December is around the corner, and Nigeria still thrives with shadows lurking by her doors. The dream to get rid of the pestering Boko Haram within the Northeast tends to have metamorphosed into an endless nightmare.
In May, President Muhammadu Buhari came into power, vowing to crush the Islamist rebels whose insurgency has killed at least 17,000 people since 2009.
Buhari, a retired army general and former military ruler, assured that he would see to it that the insurgents are ousted, going as far as stipulating a deadline to bring the terrorists to their knees.
However, in the light of recent events, the attainment of that goal does not seem feasible anymore.
Buhari has alleged that the Nigerian troops were denied weapons to fight Boko Haram, hence leading to thousands of lives being lost
The president further reveals that because of rampant fraud in the nations procurement process, the military has not been availed the necessary tools for the destruction of the Islamic separatist.
Sadly, the complaints come despite Nigeria having one of Africa’s biggest defence budgets.
It is recalled that two jets were seized in South Africa, with $9.3 million and $5.7 million respectively, illegally imported to the country allegedly for purchase of arms for the Nigerian army.
There were claims that the United States had impose an embargo on arms trade with Nigeria, due to the impunity for human rights violation by Nigerian security forces. However, the speculation was later disputed by the American government.
Under the Jonathan-led administration, front-line troops frequently complained that the militants were better armed and they lacked the proper equipment, including bullets, to hold their grounds.
The development on one occasion led some irritated soldiers to fire shots at their commander’s vehicle.
The agitating force-men were court-martialed, they were found guilty of mutiny and sentenced to death.
Following the arms deal saga, a 13-member committee was set-up to probe arms procurement between 2007 and 2015.
On Tuesday, November 17, the presidency said that the investigation “unearthed several illicit and fraudulent financial transactions”.
Phantom Contracts
The statement released by the 13-man-committee, revealed that Sambo Dasuki, the former national security advisor “awarded fictitious and phantom contracts”.
A total of about $2 billion was said to have been amassed, supposedly to buy four Alpha (fighter) jets, 12 helicopters, bombs and ammunition.
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