A triad of Nigerian Air Force L39 Albatros advanced trainer/light attack jets fly past in tight formation
DAILY TRUST
23 May, 2014
by Ahmed Mohammed,
Bauchi
Fighter jets have begun conducting raids on camps set up by suspected Boko Haram militants in forests of Bauchi State, security sources and residents of nearby villages told Daily Trust yesterday.
Residents of Ganjuwa and Darazo local government areas said they had sighted military aircraft heading towards the forests and heard sounds of bombings in the early hours of yesterday. Suspected Boko Haram militants had been reported to be operating in the two LGAs, as well in neighbouring Gwaram of Jigawa State.
Locals had said that since December armed men were setting up camps in forests, infiltrating rural communities, engaging in recruitment drive and launching regular attacks in towns and villages of the two states.
Yesterday, residents of Soro in Ganjuwa LGA and Darazo said the military conducted bombings from around 5am to 8am in forests located in the two areas. They said they heard loud sounds of explosives from the forests where camps of armed men were reportedly located.
Some people in rural communities said heavy bombing sent shock waves that were felt in the villages. A man who spoke to our reporter said home buildings and the ground “vibrated” as a result of the bombings. Locals said shortly after the explosions, they saw a Nigerian military aircraft hovering in the skies.
A reliable security source in Bauchi confirmed that the military has started an operation in the forests but did not give details. The source said after the bombings, ground troops are expected to conduct a mop-up exercise in order to arrest any remaining armed men.
Insurgents have been reported to be operating in the Balmo forest in Darazo, Burra forest in Ningi, Soro in Ganjuwa,another forest between Zara-Miya also in Ganjuwa, as well as in Yuga forest in Toro LGA, all in Bauchi State. Some of the areas share border with Gwaram in Jigawa, where gunmen had also been conducting deadly raids.
‘Boko Haram presence’
A Daily Trust investigation had found that at least 15 communities in Bauchi and Jigawa had seen presence of suspected Boko Haram men, who move around freely wielding guns, preaching their strand of religion and trying to financially induce young men to join the sect.
Locals first reported noticing “strange” men late last year, and villagers said they told the authorities but little seemed to have been done since then. Because of that,the group’s numerical strength appeared to have swelled, and its members got emboldened.
Since January, deadly attacks have been launched in many towns and villages in the two states. Many vehicles have been seized by gunmen along the highways; banks have been raided; while police and school buildings, as well as telecoms installations, have been destroyed.
The presence of these people is also blamed for several cases of kidnapping-for-ransom recorded in some of the areas. In one instance, up to N20 million was said to have been paid to secure the release of an abducted man.
Bauchi villages that have seen Boko Haram presence and activity in varying degrees include Shadarki, Dodwu,Soro and Miya in Ganjuwa LGA; Yelwan Darazo, Shadarki and Darazo in Darazo LGA; Burra in Ningi LGA; as well as in Jama’are and Itas-Gadau LGAs.Insurgent attacks have also been recorded in Shira and Misau LGAs.
Jigawa villages affected include Gwani, Kadale, Zimburun, Fagam, Basirka and Tage villages, all in Gwaram Local Government Area.Gwaram town itself has seen a deadly attack last month.
The military action in the affected Bauchi areas yesterday came a week after the Joint Task Force personnel were reported to have killed 60 suspected insurgents in Jigawa State.
Beegeagle's Blog 
‘…Locals first reported noticing
“strange” men late last year, and
villagers said they told the authorities
but little seemed to have been done
since then. Because of that,the
group’s numerical strength appeared
to have swelled, and its members got
emboldened…’
Why do we ever attend to issue in or on time?
Meant why DON’T we…
Was beginning to wonder if we still have an airforce!
Yes!we do have an air force,I suspect the raid was carried out by two F-7 Airguard fighter jets from TAC.I say them flying back to makurdi with drop tanks.Well done fly boys!
I meant saw not say
I echo ghash 10, “well done fly boys.” The way to go!
Its been a while since I heard about a combat sortie say over a month plus while BH have been active weekly or more! Or am I the only one who have noticed that when we give them a breather they come back stronger and their attack more dexterous! While I’m happy to find out that our airforce still has force and not just air, may I at least hope that we can have a continuing presence in the air there by reducing the convoys from 50+ trucks to less than 5!
Can the F7s be configured for ground attack? Didn’t think they could slow down enough for precison strikes.
This is where the Tucanos, if indeed they have been delivered, would earn their stripes.The Alpha jets are streched enough as it is.
Oga AOk, precision bombing is not about speed these days but the bombs’ guidance! The question is if the bombing was precise! That would mean we have either laser guided or GPS bomb in our kitty! Now that would be a game changer
They should be afraid of us than we of them, keep up the pressure.
Meanwhile, Finance minister on defence spendings
Abuja – The Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Friday said the Federal Government disbursed N130.7 billion to the defence sector from January to April.
Okonjo-Iweala made this known while briefing newsmen during breakdown of the 2014 budget signed by the President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja.
She said: “Defence spending is top in everything; you know that military establishment need new things to assist them in their work and ours will not be different.
“No budget will be enough to meet their demands but for now, I think the sector takes almost a trillion of the budgets.
“To be specific, they have about N968.127 billion and we have disbursed N130.7 billion between January and April 2014,’’ she said
The minister explained that N85.9billion out of the amount disbursed was for personnel cost, saying that the military paid its personnel because it was yet to be integrated into the IPPIS.
Okonjo-Iweala said that N3.8 billion approved by the President was being processed and would soon be released, adding that there were other additional spending.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05/fg-disburses-n130-7bn-to-defence-sector-in-4-months-okonjo-iweala/
be more afraid of us*
I hope there were teams waiting for the green light to move in after the air force raids.
Did she say “To be specific, they have about N968.127 billion”? That’s $6 billion. Generals, this is some interesting news!!!
So where did the 6 billion dollars go to. I don’t see any $6 billion on our troops. Although she gave the amount approved, but was the approved money used in purchasing additional pick-up trucks for our troops?
I agree.
She should release the full break down in expenditure.
Nothing is going to happen to our national secrets.
Where was the 6 billion usd spent ??? On what Items ?? if they were all spent on troops welfare, why the growing chorus of complaints by frontline troops ?
Madam NOI, I beg, don’t let any one taint your pedigree or reputation . Release all the information, and let the chips fall where it may.
She said 130Billion Naira disbursed. That’s less than US$1Billion.
Based on what Oga Solorex had said, the army is taking some time to indoctrinate some of it’s new equipment.
You guys are not asking the right questions: what does it mean that “they have N968.127 billion” ? Doesn’t that contradict her claim that “we have disbursed N130.7 billion between January and April 2014” ? SO in paper they say the armed forces have a trillion but in reality they give the armed forces only N130 billion.
