VOICE OF AMERICA
11 March, 2015
RELEVANT EXCERPTS
(going straight to the point, that is)
(…).President Jonathan hit back at criticisms that foreign troops aren’t being allowed to push into Boko Haram strongholds deep in Nigerian territory. He said Cameroon previously denied Nigeria permission to pursue Boko Haram into its territory, and added that restrictions on foreign troops were matters of coordination.
“I think the idea is that — look, for any major aggression, we should know. Where possible, let some Nigerian soldiers also be with you,” the president said.
He also said that foreign technicians are present in the northeast to teach Nigerian troops on how to use their new weapons, since there wasn’t time to train the troops before they deployed.
“So we now have this technical people who are trainers and technicians, who are to train our people on how to use them, and
technicians that help the maintenance, at the same time training our people how to maintain this equipment,” Jonathan said.He said two unnamed companies were involved in the training but declined to offer nationalities or numbers of the trainers.
Jonathan dismissed the suggestion that Boko Haram’s insurgency has come to define his time in office. “Yes,it’s a major security issue, it’s the number one security issue we have as a nation. But definitely you cannot define us by Boko Haram,” he said.
As the multinational offensive continues,Jonathan predicted that the northeastern states of Yobe and Adamawa would be cleared of Boko Haram territory before the middle of next week. He said he hopes neighboring Borno State, where the group started, will be cleared in the next three weeks.
But Jonathan said he expects Boko Haram to continue bombing markets and bus stops. He says the government’s strategy is to improve intelligence gathering as well as job and educational prospects in the northeast as a long-term strategy to destroy the group.
Buhari praises troops
His main opponent, General Muhammadu Buhari, told VOA last week he is not surprised that Nigerian soldiers have started to push Boko Haram out of areas the militants had captured.Buhari said that in the past the soldiers weren’t properly armed and weren’t properly motivated to fight.
The joint operations with Chad, Niger and Cameroon forced the government to get more sophisticated weapons to the troops,Buhari said.
He also paid tribute to Nigerian soldiers, who,he said, have been known for gallantry in past international peacekeeping operations all over the world and promised them a better deal if he takes over the presidency.
Beegeagle's Blog 
Tufiakwa…Nigerian politicians ehn? Was it not the same Buhari who was blasting the Nigerian military on CNN barely a month ago? Then, our troops redeem themselves with gusto and he is singing a new song?
Mark my words, the opposition are the ones clamouring for foreign troops who can barely hold the borders, to be allowed into the country. The gameplan is to ensure that they steal the glory of Nigerian troops and thereby denying the FG their earned opportunity of saying “we won the war largely through our troops’ effort foreign allies positioned in the border districts to deny BH any chances of escape or resupply”
Our politics is soooo unpatrotic and dirty…
I don’t believe the opposition Presidential Candidate would ever support foreign army incursions into Nigeria, same goes for all retired Nigerian Heads of State who have had military background…they are not nice people to be sure but there are things they just won’t do. I cannot however vouch for the bloody civilian politicians around the General who obviously have linked up with foreign liberal globalist elements in the fight for Nigeria’s political central control and may be throwing all sorts of treason bordering suggestions and ideas.
Yeah, but he CLEARLY talked down on the military on CNN and at Chatham House. That is UNBECOMING for a General of the Nigerian Army. He should motivate and not demoralise our troops. So this volte face is medicine after death. That man said everything that the most cynical Westerners would want to hear all because he wanted to sound politically correct to them. It was a low ebb. Ibrahim Babangida would never have done that..NEVER. Before an apocalyptic crowd of foreign hangmen? No way.
“bloody civilian?”
My Oga, that phrase is a derogatory, discriminatory throwback to our unfortunate years under dictatorships.
when he troops were not doing well he said it ,but when that started to do well too he said i think he Buhari is a little fairer than most of the opposition memebers when it comes to our armed forces
I have listened to both Buhari and GEJ through out this election and not once did he talk down the military.. he did talk down corruption in utilization of funds meant for the army and the lack provisioning of equipment for the army. He stated on numerous times that the problem is not the army but corruption in procurement. His running mate went on to say NA is the best in the world when getting the tool for the job. We went on to sight his experience with NA contingent in Somalia (93) and how bravely they fought and won us international repute.
Pleas watch the Chatham speech again. He never talked down the army not in the least.. never even called any of them cowards. Anyway if you had any quote you might want to share.. maybe I missed something
Every country needs PMCs. For COIN campaigns especially, there is no table pounding sovereignty or national pride arguments that can be made most of the time. We are simply rounding up Nigerian insurgents and rascals and we need ‘external services of a technical nature’, pure and simple.
This is much better than asking other (neighbouring) countries to operate within your country’s borders however and that one should be discouraged as far as is possible. So many issue with neighbour neighbours running ops in Nigeria, what if Chadian troops cart away another set of Nigerian maidens for instance, how do you handle the legal issues around that?., or what if Nigerian civilians are hurt and killed by Chadian bombardment?.
Ah, Buhari can finally praise the troops he rubbished on his Aljazeera interview? Ok o .Anyway…
So, we now we have it that there are “probably” white skinned folks in the NE. The CinC has NOT said these whitey are carrying out combat operations. Lets leave it at that till proven otherwise.
God bless Nigeria
The president said the foreigners are providing training on newly aquired weapons and maintenance, so they are not combattants.
What did Buhari say that the Chief Of Army Did not say in Baga Interview
Please everybody, let us seperate politics and national security.
Oga Beegs please let us not serve as the mouthpiece of the government either .
They did not fully equip our troops .
All nigerians had to be concerned and give constructive criticism
We will praise them when they are doing fine and beam the searchlight on them when things are going wrong
Our peace and quiet depends on our men in uniform doing there duty and doing it well.
It has nothing to do with speaking for the government. We see what goes on, don’t we? Fair is fair and foul is foul.
Neither IBB nor Abdulsalaam Abubakar would have said the kind of unprintable stuff about the NA which Buhari, a former C-in-C, uttered to Al Jazeera, CNN and co. He played to the gallery.
Since he is so concerned about the prowess of the Nigerian military, what did he say when America went blocking attempts by Nigeria to acquire arms? Find out what Gowon, another former C-in-C said about America.
