THE admission by the Federal Government of Nigeria
(FGN) of knowledge of the botched illegal arms deal in
far away South Africa on a private jet reeks of
treachery. To government and their cohorts, the quick
admission of knowledge of the illegal deal portrays
‘responsibility’ and is expected to attenuate the
magnitude of the scandal. To discerning Nigerians
however, this is a scandal that readily fixes into a large
portion of the puzzle regarding the intractable
insurrection wrecking havoc on the country.
The enormity of the admission is scary. By this
admission, the FGN accepts culpability to a violation of
the territorial integrity of a fellow African country. It
admitted to the possibility of being a party to the
perpetration and escalation of perennial communal
conflict for which illegal arms deal is a major pillar. It
also admitted to thwarting the efforts of the AU, the UN
and other multilateral bodies in ending light arms
proliferation linked to violence especially on the African
soil.
On the home front, the acknowledgement and the
‘confession’ conform to the pattern of disintegration,
which threatens the existence of this very country.
Nigerians have for long suspected the metamorphosis of
the ‘old’ Boko Haram sect into its ‘new’ and current
form. They have wondered how the ‘war-aim’ of the
sect changed from engaging the Nigerian state to that
of total annihilation of the entire northeast and its
inhabitants. Nigerians have been left confounded as to
the source of the sophisticated fire power of the sect
which made Nigerian soldiers develop cold feet at the
mere mention of its name. They have wondered why the
strategy of the FGN fell short of swiftness and deftness;
why reconnaissance and air offensive was jettisoned
even as the ‘BH’ employs helicopters in its campaign;
and why the preference for only ‘retaliatory’ killings
which never admits of innocent civilian casualty!
Until now, pro- Government apologists and pseudo-
analysts and so called ‘security experts’, including their
lackeys in the media have made us believe that both Al-
Qaedah and the Taliban have ‘met’ to arm Boko Haram
to the teeth, even without a shred of evidence. While
these pseudo-analysts and security experts portray a
poor understanding of geography and logistics, their
‘cohorts’ in the media displayed crass mediocrity and
preference for sensational rather than investigative
journalism. Of course, official security agencies
burrowed under these thin covers to feed Nigerians with
irrational and illogical explanations on their conduct of
the counter insurgency.
As heinous a crime as this scandal is, beneficiaries of
this epileptic administration have gone on air to provide
spurious explanations. One of them claimed that the
scenario (of illegal procurement of arms) is normal
under an insurgency situation; another claimed that
America and some Western countries denied official
arms transaction with the FGN. Neither of these nor any
of the other explanations holds water.
For instance, it is not the case that the people of the
northeast have declared war on the nation in which case
it would have been argued that the arms was for a ‘fifth
column’ operation in the enemy camp with the
expectation of a damage from within. If weapons have
gone out to parties other than Nigerian soldiers, it
would only have gone to ‘insurgents’ whose attacks
have been indiscriminately directed at the same people
they are insinuated to wanting to rule. And even if the
West led by America demonstrated reluctance to sell
arms to the FG (probably because of what they know
that the rest of us did not- remember their refusal to
work with our military on the excuse that it is divided)
other weapons-producing nations such as Russia and
China would have been too glad to sell to us even on
credit! Even then, why were the South African
authorities not notified of the deal before hand?
Summarily what we have here is a case of clandestine
plot to fester the insurgency for sectional and political
gains by those pushing it!
Again the process through which the deal got to that
advanced stage is also a case for worry and needs
scrutiny. It is clear that the deal circumvented official
military line and protocols, but did it also escape official
budgetary appropriation? This draws in the Finance
Ministry as to who provided the seized fund that is now
in the coffers of the South African government.
Again by way of simple logic, if the process
circumvented official lines and protocols, then the
‘disbursement’ of the arms, had they been bought,
would have equally circumvented Nigerian soldiers; so
for who are the weapons meant? Is this the first of such
purchase? Why not with an aircraft from the Air force or
the Presidency? These pertinent questions beg for
answers; but will they ever be answered, considering the
character of this government?
On CAN, the organization gave the Chibok Girls’
abduction a religious coloration with the release of the
girls’ names along religious lines while the FG looked on.
The CAN leader has before now threatened a ‘nationwide
Christian retaliation’ at some points in the Boko Haram
crisis which left many wondering whether he has a
stockpile of arms and an army to prosecute such.
Therefore, if the FGN is illegally procuring arms through
a company in which he has interest and with his private
jet, one can wonder if there is an unholy alliance
between the two and for purposes that are necessarily
sinister!
Again, looking at the summary of Davis Stephen’s
(Australian negotiator) revelation about Boko Haram’s
sponsors; it puts it to us that the latest phase of the
insurgency is ‘cloned’. Former Governor of Borno State,
Ali Modu Sheriff was connected to the first and original
Boko Haram, while the immediate past Chief of Army
Staff Azubuike Ihejirika was connected to the ‘new’ and
‘improved’ one that we have seen to be more
sophisticated and morbid at killing. It is therefore
beyond conjectures that illegal arms must have been
getting into some wrong hands even before now with
the poor people of the northeast becoming hapless
victims of a double pronged war.
As for the Israeli connection, spies and arms dealers
of Israeli origin spread across the world have reputation
for fermenting and arming opposition and militia groups,
especially across Africa. They have always found haven
where bigots wield influence. They once supported a
secessionist bid in this country. The latest victim of
their divisive and insidious activities is South-Sudan.
After a referendum sliced that country away from Sudan,
Salvar Kiir (who succeeded John Garang) has driven his
own people nearly to a state of genocide over the same
reason of resource control for which they went away
from Sudan! Israel and its espionage agencies have
never been known to be part of anything peaceful. We
therefore wondered when the ‘Israeli connection’ was
made.
The withdrawal of the Catholic Church from CAN is
belated. For long, discerning Nigerian Christians have
noted with apprehension, the war posture of their
‘Commander in Chief’. Many have even condemned him
publicly, but because of shared antagonism by many
among the leadership of CAN, they patted him on the
back. Disowning him now does little to absolve of
culpability.
As we speak, the U.S. government is in the process of
probing ‘the sudden riches’ of a retired army chief
whose sudden wealth in known foreign accounts now
runs into billions of naira! As at 2012, official Nigerian
sources showed that a whopping sum of N5.71 billion
was budgeted for the acquisition of military equipment
out of the total N34.36 billion of defence budget. What
happened to this and subsequent budgets that we now
need a clandestine arrangement for illegal arms?
Finally, there are those who tried to ameliorate the
degree of this scandal by narrowing it down to money
laundering or toward 2015 General Elections. Neither of
these explains it. If the cash was a reward for some job
well done, Nigerians have always known how to ferry
their ‘cash’ to desired destinations. As for reasons of
the elections, the magnitude of the purchase is rather
incomprehensible for an electioneering process.
This scandal mirrors the IranContra scandal, where
sitting American officials sold arms to Iran in order to
clandestinely fund the Contra rebellion in Nicaragua
despite existing laws prohibiting sales of arms to Iran.
Nigeria must get to the bottom of this and appropriate
sanctions must be considered.
• Yekinni Shakiru is Executive Director, Center for Global
Peace initiate.

All I know is make them no finish this money before my turn reach sha!

God dey n he dey watch we.

Well-said Mr. Yekini. Thank you

An articulated piece devoid of maxims

How i wish we were in a sane country!

Goodluck Jonathan is corrupt yea but he's the good type.he aint perfect,maybe the next one after him will be...but Nigeria will get there.