Why are we so suspicious of everything? The budget is a 12 month budget. The N130b was disbursed jan to april. pending budget approval.
Also in the version i read she mentioned that out of the N130b, about N85b was for salaries and allowances. A reflection of the challenge in other aspects of the economy where the capital budget is only 30-40% because of the excessive recurrent expenditure (salaries, allowances, operational costs etc).
The double delta wings of the F-7NI is supposed to allow for better slow speed control and maneuverability .
While the delta wing promotes high speed performance, that is needed for interceptors.
The idea of the double delta wing featured on NAF, BAF,PAF and Namibian F-7s, is a cheap way to recreate the aerodynamics of a variable geometry fighter like the mig-23, the SU-24, the panavia Tornado and the original design bearer, the F-111 Aardvark.
So, NAF’s F-7NI should be appropriately labeled as a Fighter/Ground Attack jet.
That said, it is still an outdated piece of shit.
A pig with lipstick, is still a pig.
Chief Ifiok,
Do you really think we have precision/ laser guided munitions in NAF inventory? On the plus side, you can all read about two NAF strike missions in Sierra Leone back in the day, in Al J Venter’s book Modern Mercenary in Combat. Superlative read especially as they used cluster bombs then.
Yeah men,
His book also features Col. Neil Ellis formerly of EO and Sandline.
You know, the guy I hope NAF would consult with in training our growing Hind / mi-17 fleet.
NAF use of cluster bomb units, and magnetic rockets, was very fearsome for those on the receiving end.
I had a contact in sierra leone, that described NAF’s daily raids in enforcing the embargo against the AFRC/RUF government.
All I know, is that NAF’s L-39s and MB-339CDs are missing in action, and we don’t know why.
It’s all alpha jet alpha jet tout le temps.
If the F-7NI indeed, carried out these strikes, that would mean that the Pakistani influence on our F-7NI squadron is beginning to pay dividends.
I really doubt that NAF has invested in precision strike bombs yet. We barely have jets to drop em.
Though the raid came a bit late bearing in mind that the info had been out since december. Nevertheless, NAF bringing in the F-7 as confirmed by oga Gbash10 into the fray is good. I’d prefer the air raid was done late in the evening and the troops on ground sweep the location through the night, but i understand this wont work cos of lack of NVG’s.
Chief,
Our spec ops units, all have NVGs.
At least we saw entire units wearing them during our 50 years celebration.
But, I agree they should be available to more units, if not all.
NVGs would be a game changer, if it is widely used by NA in the North east.
Doubt if the guys who flew the strikes in Sierra Leone then are still operational now. Hope they are instructors at least but doubt it as NAF are still advertising for Alpha instructors.
With the intensity of missions, don’t think the airframe life of the Alphas will last long.
Oga AOK, its not inconceiveable for us not to have precision bomb especially LGB! LGB kits could be purchased from say Israel and added to iron bomb and that makes a precision strike bomb! Designation can be carried out by another plane or troops on the ground say the airforce SF guys. As for the budget, let’s not forget that its the security budget not defence as it includes all the players in that space! I think Oga Beegz did some analysis if it earlier in the year! That said, releasing less than $1bn (for the security forces) of $6bn in 4 of 12 months is abysmal and this poor budget implementation has always been the koko of the issue and perhaps account for some mysterious asset that pops up without being in the budget of the year or the year b4! All in the name of secrecy! If say $1.5bn had been released in 4 months, I would really have been impressed! Thus, we are hovering around the ~50+% implementation mark and I’m not impressed. Now, the figure of $6bn isn’t supposed to include the $1bn the president announced as intervention fund abi! Moreover, my thought was that the funds would be channeled into a plan of procurement and released immediately and not released piece meal! The truth is that as it stands, we need a lot more information to see the clear picture and for ones in nation budgeting and implementation, we need accountability perhaps more than some of this cloak and dagger nonsense!
Spot on !!
Most of the $6bn is recurring expenditure – salaries, benefits, barracks and operational costs.
There has to be a special operational budget for COIN in the north east. The armed forces should not be forced to “manage” operational tempo just because they are trying to keep to budget.
What I heard on CHANNELS TV was that for Jan-April 2014, 130 billion naira was released to the defence sector. It was all about budgetary expenditure
That has nothing to do with the US$1 billion Special Procurement Fund announced by Mr President this month.
“The minister explained that N85.9billion out of the amount disbursed was for personnel cost, saying that the military paid its personnel because it was yet to be integrated into the IPPIS.”
Hmm,this “personnel costs”does this include operational costs? Is this just salaries?
Dumb bombs can be made smart,with a laser guidance kit, and its quite cheap too. $20k to $25k depending.
That would include salaries, operational and training costs. Certainly not about salaries alone.
The Turkish roketsan cirit is operational! If u want something special, integrate it into our mil mi 24/35, A109s and Tucanos, integrate airforce SF say to per coy and watch them call down ‘Aduma’ on BH heads
@ $20,000 per rocket, $20mn will get u 1,000 for precision strike
Fellow combatants on Beegeagle Battalion, a little input of NAF’s current capability as known today, exempting what NAF has in arsenal and has not disclosed.
First help me tell Madam Okonjo Iweala to stop denominating Nigerian military budget in naira, shay na naira we go take buy weapons from overseas? All weapons in global open market are denominated in dollars, so can she buy ordinary propeller driven Super Tucano aircraft brand new for =N= 1 Billion ? The cheapest Tucano stripped down to dry bone level with minimum add on hardware for combat effect, is priced at =N= 1.5 Billion per unit.
Madam Ngozi, I like you o, very patriotic genius economist….but if you don’t pour out all the military service chief’s demanded and urgently needed billions of dollars you are hiding inside foreign reserve accounts of our war ravaged Nigeria, I will take your matter to God in prayer o !
Please stop fooling us with billions of naira allocation to military, salary/allowances alone for our approximately 150,000 man armed forces could be roughly estimated at close to =N= 100 Billion every year, we too know some accounting o, no be only you Madam finance, so what is =N= 130 Billion naira you gave our military ? Groundnut and pop corn money !
See Sudan and Angola spending far more than Nigeria on defence. Abeg, finance minister should convert all the money into dollars and let army chief tell her that one CS/VP3 MRAP costs about =N= 90 Million per unit and only about 12 soldiers can ride inside it, So how much do we need for a 120,000 man army ?
NAF CURRENT COMBAT CAPABILITY
=====================================================================
Local champion to intimidate Cameroon and Cotonou Republiuqe, that is one side of NAF, however, the other side of Nigerian air force is world class pilots, dedicated and honourable men of valour, armed with poor and ineffective equipment of 1980s level of capability. Truth hurts.