It is very sad for anyone to stab anybody in the back…worse if it comes from a comrade. APC are ready to play politics with every national challenge. Good sense is doing what is sensible. That is why the CJTF are working with the military in APC-led Borno. They did not sit down with hands akimbo to blast or mock the military or ‘allow them to stew in their own juices’
There are certain lines which a statesman does not cross.
Oga Beeg I strongly disagree with you.
If APC are playing politics with every national challenge then what is PDP doing? I regret having to over-politicize this discussion but I frankly feel your above analysis is very unfortunate.
Must we be reminded that much of the mess we are in today is a direct result of the inaction of the PDP administration? Elements within the government, until recently, continued to insinuate that the entire insurgency was an artificial construct of the northern political elite. We witnessed an administration even question the authenticity of reports claiming girls were kidnapped from Chibok, and only began to “take action” when the international community started to raise questions. Is PDP’s obligation foremost to the international community or to the Nigerian people? Asari Dokubo, a strong informal proxy of the president, came out to publicly state that no girls were kidnapped. Again I ask rhetorically: Has any group played more politics with the conflict in the north east than PDP?
Even the condemnation of the Nigerian military has often not been out of place. The weapons that the military had called inferior was what boko haram used most times to achieve many combat victories. Also, the Nigerian military continues to build and maintain a strong anti-people posture that does not help their standing or image with the general public. We are forced to deal with the military on a daily basis at check points scattered across the country and they are so quick to brutalize civilians at the slightest provocation. It is these sentiments that APC has played on to to build a message that appears to resonate with Nigerians. While APC might also be guilty of paying politics with the current challenges within this country, I maintain that no group has played more politics with our problems than PDP.
I see. You are entitled to your opinion.
This video makes me so proud
Truth be told, Gen Buhari was spot on in his statements about the state of things with the Armed Forces. Our troops were poorly equipped until now. He is competent to speak on his record having given chad a bloody nose in 1983..
The attack on Ashaka is just one example. You have a Platoon of troops without a single RPG or GPMG and with only max 60-90 rounds of ammo all deployed to face this bastards. It was a massacre..
The truth is that the pressure has made the government of the day to quickly react and make some emergency acquisition of hardware. We could have gotten more and better deals with better planning, right sourcing or G2G deals..
Triax should just refund us our $500M ohhh, that deal is a disaster waiting to happen ! The Puma helicopters are no longer available even because of Russia’s aggression in eastern europe.. The Romanians no longer want to sell.
@Zachary999, are you implying that this treasonable deal has not been scuttled?
Money was already paid for cobra helicopters before the deal went sour….
Even the deal for the cobra was implied to be a bit inflated, then got culled. But no, someone returned him to the table for the su25/puma deal just to make sure he fleeced the country after cobra deal went kaput. This are the type at the corridors of power sabotaging military efforts during war time.
if this is going down when we are at war and in dire need of weapons, imagine what peace time deals look like
That video I like.
I believe that both the opposition and the Fg failed the troops until recently. the initial army response to BH ws deficient on many fronts. If we had properly deployed our “older” equipment and backed it up with an iron political and national will BH should not have been able to control as much territory as they did. The opposition itself tore the NA apart when it should have been full of been full of support. It literally used the blood of the fallen soldiers as a campaign weapon. We lack proper leaders in this country and our politicians always put the office they aspire to above the welfare of the nation. hence the violence that tends to accompany politics. Ow the NA has stepped up to where it is and everybody wants to leverage on that success. both the FG and the Opposition failed the NA greatly. this leads me to question the timing of the current onslaught and the change in the Narrative by the Opposition. Make no mistake about it both sides of the political divide are manned by “NIGERIAN POLITICIANS”. and in my opinion the broom or the umbrella does not sufficiently distinguish one from the other
Thank you sir. Not just the politicians, Nigerians in general on the basis of ethnic, religious or political affiliation.
This thing you said about “older equipment” is very true. We have acquired significant equipment in a short time but anybody saying we did not have adequate equipment before is largely wrong. The failure was from the human software angle. Even the lack of ‘fit for purpose’ equipment until very recently is symptomatic of the same human software issues, people wired up the wrong way upstairs.
Anyway I am sure this is the LAST TIME Nigeria is ever going to go through these experiences again. What is see in the near future is a powerful Army, Airforce and Navy. Local equipment assembly and manufacture, private local PMCs formed by ex military brass, engineers and industrialists and local defence R&D.
Oga Are James, I like this very much ” see in the near future is a powerful Army, Airforce and Navy. Local equipment assembly and manufacture, private local PMCs formed by ex military brass, engineers and industrialists and local defence R&D”, especially your use of the word LOCAL meaning National
@Adetayo,
Thank u sir. Very balanced
Spot on my brother.. its only in Nigeria that an opposition will overtly use a national tragedy to score political points just when the wounds are so fresh. Its an unwritten rule and its not done. every single issue is politicized by both side.. PDP calling APC BH sponsors, APC calling it PDP’s BH. It all shows the lack of maturity in our democratic process and the intellectual bankruptcy of our leaders.. Rather than face issues.. They rather capitalize on the missteps or misdeed which happens under the watch of their opposing personnel
Zachary999, the problem still persists. We simply still fail to get things right at the basic infantry level, and have exposed our troops to needless dangers.
As for traix, the 500 million deal and Arthur, it is a bad deal. Thanks to “sahara reporters” for again blowing the lid on that deal. It’s a bad, bad deal.
Arthur has been an active defence contractor since the advent of the 3rd republic in 1999, he was also very active in the military era. How is it that over the years he still hasn’t put any significant structure on the ground to support the our local defence industry. He’s in the business of solely taking, nothing seems to be given back.
The Government still hasn’t been pressurised enough. They are still making basic mistakes.
Are you sure these are mistakes? seems like a mirror image of the issues that plague the country. I find it hard to believe that no one realised that the contract was crap
I mean, KF, what was that howler about not buying weapons until regional forces came? Here is a list of weapons which were already acquired and/or delivered before the regional alliance came together..
