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

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.
Columns
Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traoré and the Revolution of IllusionsThree years after taking power, Traoré’s populist showmanship and defiant rhetoric mask a grim reality of insecurity, poverty, and political isolation — far from the Sankarist revival he promises.

Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traoré and the Revolution of Illusions
Three years after taking power, Traoré’s populist showmanship and defiant rhetoric mask a grim reality of insecurity, poverty, and political isolation — far from the Sankarist revival he promises.
By Oumarou Sanou
Three years after seizing power, Burkina Faso’s strongman, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, continues to project himself as the torchbearer of a new African revolution — a reincarnation of the late Thomas Sankara. Yet, his recent performance, marking his third anniversary in power, revealed more theatre than substance. It was less a presidential address and more a self-congratulatory monologue filled with sweeping claims, imagined enemies, and revolutionary soundbites detached from the harsh realities on the ground.
Facing a carefully selected group of journalists — those unlikely to ask uncomfortable questions — Traoré transformed what should have been a serious state briefing into a one-man show. His tone was confident, even prophetic, yet far removed from the desperation of a nation caught in the grip of terrorism, poverty, and displacement.
Traoré opened with drama: when he came to power, he claimed, the Burkinabe army had “barely a hundred weapons and 100,000 cartridges.” Such exaggerations might thrill loyalists but stretch credibility. Even local hunters would scoff at such arithmetic. Yet, the captain reassured his listeners that 15,000 men are now recruited annually and that Burkina Faso will soon “make its own weapons.”
How, and with what resources? There were no details — no factories, no engineers, no budget. It was a familiar populist pattern: imagination over implementation, rhetoric over realism.
Then came a moment of unintended honesty. “Politics in Africa,” Traoré lectured, “is the art of lying, deceiving, and flattering.” Was this a denunciation of the old political elite, a confession of his own methods, or the mission statement of his self-styled “Progressive Popular Revolution”?
Pressed for specifics, Traoré was blunt: “I’m not going to tell you the exact content.” In other words, the people are expected to believe in a revolution whose goals remain secret. It is governance through mystique — a convenient cloak for opacity and improvisation.
Perhaps the highlight — or low point — of the press conference came with the grand economic announcement: a tomato processing plant. While jihadists overrun villages and thousands of civilians flee daily, the government’s big victory was the promise of locally made tomato paste.
Agricultural processing is undoubtedly essential. But in a nation where more than half of the territory is under terrorist control, the symbolism felt jarring. The message seemed to be: Burkina may not be safe, but at least it will have sauce.
When policies fail, populists find scapegoats. In Traoré’s narrative, the Ivory Coast has now become the enemy. He accused Abidjan of serving as “the rear base of Burkina’s enemies” and even suggested that President Alassane Ouattara had signed a “non-aggression pact” with jihadists.
Such allegations are not just far-fetched — they are dangerous. They strain regional diplomacy, alienate neighbours, and distract from the government’s inability to secure its own borders. Ironically, when a journalist cited a poll showing that 66% of Ivorians viewed Burkina Faso’s leadership favourably, Traoré shrugged: “Really? I don’t follow that… I don’t watch those media outlets anymore.”
This was revealing. In a state where the media is censored and dissent suppressed, even positive news struggles to reach the leader’s ears. Traoré appears trapped within his own echo chamber — and Burkina Faso with him.
Three years on, the outcomes are damning. Burkina Faso remains the most terrorised country in the world. Thousands have been killed, millions displaced, and much of the countryside is beyond state control. Schools are closed, health centres are abandoned, and basic livelihoods are destroyed.
Despite fiery anti-Western speeches and his warm embrace of Moscow, little has changed on the ground. Russian mercenaries and propaganda can amplify slogans, but they cannot rebuild schools, protect farmers, or restart an economy in free fall.
And now, with Burkina Faso — alongside Niger and Mali — having withdrawn from ECOWAS, the country faces deepening isolation. What Traoré brands as “sovereign independence” increasingly looks like self-imposed solitude. Without regional cooperation, intelligence sharing, or trade partnerships, Burkina Faso risks turning into a garrison state — fortified in rhetoric but hollow in results.
In just three hours of speaking, Captain Traoré managed to: turn the Ivory Coast into the supposed headquarters of Sahel’s villains; declare tomato paste the new pillar of national resilience; and redefine politics as the art of deception.