F-7NI jets have Italian Grifo-7 radar with ability to look down on ground targets up to an estimated range of approximately 20km, a good range for which we have no weapon to use, no guided bomb in Nigeria unless NAF just bought it. The NAF pilots will just detect the enemy in vain from 20km range and cannot do anything against the enemy until they are vertically overhead to drop bombs or at best use unguided rockets with range estimate 2km to maybe hopefully 5km.
To do ground attack mode, F-7 supersonic speed can be dropped to above it’s stall speed which is the lowest possible fight speed for a jet fighter, this enables slow speed to sight the enemy on ground, avoid friendly fire mistakes on our own army, then engage the enemy at close range like a World War II ancient air force, giant Nigeria has no air to ground attack Stand-Off weapons and no Laser Targeting pods. Uganda has no oil and gas, but their air force will wipe out the entire Nigerian air force in a few minutes of combat with Uganda’s Su-30 Flanker jets.
What a pity.
So, why F-7 jets for jungle attack? Bad choice, the good choice is Tucano or Mi-35 Hind.
Where are they? Tucano never land? Mi-35 Hind helicopters have been silent in combat for about a month now.
What is wrong with NAF ? Boko kidnapped girls, drove for one hour towards border maybe, then no Alpha jet of Mi-35 Hind could interdict with rounds after rounds of smoke bombs and smoke rocket pods and delay their escape with our girls, while we use Mi-171 terminator to land ambush party ahead of them….Boko should enter the ambush covered and blinded by smoke screens.
That fight go plenty o, people go die small, smoke will blind Boko while Nigerian army uses thermal vision equipment, the whole world would have been clapping hands for Nigerian army and air force by now, but instead Museveni is posting message of insult and incompetence to us all the way from Uganda with ‘Love’.
NAF is a local champion built to intimidate nations like Togo republic. Truth hurts, but ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
NAF pilots, I salute you for your sacrifice, a carpenter using his teeth to remove nails from wood knows the job but lacks equipment.
The country is Nigeria and Naira is it’s currency.
If you don’t use your own currency, who will?
Please, more respect for our Finance Minister.
The tone with the finance minister is more than appropriate.
She is from the west, and is used to vigorous questioning by the public and press, unlike most Nigerian politicians.
She has a stated disdain for defense expenditure, and some of us have a problem with that.
Using the large naira denominated figures to confuse the debate, is a well worn practice by politicians.
Complete transparency is the answer.
What item or service we bought, what was paid for it, what is recurring, and so on.
we need to know exactly were to place the blame for our soldiers lack, so we can exercise our redress at the ballot box.
Democracy presupposes, that you have an informed electorate.
@asorockweb, read my post again, I started with saying Finance Minister is someone I like and acknowledged her patriotic economic genius. However, I know her to be anti-military power kind of person who believes in a strong economy with a weak military, and now Boko Haram is teaching her new lessons.
Could Madam hold her World Economic Forum meeting held some days ago in Abuja without Nigerian military protection? NO !
I won’t keep quiet while she uses common tactics to dribble Nigerians to justify her starving us of new military weapons/platforms purchases. She is an economist and we accountants know how to handle them, they know whom they cannot joggle figures with.
She wants to reduce corruption in the army, okay no problem. I guess that refers to salaries/allowances/pensions because it is not easy to steal money meant for Super Tucano or MRAPS when the sum is approved, contracts signed, funds transferred to manufacturer and made public, we all know what we have paid for, and the president can give accent to such equipment purchases. If we don’t see equipment paid for arriving at the contract delivery due date, then we can shout and demand explanation from the military.
P18N stealth ship was publicized and we have seen her on sea trials, and delivery date shifted twice, but we don’t worry as we have seen the warship at sea.
Secrecy in weapons acquisition would prevent us from monitoring any sign of corruption, but as I said, it is easy for military men to steal salary/allowances/pension but hard to steal funds for equipment when contract has been signed and money paid directly to manufacturer.
My take is, don’t use economist’s usual trick to blindfold Nigerians about our budget of billions of naira spent on defence when 150,000 soldiers salary/allowances alone is about =N= 100 Billion every year recurrent expenditure, or scoping us that Finance Ministry released =N= 1 Billion naira to military for equipment when that money cannot even buy one poorly armed Super Tucano.
Nigeria has over $40 Billion foreign cash dollar reserves, yet see our poorly kitted soldiers with no single auto grenade launcher and see that photo circulating now, Vickers MBT in battle with heavily rusty and corroded body parts driving around shamefully in NE war.
Due Process Regulation is still functioning there in Abuja to stop corruption, let her insist on that, but she must stop telling the president that Nigerian military is not a viable/worthy investment, and their is corruption in American military too, I don’t want to post it here and derail this thread, has America started starving her military because of the corruption there? NO.
http://www.punchng.com/news/bharam-service-chiefs-bomb-okonjo-iweala/
.
Nigerian officials and minister should ALWAYS use the naira to denominated financial transactions.
Always.
pls i don’t understand wot u wrote.and bros u use wot u hav to get wot u want
bros, do you know how cheap an appropriate attack aircraft is ?
I mean ex east german SU-22 fitter is a much better attack jet, and is being snapped up by private citizens for tens of thousands.
Using f-7 even with the double delta wing in a world where sudan is purchasing su-25s and su-24 dedicated heavy attack and strike platforms for much less than the 251 million usd we paid is really pathetic.
Anyway, we have jet trainers, that would do better in the attack role, money was budgeted to upgrade them since president OBJ came to power, and they are still missing in action.
Chief, it’s as bad as it gets. We have to be honest with ourselves.
I know a lot has been promised, but I guess we will see it when we see it.
Well stated.
@Augustine
F-7 jet in ground attack training for the PAF, secondary role for F-7. Primary role is interceptor.
The minister os finance is trying to justify the budget allocation to the military saying 967 billion naira was allocated to it in the budget. She didnt tell us that almost 40 percent of that amount will never be released as is customary for our budgeting system. Many Nigerians are already commenting wondering why our military is complaining about funding when they have close to a trillion naira to spend. I read Col tony nyiam’s interview in punch this morning. He did justice to what is happening with regards to the war. Nigerians need to be enlightened to know that this particular war is different. Government needs to do its part in equipping our military, sign defence pacts especially those that transfer technology and setting up of production or assembly plants here in nigeria. I think its high time NIA starts to secretly steal technology from other country. It can develop its capacity by collaborating with mossad who has a history of stealing the military production plans of other country and infusing it into its defence program. We can do this with adequate planning and funding.
Thank you sir.
Methinks Col. Nyiam should be reinstated as a General in NA.
I have been very careful not to say this, but the MOD and Military are actually very disappointing when it comes to procurement process.
I can assure this community that for the first time in several years money is not really the problem of the military as it use to be-we have a new problem, it called “accessing fund based on laid down rules” year on year the military budget are not fully spent even up to 60% percent (surprised). Many people ascribe this to finance ministry ineptitude, this is very untrue- the finance ministry will release your funds once you meet the required process- There are some platforms that have been provided for 3 years ago that have not been bought till date due to squabbles and rifts-always the Fault of MOD or Military!
