Leadership
has many trappings. It attracts an irresistible allure and at the same
time ensnares dangerously. Those who fail to create impact in
leadership are constrained in multiple ways. Impactful leadership
entails much more than merely possessing the qualities or knowledge of
leadership virtues, but the boldness and courage to exhibit and apply
it.
In the more than two years of the
leadership of the Nigerian Army, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur
Yusufu Buratai has demonstrated in actions and mien of his proper
grasps of what it takes to excel in leadership. Saddled with the arduous
task of leading the counter-insurgency operations in Nigeria, the Army
Chief has not only reunited a once fractured house, but led troops to
corner victory in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists on several
fronts.
Gen. Buratai drapes with constant
innovations and reforms. At every point, he enlivens the spirit of
soldering in troops with something new and refreshing. A few days back,
the Army Chief again broke new grounds in the decoration of promoted
senior Army officers.
He decorated 43 out of the 45 newly
promoted Majors-General in the Nigerian Army. But unlike in the past,
when such grandeur ceremonies held in the chilly air-conditioned halls
of the Army Headquarters, Abuja, Lieutenant General Buratai relocated
the venue for the decoration of promoted officers to Maiduguri.
Nigerians know Maiduguri has been
the former epicenter of the extremists and lethal sect, Boko Haram
insurgents. The event was strategic and fascinating in many
perspectives, but was very profoundly in the sheer of number of Army
Generals promoted in one swoop and the significance of their decoration
outside the Army Headquarters, Abuja.
The Nigerian Army made it clear that
the officers deserved the elevation, as effective and active forces in
the battle against Boko Haram terrorists. Some of them have also proven
to be the splendid drivers of the reforms and innovations in the
Nigerian Army launched by Gen. Buratai which have repositioned the
Nigerian Army as a professional, patriotic and disciplined force to the
admiration of Nigerians and the world.
Every reason adduced for breaking
the culture or tradition of decorating the promoted officers outside
Army AHQs is important and a departure from what has been
institutionalized even by the other arms of the Nigerian military. But
analysts say, the Maiduguri twists to the 2017 ceremony, embodies and
exudes relevance beyond the veneer.
The manifest wisdom of General
Buratai by this act is to expose Nigerians, without much ado, to the
indisputable reality of the decimation and defeat of Boko Haram
insurgency in the country. Its illogical that a defeated army would be
decorating officers at the theatre of war.
The decoration of the newly promoted
officers in Maiduguri is self-explanatory and Buratai’s clever and loud
statement to Nigeria and the world that Nigerian troops have undeniably
and evidentially conquered terrorists. The Army boss is convinced that
sustaining the military hold on the Northeast would define the security
architecture of Nigeria and spares nothing to hit targets. Again, a
defeated Army would not be decorating officers on the battlefield.
Gen. Buratai told excited officers
and troops at the event that “We have won the ground war and the Boko
Haram terrorists substantially degraded. We have secured Nigeria’s
territorial integrity and equally maintained her sovereignty. We have
carried out our tasks proudly and professionally. Therefore, the final
defeat of the remnants of the Boko Haram terrorists and the
stabilization efforts in conjunction with other security agencies must
be uppermost in your minds.”
While the Nigerian Army attaches
utmost premium on merit, promotion of the 45 officers, selected based on
impact and influence in winning the terrorism war and spearheading
reforms in the Army, unconsciously reflected federal character. It is a
profound expression that today’s Nigerian Army does not bow to the
dictates of ethnicity, religion or sectionalism and other primordial
interests in the discharge of professional duties.
It projects the Nigerian Army as a
force united both at home and on the warfront. It presents soldiers, as
winning the counter-terrorism war together as one big indissoluble
family, bond by the determination to keep defending the territorial
integrity and sovereignty of Nigeria.
Therefore, it is no surprise that a
perusal of the list of the promoted and decorated Army generals,
indicates finesse, professionalism and patriotism in their various
career profiles. It’s a loud statement about competence of the officers.
For instance, Major General JE Jakko
brilliantly performed the onerous task of leading and supervising Gen.
Buratai’s ongoing reforms in the Army on accountability and
transparency. It is attested by the sanitization in the management of
Army finances. Each of the promoted officer has proven his mettle as a
battle- tested soldier and a signpost to the world why the Nigerian
Army under is unbeatably, the best in Africa.
Nothing can be more edifying with
the decoration of the officers in Maiduguri than the silent declaration
that no part of Nigeria territory can ever be subjected to the dictates
and power of terrorists or any evil sect anymore. The Nigerian
territories seized by Boko Haram insurgents have not only been
reclaimed, but special fortress of insurgents like Sambisa forest home
of factional leader, Abubakar Shekau and the “Alagarno forest’’,
reputed as the spiritual headquarters of the Boko Haram insurgents
have assumed new status as military training fields and camps.
Also, the leadership of the Nigerian
Army felt that for railroading the success of the counter-insurgency
operations in the Northeast and other parts of the county, it is
apparent the last solider in Nigeria endured exceptional pains and
hardship, deserving of a reward.
Part of the lessons that can be
gleaned from Gen. Buratai’s unique leadership style by this simple act
is the advertisement of his commitment to the counter insurgency war in
the Northeast. His ever willingness to use the slightest opportunity at
his disposal to fraternally and rewardingly engage with the troops on
multifaceted aspects of welfare.
Instructively too, the Army Chief
rummaged the conscience of the civil authority to step up efforts in the
collective desire to finally defeat terrorism. This message came up
very strongly. The Army boss pleaded that the civil leadership should
necessarily take on the “salient aspects of this war to the remaining
ill-fated insurgents.’’ He canvassed the re-establishment of local
administrations in councils; erection of enlightenment infrastructures
by civil authorities’ to “… fight the ideological, social and propaganda
wars,” of terrorists. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
Okanga wrote this piece from Agila, Benue State.