* Streit Spartan Mk.3 APCs
* INKAS LAPVs
* Igirigi APCs
* T72 tanks
* upgraded Mi-35 and Mi-17s
* new Mi-35Ms and Mi-171Sh Terminator
* M28 surveillance UAVs
* CH-3A armed drones
* RM-70 MLRS
* BVP-1 IFVs
* BTR-80A APCs
* Reva Mk.5 MRAPs
* BigFoot MRAPs
Contracts and/or deliveries of ALL of the above had been signed or made before 15th January, 2015? So what was he saying about their having been acquired because regional forces came?
Please, call a spade by its name. The guy let down his military comrades and is actively playing politics with the insecurity. He is congratulating the troops because they are on a roll. What did he do when they were getting pilloried at home and abroad? Did he as much as have a published word of encouragement to offer them?
When Gowon lashed out at America, why was he quiet? He did not want to upset the grand patrons of all ‘change agents and activists’ worldwide? That is why I said that for him, this BH issue is just cannon fodder to be used for politics.
Beegie you have hit your head on the nail — sorry i meant nail on the head LoLzl!!
The fact is that the opposition has always seen boko haram exploits as cheap campaign ammunition. Certainly Buhari has always had access to Aso Rock, so any advise or criticism he had to give he could have given in private.
Its sad when a ‘statesman’ suggests he has the solution to a problem, but will only proffer it when he is in charge, and then kicks the Army (the same entity that made him) when it is down by voicing his criticisms in the international media.
That position is too low for a former general to be taking!!
Even if Gen Buhari was right, the one thing a person in a leadership position never do is criticize his Country, Government, People or Troops while in a foreign country, that’s rarely ever done, its a bad idea.
Had he criticized the troops or Government while in Nigeria, that would be okay, you don’t do that abroad, that’s where you are supposed to support your country, not saying he should have lied, but there are tons of other ways he could have made his comment without putting his country down.
I mean, KF, what was that howler about not buying weapons until regional forces came? Here is a list of weapons which were already acquired and/or delivered before the regional alliance came together..
* Streit Spartan Mk.3 APCs
* INKAS LAPVs
* Igirigi APCs
* T72 tanks
* upgraded Mi-35 and Mi-17s
* new Mi-35Ms and Mi-171Sh Terminator
* M28 surveillance UAVs
* CH-3A armed drones
* RM-70 MLRS
* BVP-1 IFVs
* BTR-80A APCs
* Reva Mk.5 MRAPs
* BigFoot MRAPs
Contracts and/or deliveries of ALL of the above had been signed or made before 15th January, 2015? So what was he saying about their having been acquired because regional forces came?
Please, call a spade by its name. The guy let down his military comrades and is actively playing politics with the insecurity. He is congratulating the troops because they are on a roll. What did he do when they were getting pilloried at home and abroad? Did he as much as have a published word of encouragement to offer them?
“Nigeria drafts in foreign mercenaries to take on Boko Haram”.
That is the latest trending News headline in the West. Won’t post the article here. Anyways, i did my best to lecture those idiots.
Yeah, but he CLEARLY talked down on the military on CNN and at Chatham House. That is UNBECOMING for a General of the Nigerian Army. He should motivate and not demoralise our troops. So this volte face is medicine after death. That man said everything that the most cynical Westerners would want to hear all because he wanted to sound politically correct to them. It was a low ebb.
I really dont want beegeale to become politicized but I will add my 2 cents.
If your watching the present APC town meeting on channels tv. Buhari just stated “It is a very big shame that Chad, Niger, and Cameroun have to come to our rescue”
Instead of telling the listeners the truth which is the MNJTF is there to disrupt boko harams supply lines, aid in not providing the insurgents sanctuary like they used too. On top of that they are also working to keep Boko harams forces enclosed in the MNJTF box as Nigerian troops dislodge them from various locations in the northeast. That is it. That is all he should have said.
I find his statements to be unacceptable! Especially coming from someone who is aspiring to rule this nation and become Commander in Chief of the Nigerian armed forces.
Seems people our willing to spread falsehood and lies and spit on their own country and military to secure victory in these elections. Very sad.
There is no MNJTF my friend and the way the countries involved are crafting the story, they are not disrupting no supply lines, they are simply bailing us out.
Why you want the opposition party’s main candidate to be easy on the ruling party on the way the war has been going on is strange to me. It is only in Nigeria I see this infantile thinking, you are in a war (politics is war without bullets) and you are shocked that your enemy is shooting at you, what kind of thinking is that?.
This man is running on Security and corruption agenda, it is just two weeks to the elections and the main party has accused his party of supporting Boko Haram so you expected him to be quiet and pretend to be supportive of a situation he would never have taken if he had been President himself. We are even lucky the man spent his whole life from boyhood in the NA, if it had been a full civillian we for no go fit drink garri again the way we would have been bombarded with negative propaganda.
@Zachary999 said:
“Money was already paid for cobra helicopters before the deal went sour….”
It all makes sense now, the money was already paid for the cobra helicopters, but the US said NO.
All kinds of efforts were then made to get the US to change it’s mind (unwittingly, Soyinka was begging the US to sell us Cobra helicopters – little did he know!). But the US still said NO to the cobra deal.
The money cannot be returned (how can!), so a make-up deal was invented – a handful of gazelle helicopters and 6 Su-25s.
If this is what happened, then this is disgusting corruption. And nobody should try and blame this on any general. No serving general can execute this deal, not in Nigeria.
I have to say thanks to the Israeli guy that gave us the details of the cobra deal, and thanks to the US for saying “NO” to the cobra deal.
Everybody can see that a handful of gazelle helicopters and 6 used Su-25s are not worth US$500million.
They have added lots of ammo, rockets and some missiles maybe. This is the kind of procurement scrape I have personally experienced in my boring civilian life. The solution is to call some contracts specialists in Nigeria’s BPP, some accountants and some lawyers, swear them to secrecy and try to work out a deal to get fair value for Nigeria on the deal through supply of more appropriate equipment or return the money. It is a pity fat cat Senators and Reps have been bought many times over and wont even ask questions.This company should never have been awarded this kind of contract. We are playing with un necessary fire in this country.
No one wants anything done right. The powers that be benefit from the lack of transparency. I want to believe there are other deals like this out there but unexposed. Inflation of contract sums is the order of the day in these parts
Goodness! Still cant help thinking, imagine what $500m would have done for the airforce. When I begin to see Su25s and a new haul of Puma helics then I will know this deal went through.