Till date , the military is yet to be incorporated into the integrated payment system (4 years after it started-its one flimsy reason after the other) that allow FG to pay your money into your account upon receiving approval from your overseeing authority- yet allowances are embezzled and soldier become riotous. Personnel payment as never been delayed by the ministry.
The Finance ministry is also pushing for more transparency in procurement process ( against the will of politicians, middle men and Military),MOD wants to be the specifying agent and final approval body for procurement against the will of Military chiefs. Simple things like documentation, planning and approvals keeps funds out for months.
The new system implement by Madam Minister does not allow too many things to run pari-pasu ( recipe for corruption) and you don’t get money for a stage if you have not fully implemented preceding stages satisfactorily. At times request for funding based on contract documentation is not properly done and cannot even sail through a single table. This is great sanity that the military and MOD must learn to conform with. During previous session she made reference to platforms that were bought and not inducted-the plan is buy what you need not what you feel like! She also cannot understand why people don’t get paid on time-salary has never been delayed before.
The finance ministry will not throw money at you for fighting terrorists-you will have to come and collect it based on rules-else the money might actually end up with the very terrorist you are fighting.
My brothers, our problems has left the realm of funding and it is now the need for deep military rejigging and procurement process standardization-This is a universal problem though faced even by China & Russia on a very much grandeur scale.
Thanks for further clarifying this mess brother.
these folks are doing financial gymnastics with the water needed to put out the fire on our burning house.
The CIC has to somehow get involved, and make things happen for his soldiers.
I have called it an extra systemic route.
Since the system is clogged with corruption and double dealing idiots.
Also, stealing from the defense budget should be made a treasonous offence.
This is because the ultimate result of that theft is to undermine the armed forces of Nigeria.
So, it is not the same as stealing a teachers salary, even though that too is reprehensible.
Finally, Russia and China somehow find a way, not to leave their troops stranded in battle.
We need clarity, so folks can be held accountable.
I am sorry but I deeply feel Madame Okonjo Iweala is a crook and she needs to vacate her position. I hold her responsible for the deaths suffered by the army. Many Nigerians confuse Naira with dollars and that is what she is using to fool them. If the money is small then write it in Naira to make it look,big, but I bet you she will express her salary in dollars to make it look small.
Oga Igbi,
If you insist on calling our finance minister a crook, please provide some evidence or have you be come a “Sahara Reporter”?
I called her a crook because she made Nigerians believe that security is futile, and she slashed their security budget and now look at where we are. Our defence chiefs keep crying out that her office is not giving them their funds. These are my reasons among others. I didn’t say I had which i don’t, but it seems that she is the one controlling the money, unless her title is just an illusion.
Without seeing the name, I always know who is talking when u write. U alway sound like a Nigerian politician and one of any of our General Overseers. Always deluded
Oga solorex, thanks a lot for the clarifications. The minister’s method makes sense to me. This process would no doubt reduce drastically the cases of corruption.
Indeed, oga solorex. We know the Navy’s strategic long term procurement plan,and their level of completion.Yes, they have multiple funds available but they are keeping up to target and have a plan open to public scrutiny. What is the Army and Air-force’s procurement plan? How effective will it be against current threats?What is their vision of the force in the Sub-region,Africa and the world? Who do they consider as future threats to our sovereignty and security and how do they intend to neutralise the threat? What platform/systems are obsolete in a future battle ground and should be deleted or converted?We cannot expect to be amongst the top twenty countries in terms of GDP by 2020,and not defend ourselves like them.
Thanks for taking the time to be factual about real issues.
The richest “general” I know retired from the navy accounting department.
Could you give us his name.
And please tell me about the income of madame minister.
Publicly give out his name?!
That would be slander – I have no evidence that he stole his money. I only know that he is rich.
I have no idea what the finance minster earns but we shouldn’t confuse ministers with senators.
Okonjo Iweaka, the woman who brags to the World Bank how she has consistently to reduce allocation and spending to non productive aspects of the economy, especially the military lol. meeen this country is a paradox. The truth hurts but the Jonathan administration is inept at handling this crises. We dont need Boko Haram to destroy this country because the truth is they cabt, our present crop of politicians are a threat to democracy and national security. Let us be vigilant, anyone following events in Thailand will know what im talking about.
As from the moment the minister of finance does that bragging and especially in the presence of foreigners, you have got to know there is something very wrong about her, I think she is very naif and that she is occupying a position she wasn’t trained for.
http://www.punchng.com/news/bharam-service-chiefs-bomb-okonjo-iweala/
The thing I truly find troubling is the lack of PATRIOTIC ZEAL in the minister, you can rejig the number play the numbers in dollars or in Naira, OGA AUGUSTINE all the 2 star Generals some whom are classmates of the one three star general can’t all be lying all at the same time.
There is a dearth of procurement when it pertains to the army, we have confirmed reports from OGA GBASH AND ANOTHER BLOGGER that procurement started just this feb and another procurement via an atonov “AN” was sighted as recently as this month.
NOI MAY BE THE DARLING OF THE WORLD BANK AND IMF but this is the only democracy we have and we need a system of ramped up procurement NOW. GEJ WHO SHOULD KNOW WAS FORCED TO GIVE A SPEECH AT THE W.E.F .SAYING MORE FUNDS SHOULD BE SPENT ON THE ARMY.
History will remember as one of those Nigerians who constantly weakened the armed forces or who in Nigeria’s time of need rose to the occasion.
I am however heartened by the fact that two star generals are speaking in exactly the same language we are saying on this blog.
It still boils down to the same problem,do we know what these procurements via the Antonov is? If the air-force and army are less than transparent in telling the general public about their procurements(what,where, when) how can anybody defend them?Stop the secrecy!.Get used to democracy, tell us all what you want,if it is not obtained you do not need to scream because the people will be doing that for you.We can’t defend what we know nothing about.
My 2kobo
SPOT ON !!!
They should quit squabbling and solve the problem! That’s why they are leaders! If the system is at fault, change it! If the institutions (military or finance) are fault fix it! Just get our security needs meet! Pls let them stop trying to confuse us, was the security budget for 2012 N200+bn or N1.3T? Like I said, we need to beam our search light into how the security budget has been spent @ least since the BH issue started! As for the ‘senior civil servants’, this shouldn’t be swept under the carpet, EFCC/DSS should take it up! By the way, where is our minister for defence and what is he saying?
@igbi- with all due respect to your person but you are TOTALLY OUT OF ORDER in calling the Finance Minister a crook. Please let’s be respectful and careful in what we say on this forum. On what basis do you make such a serious allegation against her person? Do you fully understand the legal implications (i.e. Libel) of what you have posted?
