BAY states. She is a distinguished African woman who understands how to serve humanity using the template of the state or council areas accordingly. She is not one of those whose bosses had questionable records before being asked to leave the WHO because of dubious activities aided by a commissioner name withheld sacked suddenly from the government. We have seen a theatre Commander here who shut down the activities of three non Governmental activities NGO’S when they ran foul of the laws of the land, “so none of them will tell us they are better than the people they met on ground” said General Adeniyi the then TC.

Co management of the sector with WHO

In spite of all these challenges for instance, since the advent of Dr Lawi Meshelia, a lot of things have changed for the better. Some of them were procedures which had to change even though with difficulty. Lawi drives the system like a task master and some of the partners used to the old system do not likne him for doing the right thing. But Lawi a foreign trained public health specialist like Beatrice is getting tremendous results. Even though I could read from his body language sometimes that he is not happy with the trickles of results he has been having in areas like the risk communication and surveillance pillars which have terribly shaky foundations going by what we see from the cholera and now diphtheria torments of the people. Since Lawi arrived as the incident manager, he has succeeded in gradually changing the old ways of doing a lot of things. Obviously this foreign trained public health specialist understands that emergencies in a system where most of the infrastructure has been destroyed by insurgency you virtually have to be regimented to get results. That means he must step on some toes if he must get results. Emergency is not the “na so we de do am” kind of phenomenon in which obvious mistakes are tolerated as the norm. It must be a near perfect phenomenon and that is what the distinguished university of Maiduguri (unimaid) trained Dr Lawi is tying to achieve. Before his advent, the ministry officials allowed pillar heads to just do what they wanted without proper capacity to back the system. Then came Shafiq Muhammad a Pakistani who for the first time between 2017 and 2018 tried to fix a suitable template in which the emergency system could work without forming themselves into a parallel ministry of health that would be dabbling into non emergencies. That system has stood the test of time till this day because it was a transparent system. But like a disease it relapsed into the old system with the exit of Dr Shafiq because the very foundation was not properly fixed in such a way that pillar heads who are ministry officials will own the system and drive the steering and change gears at their convenience. It was literally in disarray because nobody had dug the right hole for the pillars to be firmly rooted. Safiq learnt very fast from Martinez Jorge and drove the system from 2017 to 2018.By the time Jorge left Safiq was running at a speed faster than he met on the ground but there was a lot to be defined properly. When safiq left, we have had several other managers including Dr Kida who had to act as IM even at retirement. His style was actually different because he tolerated most of the excesses of the partners. Always smiling and not wanting to step on toes. With the advent of Dr Lawi, pillar heads and deputies meet regularly with him to state what they have achieved and he freely directs if he thinks they are driving down the wrong way. This kind of proactive professional on the drivers seat has come at a time when he is most needed. He is trusted by his permanent secretary Mohammad Guluze and Commissioner Professor Baba Mallam Gana a consultant Oncologist. Lawi has an almost regimented managerial style which most of them had not gotten used to. But one believes that as time goes on, they will surely get used to his style and we would wake up one day to discover that all the emergencies are gone with the dry wind of the sahel savanna.

Ex Raying the background of the current IM Lawi Meshelia

Dr Lawi Meshelia is one of those medical practitioners who benefitted from the extension of service years by five years by Governor Babagana Zulum which is why he is still in service. He was equally the arrow head in charge of the primary health care agency when Borno won the best primary health care agency prize money of $1.2m attached to a competition created to bring primary health care under one roof in Nigeria.
He holds a Masters Degree in Public Health (MPH) from Royal Tropical Institute, KIT in Amsterdam, Netherlands. And of course an MBBS from the University of Maiduguri. His exposure and broad mindedness to tolerate people stems from the fact that he did his secondary school at the Federal Government College Odogbolu in Ogun State and has traveled to almost all the states of the Federation. Dr Mshelia has attended courses with certificates in different aspects of public health in countries in Europe, East Africa, West Africa and South-Central Africa. He also attended numerous public health courses across Nigeria to stream line his focus. He has actually brought a semblance of stability and order since he took charge as IM.