But beyond the theatre, Burkina Faso continues to bleed. The ordinary people — farmers, students, traders, and families — pay the real price for this illusion of revolution.
Traoré may parade as the new Sankara, but three years on, his “revolution” looks more like a parody than a legacy. The real revolution Burkina Faso needs today is not one of slogans or posturing, but of results — restoring security, rebuilding trust, and reviving governance.
Until then, Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s revolution remains exactly what it appears to be: a show more than a solution.
Oumarou Sanou
Social critic, Pan-African observer and researcher focusing on governance, security, and political transitions in the Sahel. He writes on geopolitics, regional stability, and the evolving dynamics of African leadership. Contact: sanououmarou386@gmail.com
Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traoré and the Revolution of Illusions
Three years after taking power, Traoré’s populist showmanship and defiant rhetoric mask a grim reality of insecurity, poverty, and political isolation — far from the Sankarist revival he promises.
Columns
Pharm. Samuel Ishaya Gyang: Compass for Future Dividends of Political Democracy

Pharm. Samuel Ishaya Gyang: Compass for Future Dividends of Political Democracy
By: Balami Lazarus
I have been for youths’ growth and progress in either trades, vocations, professions, or any other legitimate endeavors that will self-empower them or be contributions to their communities later in life.
Before this write-up, I made several attempts to meet and speak with one of the young politicians on the Plateau, but all my efforts failed. Therefore, I decided to put down what I knew personally about the aforementioned political personality and equally what I was able to gather from investigations about this young politician in question who belongs to the youth gallery of politicians on the Plateau.
These young politicians are educated, energetic, focused, and professionals in their chosen careers. They are full of ideas of good governance, excellent blueprints, and roadmaps to future human and capital developments for progress in the realms of our political democracy with clarity of purpose and objectives that reflects our country’s motto, ‘unity and faith, peace and progress.’
The 1999 phase of our political democracy has ushered in mass numbers of youths into the political space, where they are actively participating in meaningful politicking, aspiring for elective positions under a political party of their choice, but with the passage of time, 25 years down the democratic line, we have seen and experienced the contributions of these young, able politicians with a quantum leap in political activities and contributions. Today you find them some elective positions, some with political appointments at both state and federal levels. Unlike in past years, where it was uncommon to find youths as young politicians occupying elective positions, talk less of political appointments. Rather, they are used as political thugs and later dumped when elections are over.
But here on the Plateau, this new dawn has provided the youths who are purposeful the chance and space to participate and vie for political offices, having fulfilled all necessary requirements. I hereby in this work correctly, sincerely, and truthfully declare and attest as to it as a political affidavit that you can find them in many political elective offices and appointments as council chairmen, secretaries, members of assembly aides, and councillors, to mention but a few.
Moreover, my political findings have clearly revealed that Plateau State is a common ground for youth in politics. And more importantly, it has been a healthy launching pad where many more shall reach higher elective positions.
Hon. (Pharm) Samuel Ishaya Gyang is one among such young politicians on the Plateau that has willingly decided to offer himself to serve his people through politics. Investigations have shown that Samuel Gyang is well accepted by the larger members of his community/constituency—Jos Northwest. And to a larger extent, Pharmacist Gyang has gone beyond the Jos North Local Government Area, where he served as secretary with good political records of performance. ‘We have felt him in the distributions of fertilizers in the local government.’
Political rumors going around said that Hon. Samuel Ishaya Gyang is likely to contest once again for the House of Assembly, Jos Northwestconstituency.
Well, there is nothing bad in that. The political spreadsheet is wide and large enough to contain aspirants. Samuel Gyang, keep up the good work and aspire for other high political offices.
Balami, a publisher/columnist. 08036779290
Pharm. Samuel Ishaya Gyang: Compass for Future Dividends of Political Democracy
Columns
My binoculars: Nigeria’s lingering security Challenges 65 years after, DAPOWA and General Musa’s non Kinetic approach to ending the brutal wars

My binoculars: Nigeria’s lingering security Challenges 65 years after, DAPOWA and General Musa’s non Kinetic approach to ending the brutal wars
By: Bodunrin Kayode
Watchers of war campaigns in the different theatres in the country can easily tell you that if there is any active celebrated warrior against insurgents in Nigeria today, it is General Chris Musa, Nigeria’s Defense Chief. As a matter of fact, if Army headquarters had allowed this General to stay a year longer in the Hadin Kai theatre as Commander (TC), the war in the North East of the country would have ended using the kinetic. This is because, just before his transfer to the respected infantry corp, he had concluded plans to go after the insurgents in the belly of the Tumbus Islands which had always been the most difficult terrain in the lake Chad for previous TCs who had dared to walk the north east of Nigeria.
