Can a Country unable to defend itself from armed teenagers in the delta and armed street boys in the north – a Government so weak that it has to bribe rebels to lay down their arms because it hasn’t the political, moral and military muscle to crush, can such a country hope to deal with the blowback we can expect from this foolish piece of grandstanding by Goodluck.

odumorun 1: Don't delude yourself. The amount of force a government can bring to bear on any insurgency is determined by the moral authority of the rulers and the governing class that produced it. In countires like America, Israel and the UK. Soldiers and law enforcement officers willingly put their lives on the line, because they know that whatever happens to them, their families will be taken care of for life.

In Nigeria, dependants of policement and soldiers kiled in the lihne of duty, colapse from hunger on the endless queues fo rtheir salin breadwinners gratutiy. Policement and soldiers families get thrown of the barracks weeks, in some cases days after their family memeber in the force is killed. The money they are entitled to nestling and gaining interest in soe corrupt senior officers account. Is it such an army, that will risk it's lives for the thieves and cowards who send to fight wars, while they send their sons and daughters ot the best schools in Europe with stolen public funds.

It's alright for comfortable middle class arm chair warriors in the big Nigerian cities and the diaspora to demand for war, the soldiers who are going to fight it, many of whom are brave, but not stupid will not gibve their all for political and military leaders whome they know are theives who would loot their death money and watch their children starve. That is the reason why the Nigerian army has been unable to mdefeat Boko Haram on the Niger delta militants. To the uniformed poster who mentioned Odi as an example of the strenght of the Nigerian Army, it was Odi that actually sparked the widespread militancy in the Niger delta. The army used long range artilery to pund Odi, because after scores of Soldiers from the amphibious brigade in Port harcourt were killed in ambush, there was anear mutiny in the bhrigade.

It was fear of more soldiers being kiled in an unfamiliar area that pushed the regime to use long range artillery. It had the opposite effect or sparking an armed uprising al over the Niger delta of youths with nothing to loose.

If you were a soldier would you risk your life for the corrupt rulingb elite ruling this country.

Maybe you need to get off your playstation X box and go into the real world of real mostly underpriviledged and over cheated people the Nigerain army draws its recruits from

teskyg: So u prefer the Islamist to overrun Mali and put their Government in place?Would you also prefer such a Boko Haram to over run Nigeria in same way?

odumorun 1: The idea that an islamist takeover of Mali will spread terror across the region betrays a lack of real understanding of the dynamics of radical movements. Nothing tames radicalism as much as the responsibility imposed by power. Insurgents are dangerous because they have no fixed address. Blowing up buildings is easier than fixing pot holes in the roads or providing basic necessities to the people.

More importantly having a government with officials who have known addresses and can be targeted means once in power radical regimes tend to tone down their external interferences in order to avoid massive retribution, they can no longer escape by being permanently underground
Hamas in power is less dangerous than Hamas as opposition. The islamists in Libya spurned power for this very reason. The same will happen in Syria when Assad falls.
This is not about stopping the spread of so-called Jihadism in the region. It is about maintaining French colonial control over its West African client states. Nothing more. The Nigerian army is merely a pawn in this game.

ROSSIKE: As usual, a contributor comes in here, making arrogant, haughty accusations against the nation's leadership without bothering to present even the most basic proof of his wild allegations. Kindly prove that Nigerian soldiers who died in battle had their families thrown out of the barracks and left to starve or admit you're a spiteful liar.

odumorun 1:

Perhaps you should pay more attention.

A couple of years back an entire battallion in Akure mutinied over unpaid nonueses due them from their service on so-callled peace keeping missions. And those are soldiers who are living, what do you think happens to those who are dead. Go to any barracks and ask what happens to the families of police men killed by armed robbers. or what other proof do you want. A police report?. Or an army intelligence file. I'll give you that the day, cats begin to investigate the murder of rats by cats

It is not spiteful to call a thief a theif. The nigerian government is corrupt and has always been corrupt. What is spiteful about describing them the way they are. Why should people who steal money while their people can't get access to pipe borne water, to ggod roads be entitled to any respect.

Nigeria has earned almsot half a trillion dolars in foreign revenue from oil since its discovery in the Niger Delta in the 60's. There is NOT ONE town or City in the country that has a working elctricity, water, sewage or road transport system. Goodluck Jonathan has ruled for at least 5 of those years, so he is culpable. if he is not then let him bring the criminals to book or else be condemed as one of them.

Spiteful allegations against the countries leadership you say - I will say it is more spiteful for a leadership not to do its job - improve the welfare of its people, while engaging in foreign adventures at the behest of foreign powers like France who flooded the region with sophisticated arms after bombing Libya and killing its president and now expect young nigerian men to clear the mess they created with their lives

Rossikk:

''Half a trillion dollars blah blah''. What is half a trillion dollars earned over a 50 year period for 167 million people?

The USA makes over 5 times that amount in one single year, yet you're wondering why all Nigerian cities do not look like Los Angeles and New York. Even if ALL the money made by Nigeria in the last 50 years had been invested 'wisely' we would STILL have serious development issues because the wealth we generate is NOT as ''huge'' as mythorians like you like to make out. It will take several decades for Nigeria to become a fully developed nation, and if you cannot wait, there's the door.

At least the Nigerian govt provided mass education plus 120 universities for commoners like you to be educated. The colonial govt that ruled us for 87 years, how many unis did they build in that period despite exploiting and exporting our resources for a century? Answer: 0. What was the literacy rate when they left in 1960? Answer: 7%. Today that figure is 75% courtesy of Nigerian leadership. I've not even began with infrastructure where, incredibly, they left us without a national grid, producing just 270 mw, and without a single expressway, after their 87 year long rule. So count your blessings instead of seeing only bad. We're not where we want to be, but we are moving forward.

TechRev: If you understood what the aim of the Islamist are, you would understand that abstaining from the conflict doesn't guarantee your security. Nigeria made the right decision in sending military support in terms of personnel and equipment. If you do not talk/act when they come for your neighbors, one day they will come for you and you will have no neighbors to act for you.

Yes there may be backlash from that decision but as a president, i will rather keep the Islamists busy in a far away country than have them keep me busy at my own door step. Only that Mali is not that far from Nigeria but still best to take the fight to them.