@zachary999: U think the recently acquired gazelles were part of this deal?
I believe the Pumas that were initially quoted in the deal, were replaced with the Gazelles that we have already seen.
Asorockweb, the Gazelles are primarily used for ISR. None of the 2 i’ve seen come armed.
Besides, gazelles are dead cheap.
@Henry,
We have seen Gazelles that are new to our inventory.
But we have not seen any new Pumas. The Pumas that were shown off by the Chief of NAF were old Pumas.
True Business men are required at times to access arms that would not be sold to National government ( Khassogi / Sadam/ Iraq, Pakistian Scientist Nuclear deals, Irans recent purchase of Hughes helicopters), money exchanges hands usually between our and thier privateers, but it is ussually for crucial and correct assets at reasonable costs and most importantly they do deliver on the deal, However we never learn, the 5 x Chinooks we paid for in the early 80s in the US were never delivered for veto reasons, even after NAF personnel were trained in the US, Money was never reported to have been refunded
Why do some people keep speculating over things they aren’t sure of.
OGA BEEGEAGLE
ABURO MI
Respectfully I have to HONESTLY disagree with you. Even by your own non objective, non partisan stay away from APC/ PDP mess this administration has let you and me down.
The job of the INCUMBENT administration is to stay in power while the job of the opposition is to stop being the opposition , get their act together and start preparing that they are capable of ruling.
Somewhere along the line these two parties swapped roles, Please do not blame the GENERAL and also do not blame the President of Chad because POWER IS NOT GIVEN IT IS TAKEN.
On your thread one of the most important speeches of his life was given by the COAS where he talked about the Ills befalling the Nigerian Army , PROCUREMENT, WELFARE, TACTICAL TRAINING, REORGANIZATION, TROOP MORALE AND EVEN THE BEHAVIOUR OF SOME OF THE WIVES it does not make it any better because he said it at the time @ the 149 th BATTALLION instead of saying it at a press conference in London it is still the truth.
On this blog you personally have pleaded for more than two years into this insurgency for them to buy T-72 TANKS how does a govt act like the opposition by cutting your defence budget in the middle of a raging insurgency and have your finance minister address a group of westerners about how things are moving along.
The job of the OPPOSITION is to come to power and stay in power the job of the incumbent is to retain power. OGA SOLOREX, XNUR, BEEGS, DOZIEX, JAMES, HENRY, predicted this scenario three years ago and GBAM! We have the UNPRECEDENTED Fire brigade approach.
What Nigeria is doing now in terms of PROCUREMENT is UNPRECEDENTED minus the AIRCRAFT which they still need to get you will have to go back to WW2 when T-34s were being driven from the factory to the WARFRONT.
This is what is happening right now we fed EXED tanks , missile systems SAMIL TRUCKS, ( do you know the samil trucks in Nigeria are better maintained than the ones in S/ AFRICA ?The ANC GOVT is recruiting CUBAN advisers even as we speak.
Security was going to be an issue my god WE PREDICTED IT, And it won’t stop whomever comes to power bet make sure he loads up.
BRO IDRIS has been in power for 20 years and he did not pay attention or listen till GEJ started bringing in stuff even He could not afford, and PAPA FRENCH told him you don’t go into AFRICA AND IGNORE Nigeria. Bro IDRIS will visit Nigeria the day one of two things happen.
1) The day the first J-17 / SU27/ SU30 with A GREEN ROUNDEL lands in Maiduguri.
2) IF Gen Buhari wins the ELECTION.
He is not stupid, he would rather deal with A Sudan to the South than deal with a now awoken, very ANGRY Nigeria, it is not in his personal interest for a bag of Spaghetti to cost the equivalent of N1000.00 in CHAD nor is it in his regime survival mode to have displaced Nigerians camped out in his country this will cause civil unrest which some may say will be aided and abetted by some Nigerians.
Lastly, this as they say was a long time coming, under equipping your army, airforce and Navy has severe repercussions, Nigeria is coming out of it now, South Africa and Cameroon are just about to get into it if they can tear themselves away from the Cameras, This time next year 2016-2017 it might be the turn of Nigerians to be HELPING the Cameroonians out in places like MAROUA, Their side of the Mandara mountains and Maroua, but first we have to continuously get our act together we are getting there but without PROCUREMENT serious PROCUREMENT for the NAF we are not there yet and it should not take the opposition to point that out to them because if it keeps happening they will switch roles.
oga are james
No country bailing Nigeria out PLEASE try sometimes stop overpraising other countries, they are ACTING IN their OWN SELFISH interests , this concept of being SELFISH for your own country seems alien to SOME NIGERIANS that is why we have MOFOS like EZE selling RUBBISH TO Nigeria and CLAIMING he did the right THING
THE PUMAS you are referring to 567 AND 568 were bought a long time ago this administration still will drag it’s feet kicking yelling and screaming to buy the airplanes they need to buy.
When do they GET UPSET when A WESTERN nation SAYS YOU ARE under equipped it means for GODSAKES that you have the FINANCIAL MEANS TO BUY A SQUADRON (12) OF jf17 and a SQUADRON (12) of SU27/ 30 but choose not to instead the govt of the day exercises poor judgement by dealing with MOFOS like the EZES OF THIS WORLD
Can someone get this ADMINSTRATION the address of the ROBONEXPORT employee responsible for procuring the SU27/ 30 It appears they LOST IT.
I was not praising any country, I was just chafing at the decision of a few people to get these countries involved within our borders and how they are currently harvesting good press from it at our expense meaning we did not do good risk analysis and proactive mitigation on the issue.
Okay I misunderstood your Comments. Please forgive me .
MC USMAN WROTES AS FOLLOWS:
The problems of the NA are things highlighted by Buhari in almost all his interview. He condemned the military for not performing and praise them when they do. This was exactly what the COAS once said that ” Some troops chicken out on sighting boko haram”
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/boko-haram-soldiers-chicken-battle-gen-minimah/
VINDICATED
@MC USMAN
The NEGATIVES:
I choked on my bile and wept internally when a LT .COLONEL showed moren iron resolve of steel ( KODUNGA) than Two Brigadier Generals ( Yekini@ Monguno and Kuti @ BAGA).