The Hadin kai war theatre has seen quite a number of Major Generals since the command and control centre of the entire military was moved from Abuja to Maiduguri. Army Generals like Chris Musa came around during a terrible period of the history of the war. Manpower was at its lowest ebb while other theatres in the country needed more boots on the ground too. Equipment was not enough to effectively stand up to the back and forth being encountered in the front lines of the Hadin kai theatre. The list goes on and on and 16 October ones have passed by with the military cemetery on baga road keeps expanding yet no end in sight.
We the war correspondents had a litany of woes to narrate each time our troops were hurt and some buried like it happened in Metele. Others were merely missing in action like it happened during the Vietnamese war. Now that we have a palace full of generals, it is no longer a case of using the theatres as practicals for the boys. Most of the generals who saw wars in Freetown, Port Loko, Bo, Moyamba, Monrovia up to the failed Sudan are struggling to pin their troops down.
Stabilizing the uncertainties in the Palace
General Farouk Yahaya had just started to understand the terrain and tactical inadequacies in terms of logistics and men in the Hadin Kai theatre. The then serving Army Chief Attahiru suddenly dies in a plane crash. There was deep uncertainty in the Palace because so many Generals saw themselves as qualified to take over his position. But General Farouk had to proceed when it was clear that he must move from the front line to head the Army as the new Chief following the demise of Chief Attahiru in the plane crash. Thus creating the vacancy for General Chris Musa who had become the new TC. General Musa was fortunate, he came to replace General Farouk Yahaya who had to leave the theatre suddenly to become the nation’s Army Chief. For us watchers, we knew that this sudden twist with fortune was when oga Farouk had a complete overview of the realities on ground and how to counter same. Happily, that was why some of us felt very safe with the disposition and management style of the new TC then General Chris Musa.
Of course, he was getting better equipment from his predecessor General Farouk who knew where the shoe pinches, having had a very close shave with war confrontation on the frontline with the insurgents. All the Generals who had worked in the command and control centre here in Maiduguri as TC’s had their strengths and weaknesses. Watchers could easily sense these idiosyncratic tendencies by the way they respond to embarrassing situations like the mistakes of their field commanders who lost equipment and men. Or the way some carried the media as vital partners in the war against terror.
Between the sudden deaths of Chiefs Attahiru and Labaja there was an interregnum of Commanders displaying their strength and weaknesses by the way they handled the Kinetic and non kinetic.But the Chiefs appointed to the Palace never lost focus which is ending the war till this day that General Abdulsalam Abubakar another celebrated warrior is the TC.
Painfully, for over fifteen years of fighting however, the military had struggled to end the existence of boko haram insurgents in the north east theatre but like an infectious epidemic, the irritants have refused to give up. The more they are taken out or degraded, the more they find a way to recreate themselves. This back and fourth made nonsense of the efforts of some of these fine officers who have served the country here. Most of the TC’s mixed the kinetic and non kinetic while some maintained their grip specifically with the kinetic because their political masters obviously will not negotiate with terrorists. But how long shall we go on fighting a non conventional war like this? Does the political leadership of this country have a plan B to avoid this mounting loss of resources?
Improving on the infusion of the non kinetic as a matter of policy in Counter Terrorism
For the last decade I have watched this war in the theatre, one can easily pick out those TC’s who had grip of the kinetic and non kinetic. General Musa was a strong kinetic advocate whose vision was to end the war in record time. Army policy on how long they stay in the front line deprived us of his on the spot expertise to march troops into the Tumbus.
He however started developing non kinetic blue prints by involving the media in all his doings before leaving. He had a generation of religious people he used to reach out to till this day for them to assist in stopping their wards from being radicalized by the insurgents. He was responsive to the little things that touched on the life of troops.
