₦airaland Forum

okosodo: Every body including the air we breathe can confirm it. If wecan me able to remove ourselves from the shackles of hausalization, we will develop very fast. The amount spent on almajiri school,put it in technology and relax. We will go very far

Nigeria does not spend huge amounts on ''almajiri schools''. Besides, what objection do you have to providing education to the indigent?

Foxflames: Very stupid decision. Imagine UK or other countries should ban Nigerian students because of Ebola, how would you feel?

It was suggested in the UK Daily Mail that students coming from West Africa to start the new academic year should be stopped. Had the decision makers allowed the mindless panic to dictate their decisions, many Nigerians would have been unable to start studies or otherwise visit the UK. Yet, here we are succumbing to panic.

When the "educated" are acting in a benighted manner, it underscores the triumph of mindless prejudice over reason.

There is a certain irony in the headline as Lai Mohammed has been in the front line in the battle to gain political capital from the Boko Haram menace.

It's hard to tackle a problem if there is no national consensus that it exists. The Government has shown a callous disregard for the victims of Boko Haram and an utter lack of a sense of urgency. The opposition opposed even the mere imposition of states of emergency and its presumed flag bearer, Buhari, proclaimed that we should cease killing Boko Haram members and pursue the amnesty option coupled with monetary compensation for Boko Haram followers.

Even now as Boko Haram takes over towns, there is still no sense of urgency. GEJ acts like a callous pyschopath who doesn't realise his country is burning. The Nigerian people are busy debating inanities like whether Buhari or Ihejirika is behind Boko Haram. It's a very provincial mindset that plagues this country as there is a refusal to see that there is an global Islamist terror movement and Nigeria has caught its attention.

If true, I pity those hunters.

The problem with the military is that after the economic collapse in the 1980s which ushered in SAP, we stopped investing in the military. Training and the purchase of equipment were reduced.

It's only recently, compelled by Boko Haram and MEND before that, that investment has picked up. We are paying the price for years of underinvestment.

Jakpon: When ihejirika was the COAS
The Police HQ, Abuja was bombed
The UN building, Abuja was bombed
The command and staff college, Jaji was bombed
The Air force base, Maiduguri was bombed(Three jet fighters & Two Helicopters were destroyed) etc etc

Are you seriously suggesting that responsibility for the security of places like the UN building and Police HQ vests in the army? The mind-numbing stupidity you people display here is shocking.

You have to be gullible to believe Cameroun's claims. They have not even rescued the Vice-President's wife.

Observator: Kindly note that Ebola could be managed with a combination of antibiotics and other therapy , if detected early. Early detection is key.

You recommend treating a viral infection with antibiotics?

The Nigerian army is also getting battle hardened. My fear with Boko Haram isn't that I expect them to win but that they will cause a lot of pain and suffering in the meantime. It caused circa 1 million lives for the Biafra war to end.

Also, the Boko Haram issue may escalate to full blown inter-ethnic or religious conflict. The sooner we understand that we are in a state of war and act accordingly, the better for us.

realborn: Sounds like a write up from BH spokesperson. Seemingly accurate information on their juxtaposed ideologies and internal workings.

I think the blogger or Fulan Nasrullah as he calls himself is an admirer of Boko Haram though he tries to mask this. Nevertheless, he does have some good insight into Boko Haram which is worth reading.

Nigerians are not interested in this kind of analysis as they want to believe Buhari/GEJ is behind Boko Haram. It's somewhat more comforting to believe that someone you know is behind your problem rather than people you don't know. A bit like how Nigerians blame major illness as the handwork of their enemy.

What is clear is that we have become a major staging area for the global jihadist struggle attracting foreign Islamist fighters to the campaign. Whilst this is happening, I believe our legislators are still in recess and
there is still no sense of urgency given the gravity of the situation. This may change when Maiduguri falls in the weeks ahead.