The POSITIVES:
I was thankful and grateful that in the midsts of people like ME about to call for his DISMISSAL .LT GEN k. MINIMAH kept his head , he was blunt, he was honest and he most importantly swallowed a lot of bitter pills to Reorganize, restrategize an army during a period of significant discontent between rank and file all at the same time getting a very reluctant / distracted president to get more involved
The Future
Whomever is the President GEJ OR BUHARI will know that Security is numero uno it does not matter whether it is some god forsaken swampy mosquito infested Island of LAKE CHAD or the high brow area of LEKKI if it is not taken serious the implications begin to build up
first it is a local problem
second a local govt problem
third a state problem
fourth a federal problem
And then it becomes an International Problem.
The Chadians are redeploying to banki Cameroon. They are probably going to be
the Eastern Anvil as we strike at gwoza to make sure BH doesn’t escape.The article
states that we have retaken dikwa from them(chad) and they are enroute to banki to
block any exit by BH. I guess that says abit about the state of Cameroons’ army.
Whatever happens, let them not enter Nigeria because it will be too close to gwoza
that a blue on blue could occur.
mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0M825420150312?irpc=932
Nigerian troops have also apparently taken Gamboru Ngala
…sorry, deployed to take over from Chadian troops.
I beg OGA drag on oga AREJAMES please repost the link.
This link is not clicking (working)
Sir Beegs, commenting on the headline of this post. I find it upsetting that we have foreign PMCs working with our troops. For a number of reasons, I think using none Nigerian PMCs to prosecute our war is a bad idea. Using PMCs is not new and all armies do that, even the glorious US army and the Brits use them too! But then, US only uses US PMCs while the UK uses only UK certified PMCs too. For example, some of the UK foreign missions in very unstable and demanding locations (e.g Afghanistan) are protected by PMCs. And PMCs have been substantially serving even UN staff in the some countries. The problem is that, this service costs a fortune and if you cannot take the money back to your economy, it’s not worth investing in it! Apart form that, PMCs do not go with rules of engagement that a soldier would go with, talk of human right abuses, Iraq and Afghanistan are examples!
As I sit here, I personally know 2 Nigerians that have served in the US marines. One served a tour in Iraq and 2 in Afghanistan, due to the special duties of his unit. These are frontline men, not kitchen crew or medics. One of them even has 2 MSc degrees and was an intelligence and a middle level officer as at the time he left service, very recently. In the UK too, I know 3 Nigerians who at various times served in the Royal marines in the UK too and one who served in the territorial army. One of them saw action in OP Iraqi freedom and 2 saw action in Helmand province, Afghanistan. These guys are all reachable, some of them go home like twice a year, and one of the guys from the US recently started a private security firm in Lagos. I am telling all these stories to prove a point, there are Nigerians who can do this job with dignity and honour and for a much lesser cost to our government than foreign PMCs. Someone who vowed to quit everything and take the battle to BH if they ever cross to the SW, will this person not gladly offer his service to the FG if they reach out to him through our embassies? One of the reasons foreign missions exist is to establish and maintain comm links between citizens and their government, why are the Nigerian missions in the US and UK not making efforts to contact their own people for help even when they know some of them? FG needs to get their acts together, use the resources within their reach wisely and save the face of Nigeria. It’s annoyingly all over the news that PMCs from SA are the ones turning the tides for Nigeria! So the same PMCs are in Nigeria, making a fortune definitely and singing their own praises through their cronies in their country, that is not done!
Don’t swallow the media garbage going on, what we have are technicians who are offering training on the newly aquired weapons. They are not pmcs, they are just technicians.
http://www.voanews.com/content/nigeria-foreign-mercenaries-boko-haram/2677676.html
This story is suspect regarding mercs flying fighters and helic out of Maiduguri.
It is a load of rubbish, they just jump into jets no rating and start flying, it is just to detract the Nigerian success, they didnot fly for us in Liberia, They did not fly for us in S.L, What rubbish , it shows to what extend the West would go, since things have not gone threr way, just like ebola.
NASCO WROTE AS FOLLOWS
Guys please let us not bring politics in here. I enjoy the patriotic spirit and energy espoused on this block, so please let us not spoil it! GMB said the Nigerian Army just needed better arms and leadership and you castigate him? Is that not true? But we are silent on the defense minister who called Nigerian troops cowards in same Chatham house? Haba guys!
The Nigerian defence minister did no such thing.
I think he is trying to refer to the NSA statement about the court marshalled soldiers
MICHAEL WROTE AS FOLLOWS:
Wow! D best military analysis blog! Well i tink u guys shld stop bothering about buhari! Just continue d analysis!!
OFOR WROTE AS FOLLOWS:
Good talk,we do not need puma helicopters and su-25.we should stop procuring used equuipment,with the amount involved we can. Start paying for su-30mk series multi-role aircraft.We should consider the super tucano for counter insurgency operations and T129 helicopters built in turkey.
MUBANKS MOHAMMED WROTE AS FOLLOWS:
Apparently a South African contractor has lost his life in Nigeria.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201503120246.html
http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-03-11-fighting-boko-haram-south-african-mercenary-killed-in-friendly-fire/
http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2015/03/12/former-sa-koevoet-fighter-killed-in-battle-against-boko-haram
“It’s a big disgrace for Nigeria. It is now Cameroon and Chad fighting the insurgency more than Nigeria. We will build the capacity and Nigeria should be able to secure its territorial integrity,”
– MAJOR GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI (REUTERS interview)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/02/07/us-nigeria-election-buhari-idUSKBN0LA2DR20150207
The sort of derogatory things Buhari and others say to foreigners is why the foreign press has been able to say so many nasty things that impugn Nigeria’s sovereignty and our army. Without doubt, some of those press articles are paid for by Nigerian “insiders” who will sell their mothers for a dime (I found this out from an online conversation with a British journalist).
It is incredible that a Nigerian ex-General can get on an air plane to a foreign land, get asked derogatory questions about the Nigerian army by a foreign press person, only for him to provide much more derogatory answers than the questions asked.
All that before heading off to Chatham house, London UK to “campaign,” creating the impression that we are a colony of second class humans.
Unacceptable. Absolutely condemnable.
No British person will never come campaigning to us in Abuja, because of pride in IDENTITY.