But for how long will this policy of the kinetic from the military continue in the face of lingering resistance from the insurgents in this asymmetric warfare? Is it possible to win this war with only the kinetic focus which the former and present Commander in Chief are obviously insisting on? Is it not getting to the time to return to the table which has refused to turn in spite of the billions of naira that has been sunk into logistics and the procurement of superior platforms? For watchers of events in the entire theatre, it is actually not as if there has not been a deliberate policy for the non kinetic. It’s just that the burden of application was left on the shoulders of each Theatre Commander as an albatross which they needed to carry as they managed this strange war.
This is obviously why the present Defense Chief General Musa, is now leading from the front on a serious campaign aimed at stepping up the non Kinetic objective to end the war. He recently launched a book titled: ‘Taking A Stand Against Insurgency, Terrorism and Banditry in Nigeria, Admonition to Nigerian Youths’ which was authored by him for the young people within the nation’s war theatres. Even though such a book would be read mostly by students who can read and write, it will surely go a long way in helping out so that such age brackets who are mostly generation Zees would not have to be lured into being radicalized like the corp member who was seized by the insurgents only for him to get to the edge of his freedom which he ultimately rejected and returned to the insurgents whom he called his brothers when doors of freedom was opened for him. Nobody knows if he is still alive out there today.
Why the government should support the building of a fence on our borderline to end insurgency
Recently again, Defence Chief General Musa called for the country’s borders with its four neighbors to be completely fenced to curb the entrance of armed groups amid escalating insecurity.
He made this call in the light of the fact that the military has been over stretched by massive security issues which has sent hundreds of people to the great beyond. General Musa maintained that “border management is very critical,” citing countries like Pakistan with 1,350 km fence with Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia having a 1,400 km barrier with Iraq as successful precedents. This to the General is the first time a top Nigerian official has publicly suggested such a measure to safeguard its sovereignty with other countries, because of the level of insecurity.
Nigeria he pointed borders Niger Republic, Cameroon, Benin, and Chad, which are all grappling with escalating insurgent campaigns across the Sahel. Nigeria’s longest border (1,975 km) is with Cameroon. It also shares 1,500 km with Niger and 85 km with Chad. There is no reason why such a fence should not be built. As a matter of fact, it would create massive employment for hundreds of young people who otherwise would have taken up arms against their own people. This fence General Musa is advocating for can be built purely from the social responsibility of the numerous billionaires the nation has paraded since independence. When this is built, we would have less casualties in the front lines and less women will become widows nation wide.
DEPOWA’s plans for a College or Academy in Abuja for orphans of service personnel.
Meanwhile, in the spirit of the ongoing non kinetic campaign led by the defense chief, his wife Lilian Musa has said that the Association plans a big academy to take care of children of fallen heroes. She made the pronouncement when she came to Maiduguri recently to flag off a thank you campaign for troops who have been sacrificing their lives for the country. Lilian said that the master piece edifice will be completed in phases because of the largeness adding that phase one will be completed in September 2027. Just two years from now. “Every qualified child of a fallen hero will receive automatic scholarship in the school. 100% of kids of fallen heroes will receive scholarship to attend schools nationwide. This from my binoculars is a noble way to reach out to troops who always feel unhappy with the dynamics surrounding their welfare.
Showing gratitude to troops
Lilian appealed to the people to actually see the pains of troops who daily sacrifice their lives nationwide. He expressed satisfaction for the campaign which has just been flagged off in this particular theatre. To this lady who has seen it all in the barracks, the nation must continue to show gratitude to troops for the endless sacrifice and risks they keep taking to keep the people safe.
” Let’s make thank you to troops a household slogan nationwide. As a wife of a soldier, i understands the pains of the troops especially what they have been doing which is why we are around to say thank you in our own way. This thank you tour is actually going to be a movement aimed at bridging the gap between the civil and military sector so that there would synergy.
“I believe also that the media is a critical partner which is why we are having this parley and which is why I want to call upon you to be deeply involved in sharing our campaign stories and visuals to the populace.”
Madam Lilian Commended Governor Babagana Zulum for his support for the troops in the theatre. She said that she was on a nationwide thank you tour and is actually flagging it off from Hadin Kai because of the importance of the theatre to the stability of the country. While weeping openly to sympathize with families who have lost loved ones, Lilian noted that she will God’s willing extend the “thank you” campaign to all active theatres where troops have been fighting to rid the nation of criminals.
My binoculars: Nigeria’s lingering security Challenges 65 years after, DAPOWA and General Musa’s non Kinetic approach to ending the brutal wars
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