I have hitherto in the past stated that we have a great priviledge in being able to ventilate our views on this blog which has a world wide audience but that such priviledge also comes with RESPONSIBILITIES. .
This lady (i.e. our Finance Minister) has children WHO ARE OLDER THAN YOU and in our african culture one does not insult one’s elders without a very good reason (if at all). Now we may not like the way it seems she is dealing with the millitary in relation to allocation of funds. However that does not justify insulting the woman. It behoves us to find a way of expressing our displeasure with her actions without insulting her person.
Furthermore (and please I stand to be corrected) NONE OF US work in the Finance ministry- and Oga Solorex has just given an alternative and credible explanation as to where the source of the ‘funding problem’ could lie. Oga Beegz – please, I know that you believe in free speech and the right to let one express one’s views on this blog without the same being censored, but as I have said before and will say yet again – you may have to give serious consideration to editing some of the more outrageous comments that are being posted on this blog.
@Yagazie, is it more acceptable to call a general a corrupt than to call “her highness” a crook ? Do generals have families ? I am not going to enter any debate with you. And you are clearly overreacting.
I think many of us on this blog probably understand security and defense matters a lot more than we understand finance and budgeting. First of all the entire budget i,e, the whole cake is worth just N4.8 trillion or thereabouts. this means that at virtually 1 trillion defence already accounts for about 25% of Nigeria’s total spending by itself (am not sure how that is NOI’s fault, also i cant believe that while we criticize corruption in one breath, we also condemn efforts to introduce transparency).
However, it is important to understand that the capital budget is barely 25-30% of the total budget, and this is what can be used to buy ships, planes and MRAps. This is not a lot of money but fact is that is all we have for the year!!!! Trust me if any other money was hidden anywhere, the APC, NLC, National Assembly etc. would have had Jonathan’s head by now.
The truth is that Nigeria is not as rich as we like to believe, given our population, our over reliance on crude oil all these years has turned us into a poor country.
This is why when even we start reeling out equipment to buy i am less than enthusiastic because i know we simply don’t have the money.
We would be far better served if we prioritized training, maintenance, local equipment production and importation of effective but affordable weapons systems.
Sad but true.
Explain to me how algeria with less than half our economy has a defense budget 4times ours. Explain to me how Nigerian army budget became number 8 in Africa. Explain to me how this makes sense with the fact that we are the first economy on the continent. Explain to me how China with a smaller GDP par capita than us doesn’t go through the same problems.
I am not an economist but I am a postgraduate in mathematics, which means i am not scared to do research on how the economy works. I can’t easily be put down by remarks such as :” you understand weapons better than finance”.
OGA OZED much respect for your comments but in order for this blog Beegeagle’s blog to be taken seriously even if the armed forces and the finance ministry are not serious we on this blog have to be taken serious and be transparent.
Nigeria is one of the richest if not the second richest country in Africa forget the financial indices look at the pure living style of what the RICH PEOPLE CAN AFFORD TO BUY, LOOK AT WHAT THE F.G REALLY MAKES A YEAR.
Please go to the richest states predominantly in the southwest (Lagos) south south(Rivers ,Cross river ) and South east (ANAMBRA) then go up north Abuja Kano and Niger state avoid Zamfara and see what type of money is being spent.
Nigeria has the largest banks in Africa in terms of deposits outside of South Africa and even that is debatable in spite of a raging insurgency. if Lagos state was a country the amount of money that it brings in every year would dwarf maybe 43 out of 53 countries in Africa, ditto CROSS RIVER DITTO ANAMBRA. LAGOS STATE I know from personal experiences.
The f.g not releasing funds is not just because they don’t have the funds please tell me where do they get this extra budgetary allocations? OIL sells for $100+ a barrel yet go and look at THIS YEAR BUDGET IT IS PEGGED AT $75? A BARREL, who are they really kidding do they (f.g.) think we are idiots/that stupid or brain dead?
One of the reasons why first world countries don’t take us seriously is because our politicians constantly beg and when the first world countries investors come here like my wife said they are shocked by the gap between the rich and the poor.We have been told by the Russians to buy the weapons ” Because you can afford it”Nigeria gave $3m to a lobby firm just so they can beg for more weapons or get it on the cheap, they could of spent that in Russian and got probably at least 10 brand new apcs.
The amount of money that China invests yearly in Nigeria starts with a capital B. General Electric is helping to rebuild the power stations in Nigeria the capital outlays ((M.O.U.S) are in the neighborhood of $250m +/PER DEAL.
Let us stand up straight very few people outside of the IMF will believe Nigeria needs any financial help.
I did not even mention EKO ATLANTIC.
Well said. I wonder where ozed got ihs information from
1.It is estimated that 7 out of 10 adults in NIGERIA HAVE A PHONE.
2.More than half the movies watched in africa originate from Nigeria.
3.if you do the research and count accurately the top ten financial institutions maybe 5 of then will be in Nigeria.
4. The most expensive real estate in AFRICA is in Nigeria.
Ozed you say Nigeria is not rich as we think it is?
GDP $510 billion
Oil production 2.4 MBPD. Pumping crude for 50 years
Foreign reserve $47 billion. Higher than South Africa’s.
40 Billion barrels in oil reserve today worth $4 thrillion dollars
6th largest producer of Liquified Natural Gas in the world.
We run the most expensive system of government on earth, our ministers officially earn in a few months what Obama earns in a year
…. Yet Sudan,Angola,Uganda outspends us militarily and you say there is nothing wrobg with this country. Ok o, we are poor, dirt poor.
“our ministers officially earn in a few months what Obama earns in a year”
Absolute nonsense – if you disagree provide the numbers.
GDP of $510 billion, for 170 million people is rich?
Do you know what rich is?
Americans throw away food worth $200 billion EACH year. That is food that has already been paid for.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-10/living-in-the-united-states-of-food-waste
$47 billion is Foreign Exchange reserve NOT the excess crude account.
Canada, a nation of 38million people has more oil than you, has more diamonds, more fishery, more forests, 10 times the arable land and more everything.
We are poor.
But, our system of government is expensive, I will give you that.
If we are poor then China is extra poor. Indeed China’s GDP par capita is smaller than ours. And wait Pakistans GDP is about half our GDP with the same population size.
Yet those countries are find the way to spend the right amount on their defense and security. So explain why Nigeria is not doing that ?
“GDP of $510 billion, for 170 million people is rich?” : you want to talk about GDP par capita: just read what I wrote above.
So that is not an excuse for the incompetence coming from the office of the minister of finance. There is no excuse for not providing for the troops.
Sorry.
But you are wrong on the facts.
China’s GDP per capita is more than double Nigeria’s: Nigeria=>3,000 China=>6070
You believe Pakistan is spending enough on defence? With all their security problems?