The real problem with Nigeria is many of us have some sort self-esteem issue that colours our identity, our belief in ourselves, as well as distorts our perceptions of proper behaviour and responsibility toward our country. The most affected folk will see nothing wrong with these debilitating shortcomings, but they must remain our beloved fellow Nigerians; we just need to work around them to deliver a Nigeria our children can be proud to belong to. Slowly, all will come round.
This is our trial by fire, our period of forging a nation out of diverse people and religions. Our period of forging pride and beauty out of ugly disunity.
God Bless ONE Nigeria.
#NeverAgain.
I understand your agnst, a lot of foreign media are now glorifying the foreign PMCs as the ‘REAL’ soldiers taking the war to BH while our soldiers sweep behind.
imagine this piece of trash from UK independent.
Quote.
Nigeria has recruited hundreds of mercenaries from South Africa and the former Soviet
Union to bolster its offensive against Boko Haram ahead of national elections this month.
The use of foreign mercenaries against the Islamist militant group emerged this month
with pictures on Twitter showing armoured vehicles rumbling along a street in what was
said to be Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria’s north-east region.
In one, a white man in body armour is shown beside a heavy-calibre machine gun on top
of one vehicle as the column drives through the streets at dusk.
end quote.
or this Aussie trash
quote.
Hundreds of South African mercenaries are taking part in
Nigeria’s military campaign against Boko Haram, operating attack helicopters,
armoured personnel carriers and fighting to retake towns and villages captured
by the Islamist group, a senior government official in northern Nigeria said.
According to the senior Nigerian official, the South Africans mercenaries have
played a significant role in the recent change of momentum in the military effort
against Boko Haram…….
…….”They are on the ground; I have seen them,” he said, speaking on condition of
anonymity for fear of reprisals. “They are playing a very important role. They
are in the vanguard in the liberation of some of the communities. They came in
with much more sophisticated equipment than the military. Thanks to their
involvement the tide is turning. I believe because of them we will witness a
seismic shift.”
end quote
The narrative has change from if they are present to what their role is. You can guess which role the foreign press want to attribute to them to maintain the narrative that Africans need guidance and control from the white man.
@oga ola
I mean, what sort of a derogatory comment is that?
After having earlier dismissed the Nigerian military as a bunch of cowards, they just can’t phantom praising that military they so castigated. Their egos won’t let them, so they decided to invent another story.
Pathetic bunch they are.
The NA really need to work more on their Media presentation. I still wonder why the NA is not working with Channels TV, DAAR communications and Silver bird, among others to bring truthful narration to international audience, especially Nigerians following events back home as well as reach non-Nigerians through CCTV, Xinhua and RT? I hope after the last major offensive, there would be an extraordinary press briefing to iron out some things. We’re tired of VOA, BBC and the rest of them taking the sheen off the men of NA and NAF.
Sorry about the profound feeling of BITTERNESS and a motivation to undo contained in that VOA REPORT. Now you know why we always reminded us that they are an organ of the US STATE DEPT.
If the mercs are that central to it, feel free to hire them for the Afghan theatre or SHUT UP and watch.
Hey Beegs! Did you just ask me to SHUT UP? Did you notice my stand is anti PMCa and if we must use them, we should use our own in order to avoid the kind of narratives going on now?
I think he was talking about the US state department, not you.
#FenceNigerianBorders
#ArmNigeriaToTheTeeth
#VictoryForNigeria
#NeverAgain
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
Industrial grade mis information:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/boko-haram-nigeria-hires-hundreds-of-mercenaries-to-help-beat-islamist-militant-group-10104821.html
Yeah,that where I got that quote above,they are changing the narrative on the role of the PMC.
The other is from the Sydney morning herald.
m.smh.com.au/world/nigeria-is-using-south-african-mercenaries-in-the-fight-against-boko-haram-20150312-142rzv.html
South African PMCs in their ‘hundreds’ at the ‘vanguard’ of our advances.
Not one of these newspapers or media outlets now cheerfully reporting on foreign mercs has ever written or mentioned even slightly the gains made by our armed forces since the beginning of the new offensive. They first said we were incompetent, then they moved the glory to the Chadians, when that wasn’t enough, they said it was the Nigeriens and Chadians that were doing the bulk of the fighting; that wasn’t enough, they went ahead and looped in Cameroon into the mix, that story seems to be fading away since bold Nigerians have been telling them off, now its the South African mercs doing the bulk of the fighting. Some had tried in the past to insinuate that the CJTF was doing the bulk of the fighting but that one went unnoticed. Don’t know about you guys but I feel very offended
Good observation.
The Bad press the NA is getting really got stinky with the Chibok saga and the manner in which it was handled. That was when the narrative really started going downhill. We were grabbing the tail by the tiger until recently and we got bitten. Although nw it has gone from bad press to outright lies and concoted stories. “If wall no get crack, lizard no go hide inside”
We should be a bit careful about the PMC story, there is no proof of it. It might be true or false, there just is no proof, so I choose to believe it is false.
All we know is that both men died in Maiduguri after being fired on by a Nigerian tank. For all that’s known, Maiduguri is not located at the war front. There has also not been a military attack by boko haram anywhere close to Maiduguri for some time now.
Until there is concrete proof of PMC’s at the warfront, it is safe to assume that haters of Nigeria are doing what they do best, manufacturing stories.
LOL…Ola, I was not talking to you.
I meant that VOA troll rambling about Corporals and Sergeants. On a good day, all Western media like to mouth off about speaking to “senior people” as an assumed index of the authoritative stature of their sources (yeah, they are all name droppers)
How come they are now speaking only to NCOs? Do we have new fighter jets? The NAF have logged up 3,000 sorties overseas in Liberia and Sierra Leone during the 1990-2000 epoch. Why do they need mercenary pilots now?
Chad use Belarussian and Ukrainian mercenary pilots. I never heard the VOA mention that. On Nigeria, anything real or imagined has to be turned into a scandal. Like I said, you just read what appears to be the US position now that “Soviets” has cropped up in the lexicon. Bad belle 🙂
TO BE SURE, the same VOA DAILY air an “editorial reflecting the views of the US Govt”. Tune in at 7.55am.tomorrow to be sure. This is a guided report and Chris Stein is just a mere tool in the hands of his puppeteers.
