Insurgency: Let the military sit up

The renewed violent attacks on Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states by the Boko Haram sect underscore the ineffectiveness of the strategies currently being employed by the military to contain the insurgency in those parts of the country.

For instance, in the Yobe attack, the sect reportedly infiltrated the Muslim celebration in Potiskum and left 26 people dead and several others injured. It also launched a frontal attack on citizens in Gombe, which led to the death of 30 people with many others injured. Bauchi State has also not escaped the bombing spree of the sect. Konton-Karfe Prison in Kogi State was also attacked, with about 145 inmates freed.
The audacity of the sect in retaking Mubi in Adamawa State and renaming it “Madinatul Islam” which means the city of Islam, the introduction of Sharia and the amputation of 10 people, are pointers that the war should no longer be treated with levity by the Nigerian authorities. In Borno State, the insurgents are said to be in control of some towns including Ngala, Bama, Gwoza, Mafa, and Konduga.
With the frightening situation reports from the war zones in the northern part of the country and the continuing annexation of Nigerian territories, it is very clear that the military is yet to get its acts together as far as this war is concerned. Initially, the guerilla nature of the Boko Haram attacks was a credible excuse for the difficulty of the Nigerian military in overcoming the sect. But, with the current frontal attacks, the seizure of whole towns and declaration of “Islamic Republics” within the country, it is embarrassing that the Nigerian military with its superior numerical and financial strength is still finding it difficult to rout the insurgents in conventional warfare.
As things stand now, there is no doubt that something is basically wrong with the prosecution of the ongoing war on terror. The frequent reported desertion by troops to neigbouring Cameroon is not tidy. It does not show seriousness on part of the Nigeria military.
The Federal Government should do certain things to rejig the war on terrorism. The military should be completely overhauled. Emphasis should be placed on training, retraining and the competence of officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Let the military be adequately equipped for the war at hand. There must  be continuous changes in the military command structure until the right people are put in the right places.
The indiscipline and the alleged presence of fifth columnists or saboteurs in the military should be attended to with utmost urgency. The unpreparedness of some Nigerian soldiers to fight the war is no longer hidden, hence the insubordination, mutiny and running away from battle. The fifth columnists and the saboteurs in the military should be fished out.
Intelligence gathering and dissemination should be intensified. There is the need for adequate information on the war situation to avoid the type of killing of civilians that were trapped in Mubi.
The enemy situation should be known and communicated to the civilian population to avoid being cut off by the insurgents. The military authorities should take the war more seriously that they have done so far.
This is a war in which the Nigerian military is at a great advantage. Unfortunately, that advantage has not been maximized. The loss of Nigerian territories to the insurgents is scandalous and unacceptable.
It is time the military sits up and reins in the insurgents. This war should be taken seriously in the same way that politicians are taking the 2015 general elections. It is only when there is a country that we can have elections.
In that regard, lawmakers should not be busy fighting over positions in Abuja while the nation is burning. The legislators ought to have been in the forefront of making effective laws to contain the festering insurgency. All Nigerians, irrespective of religious and party affiliations, should team up and work with one accord to end this raging insurgency.
The military top brass should meet more frequently to assess, monitor and give direction to the war. Let the military rise up to the challenge and rout the insurgents.
They should be dislodged from the territories they have taken as the military works harder towards a decisive end to their bloody campaign.