The finance minister does not decide the budget: the president and the lawmakers decide where the money goes.
Incompetence? The Minister of Finance is probably the most competent person in the current administration.
I think you are confusing Nigeria’s GDP per capita before the rebasing and the GDP par capita after the rebasing. If the GDP doubles and the population size remains the same then the GDP par capita doubles as well.
By the way I have a video made in the era of OBJ’s administration in which NOI braggs about the fact that she is slashing the defense budget:
And for the claim that she is probably the most competent person in the administration, on what basis are you making the claim ? Certainly not on her results. If it is just by reputation then that is an illusion.
Oga Asorock, sorry I have just checked, I think China is still ahead of us even after the rebasing. But get this: we are above India and Pakistan. So the misnistry have some explanations to make.
In terms of GDP per capita.
Oga asorockweb, I STRONGLY disagree with you, Nigeria is NOT POOR, POOR, if you one chooses to be, then so be it. But Nigeria is NOT poor, take it or leave it sir, we hear about missing funds everyday yet you think my Naija is poor, never my brother
Chyde, be logical and try to marshal an actual argument.
The system is corruption and the country is poor.
Oga Asorock, how can you be asking him to be logical while yourself you are being illogical ? First of all Defense expenditure is a function of the GDP and not the GDP par capita. So there goes your first argument.
And then even if Defense expenditure was a function of GDP par capita, I have given you the great examples of India and Pakistan whose GDP par capita are lower than ours, yet they find the money to take care of their defense. Don’t pretend you don’t understand what I am saying, you are a very intelligent man. Just be factual.
Oga Igbi,
Pakistan is not a good example of “great” security.
My only argument was that we are poor. Poverty is a function of GDP per capita.
If you are trying to say that we should spend much more on defence, I agree with you.
For everybody, including the poor, life comes 1st, so defence and security should be the highest priority.
@ Ozed, sadly ur are on point on most of ur points! However, there is a difference btw SECURITY budget and DEFENSE budget! While the later is limited to the army, airforce and navy, the former include defense as well as the ,NIA, police and ministry of interior (sss, custom, immigration, NCDSC, prisons etc)! As u have rightly pointed out, a large potion is recurrent (salaries and welfare as well as training, fuel, spares, ammunition etc) yet we still have soldiers salaries owed! But as u have seen, the capital side is less than 10% (par the 2012 bdt)! Now that doesn’t make any sense! We have an unstable ship (Nigeria) because the its top heavy (leaders/government)! What % of the federal budget services the gov? Too much and the same goes for the military! We have TOO MANY GENERALS and EQUIVILENT in the military and perhaps, its time to scrap the divisional structure and cap it at the brigade level! This will shorten the chain of command and cut down the no of generals!
My friend, defense spending will spike to $10 billion if Lagos and Abuja is threatened and it wont break the Bank. Lets not making excuses for incompetence.
@ Oje well said
In spite of this falling, we still have to grapple with leakages like corruption, misappropriation, bureaucracy not to mention ineptitude and unprofessional practices! If we have managed to implement previous budgets in full, u’ll be shocked @ how progressive we be!
@Asorockweb Thanks for your points, you say it better than i could ever have done.
A few more points which i think may help us understand things a bit more clearly.
1. The FG’s budget which is the only thing available for funding the Defense budget is quite different from private sector wealth (as seen in Anambra State, Dangote Group, Nigerians’ telecom spend etc.) The only way FG can route money from the private sector into its Budget is via Tax. Either higher tax rates on business or more efficient tax collection (either way the people pay more tax—- any votes for this? please raise your hands?)
2. Also we must separate our potential i.e. what Nigeria could be given all its doubtlessly abundant resources from our actual wealth. If we do nothing about those resources they remain potential and do not contribute to what Govt can spend on defense or education or health. E.g. of untapped wealth, Agriculture — we have sufficient arable land to export rice, sugar, fish, vegetable oils etc. but today we use these lands in the most inefficient ways possible, with virtually no fertillizer, unsophisticated planting material, manual land preparation etc., our solid minerals remain largely untouched, the private sector is heavily fettered by poor infrastructure etc. So we can indeed be in the top ten of global rich countries, but only when we have maximized our means. For today we are still poor sadly (i know we hate to hear this, but it is true)
3. Also, as NOI has pointed out, the Ministry cannot be faulted for poor administration of Troop salaries because unlike other segments of the economy, the Military has refused (sorry let me say has been unable— since i dont know the details) to join the IPPIS pay admin system which would allow the ministry pay individual soldiers directly. Thus the Ministry releases bulk money to the Army, Navy, NAF etc and the formations then handle payments. This allows for (and note i am not saying this happens — since again i dont have the details) delays in salaries while the bulk sum accrues interest in some fixed deposit account, continued payments to troops who dont exist either because they have retired, been discharged or are deceased etc. If you look at some of my earlier postings, i had called into question the actual size of our Army. Under the payment arrangement we run currently, it pays the unit commanders to inflate the number of men they have etc. etc.
The truth guys is that several years (and i mean almost 50 years) of incompetence, corruption, indolence, un-seriousness both in the Management of the Economy and the management of our defense (yes serving and ex chiefs of staff, i mean you) has cost us dear in terms of preparedness of the Armed forces to face the threats we face today, as well as strength of the economy to quickly ramp up defense spending.
But do not despair guys! There is good even in the worse chain of events. This is the wake up call, and like all wake up calls it is unpleasant—- after all no one looks forward to the alarm that wakes up up from sleep on those cold mornings. We simply need to understand that recovery will take time, blood, toil and tears. Thus we need to be more understanding/supportive (even as we criticize– as in deed we must) of the poor sods (the FG, the Minister, the Armed forces– both leadership and the grunts in the trenches), whose job it is to negotiate us out of this quagmire we have gotten ourselves into over the last 40-50 years.
Sorry i forgot to add. Budget implementation is a mixed bag of so many things 2 of the main reasons being:
– Delays in fund receipt because of fluctuations in oil and gas production e.g. when pipelines are broken and fields shut in, production and thus exports can drop for months at a time so in those periods of cause some funding needs have to be delayed.
– Failure of the ministry in question to conclude/ meet due process requirements (i am sure we are all aware of the dangers in making waivers of due process requirements the norm)
gen ifiok, abeg o, donot scrap divisional structure o. the generals are not too much please. if we go with your idea, officers will end up spending too long on a given rank. we dont want all that pent up frustration spilling over into governance now, do we?
i agree with other points you raised. bureaucracy, corruption and the nigerian dysfunctuional system keep holding the country back.
regarding the dollar/naira wahala. our crude oil receipt is in dollars, so why the creative accounting with this naira confusion. we devalued our currency and our non oil exports hasnt fully caught on. so we should stop moaning and fund our military. these guys are busy squabbling while rome burns.