There are four groups, three of whom are allied to each other. They are namely:

1. Jamaa’atu Ahlis-Sunnah Lid-Da’wati Wal-Jihaad of Abubakar Shekau

2. Jamaa’atu Ahlis-Sunnah Ahlis-Sunnah Lid-Da’wati Wal-Jihaad of Sheikh Bukar Al-Barnawi

…. Group of the People of The Sunnah(Traditions) For the Call/Propagation (Evangelism) and The Struggling/Striving

3. Ansorul-Muslimiina Fii Bilaadis-Sudan led by Abu Usamah Al-Ansori

….. Helpers Of The Muslims In The Lands of The Sudan (Sudan is a classical Arabic term referring to the entire part of Muslim Africa that runs from Senegal and the Atlantic to the Ethiopia-Sudan border. Some historians also include Ethiopia and Somalia up to the Juba and Shabelle regions in it

4. Haraktul-Muhajiriina wal-Mujahidiin led by Khalid Al-Barnawi.

Movement of Those Who Have Migrated and Those Who Are Striving……..

Origins….

These four groups all originated from the students of Muhammad Yusuf who survived the 2009 Conflict in Maiduguri which was badly mismanaged by the government. They first called to seek revenge for the massacre of several thousand of innocent residents of Maiduguri and the extra-Judicial murder of Sheikh Yusuf.

Their call has metamorphosed into a whole different reason for fighting

Ideology…..

They are Yusufiyya. They follow strictly the teachings of Muhammad Yusuf. However the group of Shekau is becoming more Takfiri and leaving the Yusufiyyah Ideology and this is causing estrangement between it and the other three groups.

They are Yusufiyyah Sunnis I.e Sunnis on the Aqeedah (Creed) of Muhammad Yusuf and the Manhaj(Methodology) of Thaurah fil-Jihad (Revolution In Striving) to the core. They can stand Ikhwanis since they revere Qutb and Al-Banna.

However, the three other groups I.e Jamaa’atu Ahlis-Sunnah of Sheikh Bukar Al-Barnawi, Harakatul-Muhajiriin of Khalid Al-Barnawi and Ansorul-Muslimiin of Abu Usamah Al-Ansori despise Ikhwanul-Muslimiin (Muslim Brotherhood) because the Ikhwan participate in democracy and protest which the Yusufiyyah reject.

Their Views Of Al-Baghdadi…..

Shekau and his group have links with Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and his group that date back to May/June 2014 when a delegation from Shekau arrived in Ar-Raqqoh in Syria to seek an agreement of cooperation with Al-Baghdadi and his then Islamic State of Iraq and Sham. The agreement was reached and half a dozen technical advisors from the ISIS are said to have come to Nigeria via Chad and Cameroon to train Shekau’s forces. Apart from those technical no substantial support from Al-Baghdadi flowed to Shekau.

While Shekau obviously admires Baghdad, it I unclear so far if he has pledged loyalty to Al-Baghdadi’s Islamic State yet or if he is even willing to go that far.

The other three groups take a radically different view of Al-Baghdadi, deriding him as an ‘adventurer’ and a ‘bloodthirsty descendant of Al-Hajjaj Bin Yusuf’ and as ‘one who calls to misguidance’.

Shekau’s association with Al-Baghdadi and his adopting of the Takfiri code of Al-Baghdadi’s Islamic State has caused the other three groups to be wary of him and to band together in case they may need to fight him in the future.

What Are They Fighting For….

I must confess a lack of complete knowledge of what they are fighting for.

Shekau’s objective is totally indiscernible to me. If he wants to conquer the whole Nigeria or just a part, I simply cannot tell.

The others wanted revenge for 2009(Sheikh Bukar Al-Barnawi), defence of Muslims against the alleged plots of Christian Association of Nigeria and the fanatic neo-Zionist churches that are found in Northern Nigeria e.g ECWA (Evangelical Communion Of West Africa and COCIN (Church of Christ In Nigeria) with islamophobic ideologies and known consorts of Israel’s Mossad (Sheikh Abu Usamah Al-Ansori), and joining the global Jihad against the enemies of Islam (America and pro- American Muslim regimes) and waging Jihad to protect Muslim lands (Khalid Al-Barnawi), respectively.

Now buoyed on by their fast growing strength, their increasing numbers, their easy victories and their increasing arsenal, they are no longer fighting fr the mundane causes of the past. They (especially Khalid Al-Barnawi and Abu Usamah Al-Ansori) believe they can defeat the Nigerian Army and overthrow the current system of government and establish an Islamic Union/State/Emirate of Nigeria or something like that based on their rule and their ideas. They see this war as a long struggle that they will fight one village at a time until the whole of Nigeria is under their heel willingly or unwillingly.