Battling the second challenge which is the red tapes in the Ministerial system

I had to mention Lawi’s background so partners understand why he is so suited for the job and if care is not taken you may call him a slave driver because you must do things the right way he wants you to do it. If at the end of the day the results is tremendous, he hardly takes the glory but transfers it like a dutiful civil servant to his superiors in the ministry where he had worked all his days as a medical doctor. Ever ready for emergencies and working towards solving any red take that will stand in his way as long as it is not finance which he does not have power over. By the way, it is this finance that used to make some ngos misbehave and tend to want to take the steering wheel from state health managers.

Handling the first visit of the commissioner and his desires to win the next prize for the best primary health in Nigeria

When the Commissioner of Health paid his first visit to the emergency operation centre EOC recently, it was excitement galore all the way. He obviously never anticipated that so many partners will be lined up one by one introducing themselves and taking it upon themselves to uplift the health sector of Borno State which has been badly battered by insurgency. He came across as a very lively and friendly medical practitioner shaking hands with partners and thanking them for a job well done.
Professor Baba Gana commended the partners for being very supportive in their contributions to moving the sector from where they found it to where it should be. He assured that the molecular laboratory in Umaru Shehu Hospital will soon become a reference lab for the future of the sector especially in dealing with emerging emergencies. That to him will relax the delay in going to competent labs outside the state to get results of suspected cases as at when due. On vaccinations the British trained oncologist said that left to him, the country should begin to develop its own local capacity to produce vaccination which will go a long way in trampling upon stubborn emergencies like Diphtheria, Cholera and measles so that they do not linger longer than expected. How soon that will happen? Only time will tell.

After the damage of Boko Haram: Battling with the battered health sector in Borno state using the partnership model for emergencies

Sallah Homage: What VP Shettima told Shehu Of Borno In Maiduguri

By: James Bwala

The celebration of Eid-ul-Adha on June 28, 2023, will continue to hold a special place in Vice President Kashim Shettima of Nigeria’s heart for a variety of reasons. It will serve as a reminder of the commitment the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has made to Nigeria and Nigerians, in the hopes that the administration will continue to uphold its commitments to the people.

The Vice President, who prayed in Abuja with other devout people, then quickly traveled to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, to fulfill certain commitments, as has been his custom over the years. This entails going out to the people and demonstrating love, as well as learning from men’s experiences and receiving the elderly people’s blessing, who have been naturally there for him ever since he started on his path to greatness.

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As is customary, the Vice President made his first stop at the Shehu’s palace upon his arrival in Maiduguri, where he was greeted by His Royal Highness, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Al-amin El-kanemi, for the custom of Sallah homage. Even though it was Sallah Day, it is rare and enjoyable to get a guest like the Vice President to express needs and prayers. As a result, the Shehu of Borno showed his fatherly nature by constantly looking out for the children.

The Shehu of Borno State asked the vice president to look into the problems with the state’s road network, notably the Maiduguri-Ngala route, while praising him for his bravery and ongoing encouragement of the administration and people of Borno State.

In order to lessen the burden of youth unemployment in the state and to facilitate government efforts to provide assistance, he also brought to the Vice President’s attention the necessity of hiring young people from Borno in particular at various government ministries and establishments. This is important because many graduates are looking for such opportunities.

In response, the Vice President reaffirmed that the Tinubu administration would give the nation’s infrastructure problems swift attention. Additionally, all of the nation’s infrastructure problems, including those with the Gamboru Ngala, Dikwa, and Damboa roads in Borno State, would be resolved.

After paying respects, the Vice President spoke with the media and stated, “We went with His Excellency, the Governor, to pay respects to the Royal Highness, the Shehu of Borno. He brought up some very important issues for society, namely the lack of infrastructure. We sent him our warmest wishes on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“The Shehu discussed concerns with the roads that need to be resolved right away, particularly the Gamboru Ngala and Dikwa routes. It will undoubtedly be handled, as well as that of Damboa.

“I am here to assure him (the Shehu) of the maximum support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” the vice president said. “We shall overcome all of the difficulties we are facing together as a nation.”

In his remarks, the Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum, praised Vice President Shettima for being a grass-roots politician and a man of the people. He added that because it was Vice President Shettima’s first Eid visit to the State, “the visit is very important to the Borno people, and it is a homecoming for our son.”

Sallah Homage: What VP Shettima told Shehu Of Borno In Maiduguri