@ ozed, asorockweb, i bet you if abuja comes under attack, there will be no talk of money wahala. veitnam, pakistan, bangladesh, they all have better equipped military on a lesser GDP, so lets not start with all this nigerian is poor nonsense.
Freegulf not so sure what you mean, Abuja has BEEN under attack, and it will again if we are not careful. Not sure any one is saying there should be no increase in the budget available to the Defense and security sector.
All i am saying is that we cannot just wake up over this year and expect the Government to, from one year’s budget (or from stripping the foreign reserves bare), bring our military at par with India or Algeria or Pakistan. These Countries also learnt the same painful lesson we are learning today about the need to manage your economy well in good times in order to be ready for adversity when it comes, and what they have today they built up slowly through careful planning and efficient accumulation and use of resources over the years.
The Government has already committed to do more by spending an extra-budgetary 1billion USD on defense (i guess this will be for one-off capital expenditure), and am sure that will happen. We have also learnt that we need to suport the Alpha jet in the Ground attack and close air support role by adding the Super Tucano etc.
Govt will i am sure, continue to add to this in coming years, but since our resources are not unlimited, and our wants are innumerable (infrastructure, healthcare, education, etc.) no responsible Government can completely ignore the need for efficiency and accountability in the spending of what defense budget we currently have, or balance in distribution of the budget across all the needs of the Country.
I am sure that if your water supply collapsed completely in Lagos, Owerri or Calabr and there was an epidemic of cholera, you and most reasonable people would not accept the war effort against Boko Haram in the North East as a sound excuse. Would you?
You are making too much sense! I wish more Nigerians had your level of reasoning
oga ozed, yes, Abuja have witnessed terrorism. however, BH haven’t yet attacked the FCT with dozens of trucks and motorcycles. when they overrun Kano, kaduna, and start closing in or Abuja, maybe our politicians will wake up.
on the issue of the national economy and current challenges, you have made salient points. but you should know this, Nigeria has never really been a martial nation compared with the likes of Pakistan, India, or even Uganda. we have always shied away from the use of pure military power throughout our history. theres a total ignorance and naivety on the part of our leaders on the utilization of force in our national strategy and ambitions as a black power.
in the 60s, there where calls to annex Fernando Po. the parliamentarians shut down the idea. again in the 70s when marcias the madman was busy killing his people and Nigerian migrants, gowon was pressured in ’74 to invade. other than some Sabre rattling he did nothing. in ’76, when we finally had a leader with balls and 13 brigade was being mobilized for the invasion, disaster struck, Ramat was killed. his successor quietly behaved as if the invasion plans where mere phantom plans.
fast forward to the early 80s, the govt we supported in chad was overthrown, what did Lagos do? not until marauders decided to make our north east borders hell on earth did GOC 3 div decided at attack and recover our islands. before having time to savour the moment, president shagari ordered the withdrawal of our troops. next came Cameroon, they ambushed and killed some of our soldiers (they have been killing Nigerian fishermen long before that) along disputed territory. with all our noise and drums of war, shagari was content to accept an official apology from ahidjo.
tiny equatorial guinea then decided to avail herself to apartheid SA as a launchpad for any future planned aggression against Nigeria. this was nearly the same scenario with Grenada v USA ( nearly, because ours was a more legitimate threat than the phantom ”Cuban troops in Grenada” that Reagan gave as an excuse to invade the island). it wasn’t our navy or army that resolved the equatorial guinea runway crisis. it was gifts, bribes ( i guess they where cheaper. but only for the short run) and small coercion that convinced this tiny republic to expel the SA expat
so we have never really been a threat to anyone. those that fear us, simply do so because of our potential, and not our track record. even strongman abacha was content to go to hague with cameroun while fighting a low level conflict in the peninsula. from ’94 to ’98 the issue was never escalated to the point of declaring war on cameroun.
if we truly have a strong and focused foreign policy, fernando po, sao tome and principe, all these tiny islands would have been a part of the federal republic. the navy would have had bases as far away as cape verde off the coast of west Africa and Corisco off the coast of Gabon.
we don’t need to break the bank in order to formulate a national policy with geo strategy in mind. countries like Pakistan and India, are not rich either, at least when you look at their population, but they do understand the role of geo strategy in their national survival and ambitions.
I think we are all saying the same thing! Its fact that we have not managed this crisis and generally this country well! @ Oga Ozed, no one is advocating striping our reserve and we can’t get our military to the aforesaid’s level anytime soon! We don’t have the vision, necessity or funds yet and why should we be like them! However, if we had taken a gradual informed coherent and consistent steps to put our act together, we would be fine! As u rightly said, they took a while to get here! That said, its not as if our money go to those areas, our problem is the size and incompetence of our government! We’ve always been a proud people and we want what befits a government official! My governor’s convoy will make some sheiks blush! The same goes for ministers and SA etc! Pls let me not go into the legislator! We can’t sustain this and expect to meet our needs as a country! Not while the recurrent expenditure takes 73% of the budget consistently! If we can just reduce that to 60% and work it down to 40% then we will get there but not before! How do we solve this? Let the executive start! We don’t need two minister for some ministries! We could merge some gov agencies! The minister can do without half their PAs! Mr President, cut ur allowance in half and that will give us the moral strength to start #mphalfurallowance! If u love ur country and ur people, start now and we will make it a campaign issue and anyone with any hope of running for legislative election or reelection will have to endorse it if he is serious! This way, we will begin to put things in their right perspective! My 2 kobo
Indeed too much people in government, and each of them take a big salary and big allowances. Can you imagine, 70% of the budget is spent on paying salaries, that is terribly wrong.
As for the delays, the last time we had a shut down of that magnitude was in the days of MEND and even @ that, it was about 25 – 27% (not a small size but gov didn’t shut down)
Oga ozed supported u spoke my mind totally.this is a learning phase and we will grow out of it.pls put pakistan and china out of this.even with the heavy defence structure has that stopped the pak taliban or the wiga seperatist.in as much as we need to ramp up procurement.transperancy must be maintained .but all said we need the best of eqiupment now but with technology transfer.and for God sake stop politicizing this situation the genesis of most of this #bringbackourgirls rallys,is becoming annoying@dino melaye.active solutuons are needed not reactions
Gentlemen,
I am not here to dispute anybody’s numbers.
I never knew this blog was full of chartered accountants (LOL)
But as Oga Igbi has been pointing out, let’s do some comparative analyses.
Because countries that rank under Nigeria by any economic indicator, are performing signs and wonders with their armed forces.
I have said it before, outside this blog, Nigerians as a whole could careless about defense.
NOI’s POV is actually common among Nigerians.
I had a cousin with NMS and NDA under his belt, but you could barely get him interested in issues of the institution that commissioned him.
Meanwhile, most other countries live, eat and sleep this stuff.
It is an extension of their pride, and patriotic zeal for their nation.