Before they took Gwoza, negotiations were possible in fact they were calling for negotiations. But after the ease of defending Damboa, retaking Gamboru-Ngala, seizing Madagali and chasing Nigerian troops into Cameroon, they are confident that in the long run they can and will win.

https://fulansitrep./

barcanista: I disagree at the emboldened. BokoHaram have sponsors within and outside Government

Boko Haram is linked to Al qaeda. It will be suicidal for a Nigerian politician/official to sponsor them as that will mark you as a sponsor of terrorism in the eyes of the US and the international community.

Nigerians are very intelligent people. Boko Haram just needs to name the Catholic church as its sponsor and you will see Nigerians demanding that Catholics be arrested.

There is no point further asking Mr Davies for evidence as he had already explained that he's simply stating what he was told by the people who purported to be Boko Haram commanders. Of course, you can ask why Boko Haram will name their sponsors.

The reality is that Boko Haram is unlikely to have prominent Nigerians as their sponsors. Their sponsorship comes from international jihadist elements, kidnapping for ransom and smuggling. This Nigerian obsession with sponsors is simply a by-product of Nigerians' penchant for conspiracy tales. I say Nigerians but it's probably an African mentality.

koboko69: I dont get....i thought the military claimed to be in control of Bama.....what then are they bombarding in Bama again? Do u bombard a place you are in control of?

They know Nigerians are gullible so they insult our intelligence with such claims. The main question is whether our military will hold Maiduguri.

Nigerians are being slaughtered up North by a bunch of Islamists and the nation has sleepwalked into a civil war but you people are busy engaged in the more important task of whipping up anti-Igbo conspiracy theories. This is a nation of callous barbarians.

gbadexy: Na true o! I'm just reading it on stv news bar now!
I never disregard sahara reporters. They may not be correct all the time but get it right a lot.
There is a difference between patriotism and living in denial. We shouldn't bury our heads in the sand. Let's acknowledge there is a problem first so we can tackle it.

Nigerians love being emotional and won't face the truth. The National Assembly should be recalled and we should acknowledge that we are in a state of war. The only thing stopping the Islamists is a lack of manpower which they are working on. We have to act before it's too late.

gbadexy: Bros I hail o! I'm not sure even our security agents have these detailed infos.

All that info comes from here: https://fulansitrep./

He's not particularly neutral but he does give more incisive factual analysis.

Bama has fallen but in the redoubtable Naija spirit of self-delusion, we continue to claim that Boko Haram is defeated.

I suspect Boko Haram will move on to take Maiduguri in the coming weeks. Maybe then, Nigerians might wake up. I don't hold much hope though.

@OP

Sorry for being pedantic but when did our "leaders" claim that 40 choppers were on their way? It seems to me this was newspaper speculation as Nigeria rarely gives specifics on military purchases.

This is a country where people believed that salt and pesticide will rid you of ebola. Boko Haram is an international Islamist group that has no partisan political leanings.

The disinformation campaign naming Ihejirika and Sherriff must be obvious to anyone with a discerning mind. It seems that whilst people are being slaughtered, some Nigerians are more interested in scoring political and tribal points.

Was it not this same "perspicacious" Australian that claimed that many Boko Haram sponsors are members of the opposition? The reality is that this man has no more insight than any other on the subject. He is simply a useful tool for disinformation.

kolykoldy: A UK military officer who has worked closely with the Nigerians says they are stuck in a Catch-22 situation.
“The trouble with the Nigerian government is that they want a big red button, which you can press and it will fix everything,” says James Hall, a retired colonel and former UK military attache to Nigeria.
“I was asked by a senior commander if we could sell them the machine that can tell if a car driving down the road contains a terrorist,” he added.
“I tried to tell them that such a machine doesn’t exist, but then they just thought we were hiding it from them.”
The UK is very wary in giving training assistance, and sales of better equipment are also problematic, he says..........
Source: BBC exclusive

I agree that Nigerians - whether in Govt or not -are looking for simple solutions. However, this anecdote about a Nigerian asking for equipment that effectively reads minds sounds completely fabricated.

Are Nigerian soldiers such delicate beings they can't withstand criticism?

Defect, flee then cross. . .all edited within hours. Not sure what to believe anymore.

PointB: I see. Apologies to the Op then.