Lol, I was wondering too 🙂 On Chad AF, Agreed! I have never for once read or heard it anywhere that Chad is Using Eastern Europeans to fly their SU-25s even though it’s an open secret. They even claim Chad and Niger have “powerful airforce” in the region, imagine! But seriously, I am desperate for counter opinions on the news and our media houses are not showing any spine! It’s all politics and movies and entertainment, I wonder where their patriotism lies! With the reach some of our media houses have to the diaspora population, I expect them to show some patriotism. They barely even mentioned the massive support (march for NA) the populace gave to our troops on the 28th of February.
DEFENCE HQ NIGERIA @DefenceInfoNG · 1h1 hour ago
FLASH: Troops today succeeded in clearing terrorists out of #Madagali. The last of places held by the terrorists in Adamawa. #NeverAgain
DEFENCE HQ NIGERIA @DefenceInfoNG · 1h1 hour ago
#Madagali There were NO casualties on the side of your Armed Forces. Mopping up is ongoing. More details later. #AdamawaisFree #NeverAgain.
#VictoryforNigeria
whoo ! whoo!whoo!
The first state to be WIPED CLEAN ADAMAWA
THIS IS GREAT NEWS
My ogas there is a big storm brewing , please let us all come together and PRAY FOR OUR TROOPS regardless of our Differences.
WITHIN the realm of reason let know one Doubt the steely resolve of our Nigerian Soldiers who are now stationed at GAMBORU AND NGALA, the seamless transition from CHAD TROOPS TO Nigerian Troops confirms the level of INTEL that the Nigerian INTEL has there is nothing happening in those neck of the woods that we don’t know about.
BANKI is the ANVIL, and We can no longer Hide from it Gwoza is most def the hammer .
Gentlemen this I pray will be Nigeria’s finest hour.
God’s speed.
Its like ISIS has accepted BH (”Bayat”) allegiance
what makes you say that
Its on Vanguard and a lady provided a like to an audio message on twitter suspected to be ISIS spokes person accepting BH allegiance
Who cares after all. This only underlines the fact that boko gayram is a foreign entity, so western crooked journalists stop calling them Nigerians, they are clearly not.
ISIS has accepted boko harams pledge.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/islamic-state-leader-acce/1712492.html
This calls for a cogent Africa / foreign relations policy and the military posture / doctrine to back it up.
So piss-is scumbags still have mouth to open. Piss-is scumbags, you have just signed your death warrant. your brotherly boko gayram are already meeting their 72 virgin homosexuals in hell fire.
Let us get the SU jets and the jf17, we need to go and bomb mosul as well. And to the us citizens, you can now see that your politicians have been lying to you and have been supporting terrorism in its worst kind. Your media keeps doing propaganda for terrorists.
This is an other proof that american politicians are liars or incompetent. How many times did we say that these scumbags were linked together ? The american politicians kept denying !
Interesting videos from Channels TV news @10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtQQsnS7udM&feature=youtu.be&a
Nice, this shows how reuters doctored their tape and sensored positive news from the Nigerian military and also added irrelevant claims about some chadian coq and bull stories. And also it exposes voa which cut most of the interview and doctored it in a manner to damage the Nigerian image, while at the same time flooding the video with boko gayram propaganda. And this is also very informative.
JOE SENT THIS BIT OF EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL
I wonder what Beegeagle has to say about the confirmed reports of mercenaries fighting in the NE
(http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/13/world/africa/nigerias-fight-against-boko-haram-gets-help-from-south-african-mercenaries.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news).
I think we can be patriotic by asking the right questions. I am a regular follower of this blog but it is getting difficult to continue. It is fast becoming a mouthpiece for GEJ and his incompetent generals. Fact is that the nigerian military is a paper tiger. Why are we celebrating the army reclaiming land that should never have been lost? Or celebrating us reclaiming APCs etc that boko haram stole from the NA. There is nothing wrong with the fighting men and women but the leadership is corrupt and inept. Facts are facts. Mercenaries are engaged and do most of the night fighting. Perhaps explains why the NA does not allow journalist on its missions. We can be patriotic and ask the right questions.
Recently GEJ claimed the Nigerian army hasn’t been equipped which begs the question where has all the funding for the last 16 years of civilian rule gone to? Its also funny reading about all the western hate? Do we really think that western countries wake up dreaming on how to make Nigeria suffer?
I’m happy we are reclaiming lost territories but how did it ever get to this point?
lol….
There are just too many Nigerian traitors who would support foreigners against their own.
Thatz sad .
Personally, I don’t support any of the presidential candidates as I think they are not the best Nigeria can offer.
I hate all the abuse that goes on in cyberspace all because of leaders who don’t give a damn about the future of the youths of this country.
Anyway, oga beegs, leave the politics for them.
Lets focus on the military analysis…
Dude get your facts right then come and talk to mature people. Just spewing out the media garbage which is made to destroy the image of Nigeria and its military is a sign of mental disability. It is funny how you tend to make up things and also claim things to be fact while you have no proof of them and they are actually false. So to your shallow brain, it is logical that the same foreign media first claimed that all the fighting was done by cjtf then by hunters, then by cameroon, then by chad and now by mercenaries who nobody has seen and whose presence is only a speculation. Before taking the existancr of mercenaries as a fact, why don’t you ask the people claiming their existance to provide videos and proof ? Or perhaps what you want to call mercenaries are the technicians who don’t carry gun, how exactly are they supposed to do the fighting ? With stones ? No they are there to repair and train soldiers on the use of the new weapons. The technicians are provided adequate security by the soldiers. And for the accusation of corruption, it is funny that you have no names and no case, just a random trolling, let me throw it back at you, you are the one who is corrupt, you came here with your lies which constitue corruption and you are also basing your talk on media garbage corruption. Your brain is corrupt and your mouth is corrupt, go back to your corrupt house and sleep well in your corrupt bed after eating your corrupt food and greeting your corrupt siblings.
@joe
Oga Igbi, Oga Igbi!! Haba!!!!! You really need to stay on point on issues without abusing anyone or attacking personalities. U always say u dont attack pple but whats with the Abuse in ur comments! Our Opinions will never b the same, If they were, then I would say this blog has lost its essence. When we disagree lets stay on issues and leave personalities outa it!