The average indian or Pakistani, knows the procurement details of their respective armed forces, and they blog about it with pride.
In Nigeria, even our journalists could careless about the specifics of anything.
The other day, one of our esteemed journalists was explaining how NA lacked “Mine resistant Tanks”, and NA soldiers in the sambisa forests were falling victims to defensive mine fields laid by BH.
It was a great article, but sir, the correct term is MRAPs. MINE RESISTANT ARMORED PERSONEL CARRIER.
Nigeria should have the greatest military in Africa, JUST BECAUSE.
NO REASONS NEEDED, AND WE OWE NO APOLOGIES.
Those who know the true meaning of a powerful military, knows it is justified on several levels.
Everything else, is just numbers and distractions.
MRAP: Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected.
Without numbers, anything can become a fact – if it is repeated often enough.
hehe he good one on the mrap.
I bet it made your day.
your numbers however, are just excuses not to aspire to greatness.
President M7 made a strategic move to buy his Sukhois. He wasn’t using numbers to make excuses.
Bangladesh, Pakistan, srilanka and many others all do the same.
If you understood the strategic nature of the defense sector, you would understand why your figures are not that important.
Without facts and figures, one can be honest yet remain incompetent.
Without facts and figures, one can’t possibly understand what the problems are; then how can a solution be prescribe?
I do understand how the defence sector works – it is not magic.
Yeah men, but for all the understanding your GDP and other economic indicators provide, military procurement still requires the leadership of decision makers.
In nigeria’s case, analysis of these numbers, have resulted in paralysis, not procurement.
So your numbers say we are poor, but our oil coupled with our crisis in the security sectors suggest that we get on with rearming, and quit making excuses.
Realpolitik. NOI is bound to find out .
All this rigmarole is an extension of the way this country was and is still being run. Some people have decided to accrue funds to themselves and their families the collective peace of mind/security /infrastructure andwwhatnot of a whole country. I wager 70% of military hardware acquisition goes undeclared until when or where it is spotted and then shows up on this blog. This is common with the NA and Airforce. The Navy is probably the only arm that declares often what and what she buys.
For me,I gave up on this questionable doctrine of secrecy 2 years ago as it just doesn’t augur well. And even when stuff are bought, it’s usually a dozen or so.
For us to see our military a pride of the nation, it’s got to start with the kind of leaders we have…from anti-corruption to defence ministers that actually know what and when to snap up good deals on the go.
Right now, most of our acquisitions should be tied with technology transfer and all. Reach out to other countries with military programmes and joint programmes drone technology and electronic warfare, China, Russian, Turkish hardware, Israelis for intelligence gathering and more.
Also would like to add this supposed oil wealth is not feasible to support our large population and all our needs. If only those elected were meant to be frugal, yet they’re doing the opposite with their crazy salaries. Nigeria’s the largest importer of bullet proof cars in the world largely fuelled by politicians yet our soldiers drive around in civilian non armoured, nor even upgraded shock absorbers run of the mill versions. The irony…
You guys have spoken well. It was refreshing reading all the comments. I will suggest Oga beeg opens a thread on recruitment. We need to discuss this in details and see how we can advise the authorities to carry out a thorough screening so that the insurgents wont use the opportunity to plant people in our army legitimately.
OGA BEEGS
In light of the army EMBARKING ON THEIR recruitment drive most respectfully i ask do you want to open a thread. i humbly await your reply. I have a few pointers I most honestly want to raise but i await your response.
Oga Kay, u have spoken well. ‘. … it’s got to start with the
kind of leaders we have…from anti-
corruption to defence ministers
that actually know what and when
to snap up good deals on the go …Reach out to other
countries with military programmes
and joint programmes … ‘. However, we need to find a balance and not just make a strategic shift and buy EAST! The Algerians, Indians, Pakistanis etc we all aspire to ALL MAINTAIN A BALANCE BTW THE WEST and EAST! So while we search for common partners, it will pay to look @ their play book, perhaps we’ll find a thing or two to learn from
Getting good quality surplus equipment is an exercise in diplomacy and leverage.
At this stage of the game we should know modern conflicts are not won by numbers but increasingly with the degree of infrastructural hard ware, advanced weaponry,communications and intelligence.
As it stands if the BITTER TRUTH must be told we are lacking way behind, we simply do not have the capacity to deal with Boko. We are so poorly equipped it beggars belief, even are own PR isn’t believable, we have got to the stage that politicians are believing their own spin not sure who they are trying to fool cause not many are falling for it.
Right now if those numerous drones and spy satellites were to pin point the girls, have we got the capacity to rescue them. It doesn’t matter how much training you have had, if you don’t have the equipment what can you do ? NUTTIN
Over the past 5 years we have spent billions of dollars but apart from the Navy there isn’t much to show for it, unless there is a revolution of sorts this status quo will remain.
Unfortunately instead of decisive leadership we are now getting political ramblings, rhetoric and very little action.Below a link to article in the New York times I am unable to discount the larger portion of this write up.
Look, we all know the new york times and their close associate in Nigerian affairs, I mean sahara reporters. Don’t let them confuse you, it is boko haram that is on the run, not the other way round. Ask yourself what percentage of the army is fighting against the terrorists in the north. You will see that it is less than 20%. The fact is that our military is deployed in many theaters and is doing very well. the journalist you quoted doesn’t know the size of let us say just borno for example. He doesn’t know that it took Nato more than 10 years to do a lesser job in afghanistan (and still Nato hasn’t finished). Let us not confuse ourselfs and let us not fall for the people who are trying to feed us with the same type of propaganda that got the US to win militarily in vietnam and yet lose the war. So you should know that militarilly boko homos is somewhat defeated to a big extent, all what remains is a criminal gang which attacks unarmed little girls.
By on the run, I mean boko haram is running away.
I also referred to the Vietnam war in which the US was totally on top militarily, but media propaganda had the USA showing the white flag.
Let us not let these media thugs play us that same trick.
Although I also admit we urgently need more equipment, the lives of our soldiers depend on the quality of their equipment. And our military needs to be at a level that would bring the boko homos to a level that the Police can easily handle. I also want to remind you that a big part of the problem is the giant border we share with weak countries. What are we doing about the border, Why are we not building a giant border wall and giant ditches.
CNN IS REPORTING as breaking news:
THAT THE CDS ALEX BADEH is stating that the location where the girls are being held is known and that MILITARY FORCE will not be used
Oga Jimmy, this news has been on some sites for days now but this is the first official confirmation. There’s also news that the FG pulled out of a deal reached with BH to exchange the girls for over 100 detained BH fighters. let’s keep watching.
Oga Ozed, your words are good
@ Oga Obix, it was 100 BH for 50 girls!
@Oga Ifiok, thanks i missed that point. All the same 50 girls for 100 BH fighters is a stupid deal.