But it is pedestrian for BBC to have used such critical 'defect' term to describe a basic army maneuver such as 'retreat'. Sometimes we give these folks (western media) more respect than they deserve. How can an internationally acclaim world media outfit make such kindergarten mistake? Who knows how many more mistakes they make daily?

Does a "basic maneuver" also involve handing over your weapons to a foreign nation and taking up accommodation in schools?

Army spokesman Lt Col Didier Badjek said the soldiers had been disarmed and were now being accommodated in schools.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28927898

KnowAll: While his country is burning. Na by force to run for president again. Common sense dictates one should step aside at times like this. There are 159,999 million of us who can do a bettet job. Just give way and u can enjoy Germany for eternity for we care. The boys in uniform need a c-in-c that has balls not some weakling.

I am beginning to suspect the President is mentally unsound as he seems to project a public image that is at odds with what is going on in the country.

PointB: Nigerian soldiers defect? Arrant nonsense!!

It's not even on BBC website, the so called source! I am sure this is another of Shekau propaganda, given life by the anti-GEJ goons!

You faux patriots are the worst traitors of all because by denying the extent of this Boko Haram menace, you help to perpetuate it. If you were serious about finding the source, you will find it. See here:

Some 480 Nigerian soldiers have fled into Cameroon following fierce fighting with Boko Haram militants, Cameroon's army has said.

Army spokesman Lt Col Didier Badjek said the soldiers had been disarmed and were now being accommodated in schools.

Clashes are said to be continuing in the border town of Gamboru Ngala.

Boko Haram on Sunday released a video in which it said it had established an Islamic state in the towns and villages it controls in north-eastern Nigeria.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28927898

These are faux patriots. People who live in denial as the Boko Haram expands territory. I remember the abuse I got when I said 2 years ago that Boko Haram will take ascendancy over our military.

Dreal1247: I still find it difficult to believe that the Nigerian Army, the backlone of Ecomog Soldiers that did not solicit for external assistance in tackling the Liberian crises are now being held to ransome by islamic militants, Boko Haram. I think the present military formation needs to be overhauled.

Nigerians' penchant for revising history to claim that the military campaign in Liberia was a success is part of our present problem. When we fail to acknowledge the long standing rot in the military, we are deprived of viable solutions.

Ovamboland: Learn to read and comprehend, don't think like Jonathan, must everything be spelt out in ABC before you understand? the fact i said 'became industrialized on the back of cheap energy prices' will ring bells in the mind of any bright student that it refers to time in the past because USA is not a recently industrialised nation.
Read the first 10 lines of the link to get educated and you will see low energy prices is one of the significant factors that gave USA the edge until it was able to outpace every European country in industry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_and_industrial_history_of_the_United_States
This does not in any way imply that USA fuel is subsidized today, i can't fathom how you made that leap from my post. However fuel is still cheaper today in US than most EU states due mainly to the tax reason you stated.

So your justification for supporting an economically illiterate policy such as fuel subsidy for Nigeria is a passage you found in Wkipedia referring to the cheap extraction of energy from abundant natural resources. Talking about leaps, it takes a humongous leap of logic to state that the cheap extraction of energy from abundant natural resources, which Nigeria already achieves, requires the subsidisation of fuel by Nigeria. If this was solely about industrialisation, why not provide subsidies solely to industrial users?

In your desperation to find justification for your naive claims, you managed to miss a whole range of causal factors - land, literate labour, transport infrastructure, capital,e.t.c - named as responsible for the US's industrialisation and latched on to one line you saw about the cheap extraction of energy. What does subsidising fuel for consumers have to do with the costs of extraction?

In your argument you ignore the elephant in the room - Nigeria has been subsidising fuel since 1972 and is no closer to industrialisation as a result. Yet, like the proverbial mad man who does the same thing hoping for a different result, you insist that subsidising present day consumption of a finite commodity is what will ensure a prosperous future.

Cheap energy should be a comparative advantage for Nigeria to help make cost of living and doing business lower but we can choose if we all agree to throw it away. It cannot be rammed down our throat by Jonathan.

You use phrases which you clearly have no understanding of their meaning. Comparative advantage refers to productive choices, choosing to make things you are better at making and buying the things someone else is better at making than you. There is simply no correlation between the concept of comparative advantage and consumption subsidy. To hold otherwise illustrates that you are engaging in charlatanism.