OK, Joe, farewell. Why threaten me with your contemplated exit? Have you ever contributed a line to the discourse on here? Now everyone is popping up on account of jangled political nerves?
All these Sahara Reporters crew and fans sef. Imagine one John Owoniso who can barely string together a sentence telling me that he has lost all respect for me? Lol..do I look like I care? If you can’t stand the heat, leave the furnace. Dang!!
They should send those night-fighting Mercs to Afghanistan. They will kill off all the Taliban is 0 days and 2 nights only.
These are the facts.
The western media invested in the story of the inept Nigerian Military. Even more unfortunately, the head of the US Military intelligence said “the NIgeiran Army had no chance of defeating Boko Haram.”
Now that our victory is staring them right in the face, they grasped at the Chadian straw, which proved weak. A picture of Eq. Guinean REVA APCs has now provided them with a hope: Mercs!
Night fighting, Ninja Mercs from South Africa!
How ridiculous!
The last time the US intelligence community and their media friends were so embarrassed was when no weapons of mass destruction was found in Iraq.
after the “weapons of mass distruction” claim it is now “white ninjas of mass distruction”. What kind of imbecile still believes western media. The western media is the most corrupt on earth. And they take their readers and viewers for emptyheaded fools.
The politicisation of this blog in recent days is alarming. This Blog must remain apolitical. I am relatively new here though i have been following for a while i only recently became a discussant. The reason for this blog is to discuss issues affecting the military and the military. the Nigerian Military was here long before any of the parties and their people and will be here after all of them. Irrespective of who wins the election the military will remain here.Nigerian Politicians are not to be trusted and like i said earlier “the broom or the umbrella does not sufficiently distinguish them” Most of them are very self serving so even when they appear to take a popular stance or do the right thing there often is a personal benefit to be gotten.
I have my political sentiments and i try to keep them out and deal with issues as they are when it comes to the benefits of the Nation. Nigeria is bigger than my personal sentiment and this is not the platform to show or display my sentiment.
@ Oga beegs your constant insinuations regarding “the Opposition” have encouraged the politicisation in my opinion. If you can say that then you implicitly open the doors for peoples political opinions to flood this place.
I met an ex employee of Reuters in Singapore last year when I went on a trip.. During our discussion over a few drinks I proceeded to educate he and his girlfriend on Nigeria’s size and how far the Boko Haram fighting was from Lagos. His remarks were simple, he doesn’t believe anything he reads or sees in western media, having worked with one firm he knows what happens between when a reporter sends in a news article/item and when it’s published.
The news is dependent on what some western power/broker/interest wants. I’m happy on this blog there are a lot of people who can read between the lines and spot the lies. It’s only natural for someone to be 1,000 miles away and talk gibberish. You saw the Map of Africa with Ebola affected regions on CNN during the crisis. No European or US state was painted red, even though they were treating confirmed cases.
Let’s leave the politics and not go down to insulting ourselves on this blog and continue enjoying the military discourse. I appreciate the occasional vents because it’s hard to keep it all in, I am of the opinion there’s no country void of corruption, the only challenge is people letting the level of corruption impede national growth.
Private interests will always make money from conflicts. The Armed forces are getting the required resources at a very high cost to the taxpayers. Our expectation should be that this cost will reduce in the coming years. The thieving will have to reduce.
We should be looking for selfless leaders ( We do not have them in the two major parties as we speak)
NIgeria will Survive.
It will get worse, but there is no way it won’t get better.
West Africa and the Rest of Africa cannot survive with a Nigeria in turmoil
For all who believe that SA Mercy from Apartheid days are doing the fighting in the NE, I have one question for you…How old are these men?
Mecenaries*
NASCO WROTE IN RESPONSE TO ADETAYO…
I am with you 100%. Let’s keep politics out of this excellent blog. As for merc from SA, sorry guys it is a fact. I can’t reveal all I know, but be assured that we have mercenaries flying some of our choppers and we should not necessarily be upset about it. What was black water again???……the U.S. used them well!
GEEB*D WROTE AS FOLLOWS:
Hi Oga Beeg, am an ardent fan of your blog and indeed enjoy the banter well. Sometimes i wonder if you guys r nigerians, cos u say it the way Nigerians do not say it. By the way thats a compliment!
Growing up as a ‘Barrack Boy’ i do have some knowledge of the capabilities of the Nigerian Armed forces, i have however been dissappointed with the outcome of the war in boko haram, it was a war dictated by the civilians not the military, i believe that our Military could have taken a stronger stance on the prosecution of the war and not allow this civilians to dictate the pace, Democracy or Not, it is war!
I do not share your view that Buhari criticized the Military, his condemnation was of the way the FG by its own doing bungled the prosecution of the war by opting for a mix of means of resolving the war i.e. Military and Political. In my honest belief, War is War and Politics can always be done after war.
The NA and NAF i know has worked under conditions of Inadequate weapons etc and sometimes it is an easy excuse but they have ground out victories and adapted to whatever the situation so it was bewildering that this same force was being given a tough time by a supposedly rag-tag Boko haram group!
On a more personal note, i had dreamed of being an Army officer (my dad was a soja man) but due to other reasons that plan changed, i feel for our guys at the battlefront who each day gear up for Nigeria, its the ultimate sacrifice and God will bring em back!
Thanks,
From GEEB*D
There is too much Politics going on here, but then again everywhere nowadays na HAYPEESEE or PEEDEEPEE argument, God help us through the next 4 weeks!
To the Issue, am gonna ask, why are we all blaming the reuters,AFP,VOA of this world for the information they are projecting worldwide about nigeria? We have had over 50years to build our own news organisations but where are they? nobody here has mentioned NTA,VON which are supposed to project the Nigerian view to the world! If these organs are doing their Job and i mean in an apolitical manner, Video highluights of Nigerian Troops tyaking the war to Boko Haram and cvapturing towns, Give us videos of Nigerian Pilots and Crew men on all our Helis’ and Jets i do not think we will be having such a fierce debate about anythng.
It all boils down to the fact that we will rather blame the world than make corrections to the way we run our country.
On the front page of VON website is the PDP logo, Unchanging, how will people believe your stories when yo do that?
My General, DHQ spokesman, should seek how to take this guys to the front on a more regular basis to ensure the world sees this war from the Nigerian side.