NOI and Madueke claimed we consume about 40 million liters daily, with the last increase in price by 32 naira, the government should have saved 470 billion in subsidy. What has the government done with this savings to convince people the rest should go. And with this figure the subsidy should not be up to 600 billion a year but what is the government paying to it's cronies?

This is a uniquely Nigerian logical fallacy - Removing subsidy results in corruption, therefore we must retain subsidy which itself is riddled with corruption. The subsidy programme would not have lasted this long if Govt officials did not make billions from it. Our Govt ignored us when they ended free education to university level for instance but you seriously think it's merely out of the goodness of their hearts that subsidy remains in place since 1972? It is because the subsidy programme is an excellent conduit to loot.

Your myopia makes you swallow the line that fuel consumption is only by SUV and generators, what of when you need to visist the salon, grind pepper, take public transport, move goods from the poor farmer to town, transport inputs to the farm, is that only done by middle class Nigerians? You are only been clever by half to think only your type and your mum will be affected by higher fuel prices.

I bet the %tage of your mums income she will spend to buy fuel at extra 40 naira to maintain her lifestyle will be far less than the %tage of the income the urban poor and the rural dweller you proclaim to love so much will pay on daily basis to transport himself, his goods and buy inputs not available in his locality.

Spare me your straw man arguments. I have never said that fuel consumption is only for SUVs and generators but that fuel use is higher amongst higher income households than lower income households. It is bizarre to claim that the way to address poverty in Nigeria is by creating a programme which spends more money on the rich than the poor. Of course higher transport bills affect the poor, but you can design policy that target solely the poor without spending on the rich. You are simply a middle/upper class guy demanding awoof oil money whilst pretending to help the poor.

Unlike you, I believe that what the poor needs is free healthcare and education not cheaper fuel. Most rural dwellers are subsistence farmers and do not own cars, use public transport or own generators. The cost of fuel subsidy is not simply the headline Govt cost - running over a trillion Naira - but the opportunity cost of failing to providing things like low interest loans, education, healthcare and infrastructure investment which we can provide with the foregone subsidy budget.

It is laughable that in your bid to sound eloquent you made the gaffe to say it is cheaper to import fuel than refine locally shows your own short term thinking is terrible and you only see things in immediate naira and kobo. Imagine the number of Nigerians that would have been employed in refining our consumption, the number required in handling and transportation, the by-products that serves as inputs to whole new industries that is totally lost as we have people like you saying importation of unemployment is cheaper for any economy. I am amazed!

Weren't you the naif blithering like an unashamed sciolist about comparative advantage? You now don't seem to agree that if something is cheaper to import than to produce locally, one ought to import it. That is the very essence of comparative advantage. If it was cheaper to refine locally, investors will be piling in to do so. Do you think we have never tried what you are suggesting which is called in policy circles import substitution? I leave you to wallow in your ignorance.

Afroconnect: Guy what re you saying-Iraqi army are a gang of armateur peeps and Isis got much more better weapons than boko-i think Isis will easily dislodge Nigeria army in the shape it is now.

It is a case of the Iraq Army not being well coordinated in the areas Isis took over...I don't get your point though-what re u trying to say that better military equipment all things being equal is useless or what?

The Nigerian army is not reputed for its discipline and organisation, I doubt the soldiers are any more professional than the Iraqi soldiers.

Better military equipment won't in itself defeat a highly motivated death cult as these Islamists groups are. Whether it's the Iraqis or the Pakistanis who have far superior military equipment than we can ever hope to obtain, it takes more than good equipment to win. Of course, having better equipment helps but we need more than that.

We need greater numbers of troops, I believe the Pakistani army has half a million soldiers, we actually need something on that scale. This will provide higher troop concentration and avoid situations where BH are able to mount large attacks on isolated army outposts manned by few soldiers.

Better intelligence gathering and smarter soldiering, no more brutalising the populace which only serves to incentivise people to join Boko Haram.

Better equipment will definitely help keep Boko Haram at bay. . .more air assets will help in the form of helicopter gunships and ground attack aircraft. But to annihilate this organisation will take a lot of factors, not all of them military, to work in our favour. It's no coincidence that the Iraqi army is better at defending Shia areas from ISIS than Sunni Arab areas. You need a way of weeding out local support for these Islamists which simply buying more war equipment cannot accomplish.