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By Esther E. Okpabi
Public Affairs Analyst John C. Maxwell has already said, "The best leaders are people readers. They have the intuitive ability to understand others by discerning what they feel and recognizing what they feel. President Muhammadu Buhari is one of those archetypal leaders whose stubborn obsession was the Boko Haram insurgency when he became the democratic leader of Nigeria in 2015.
President Buhari knew that Nigeria was besieged by the Boko Haram insurgency. It was obvious that if his national government were to fight Nigerian coasts of terrorism outright and outright, that would be saying goodbye to the country's existence. He knew that Nigeria wanted to recover his country from the terrorists. live in peace and security.
And the problems were multiple. He inherited a demoralized, demotivated and poorly equipped army, led by incompetent leaders. Trench soldiers fighting Boko Haram owed salaries and allowances. They worked more like reluctant horses.
READ ALSO: Chibok Girls: The hope of their return is still there – Buhari badures Nigerians
Nigeria's shame manifested itself when Nigerian troops from the 213th Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Operation Task Force Mike and 234 battalions, moved away from the front in the town of Gwoza on the approach of the militant Islamist Boko Haram of Madagali in 2014 in the north-east.
This supremacy expressed by the Boko Haram insurgents, which seriously tarnished the pride and dignity of the Nigerian nation-state, was a sign of the extent of terrorists' appropriation of terrorism. The fact sheet revealed that by May 2015, when President Buhari had become Nigeria's leader, Boko Haram had effectively captured, controlled and administered 17 LGAs in the north-east of the country. Insurgents have also implemented partial control over seven other local government areas in the region.
More Chibok schoolgirls extremely kidnapped by insurgents were still in captivity and, in general, more than 20,000 Nigerians, including women and children, were held hostage by Islamic militants. Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps have sprinkled the northeast landscape, while thousands have fled Nigeria to neighboring countries.
A United Nations (UN) report estimates that more than 2.4 million Nigerians are displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency. In an interview with the media in 2013, then-president Goodluck Jonathan said that the Boko Haram insurgency had killed more than 13,000 Nigerians.
Abuja, the territory of the Federal Capital of Nigeria (FCT), has become Boko Haram's favorite point of attack. They attacked the United Nations building, security formations, shopping malls, car parks and a dozen other places daily. Fear, pain, agony, death and destruction in most parts of northern Nigeria were the bitter pills that the insurgents forced Nigerians to swallow without worry.
President Buhari reviewed the scenario and understood the wisdom of a commentator, Pete Hoekstra, who said, "True leadership, these are leaders who recognize that they serve the people that they lead. "Buhari knew that Nigerians needed his service to get them out of the clutches of a deadly terrorism.
Thus, President Buhari's first official directive on the day of his inauguration was that the Nigerian military command would move to Maiduguri of Abuja to fight Boko Haram.
Buhari said in his speech: "The command center will be transferred to Maiduguri and remain in place until Boko Haram is fully under control. But we can not claim to have defeated Boko Haram without saving the Chibok girls and all the other innocent people taken hostage by the insurgents. "
Then President Buhari knew that it was imperative to inject new blood into the country's military leadership. And in July 2015, Nigeria had a new set of department heads and Lieutenant General TY Buratai was appointed Chief of the Land Staff (COAS) and Chief of Counter Operations. the insurgency in the country.
Believing in the principle of John MacArthur, who knows that a leader is focused on goals and not on obstacles, Buratai's first verbal contact with Nigerians on Boko Haram terrorism promised to confront insurgents without fear and to decimate them by December 2015.
The president has now reequipped the empty armory of the Nigerian army to properly arm the arduous task and defeat all obstacles on the way to victory. He also gave priority to the payment of wages and allowances to the Nigerian army, especially troops in the trenches. It was a tonic that revived the muffled spirit of the troops, who were in good spirits and who traveled miles more to quell insurgents.
Therefore, the fact that President Buhari regained the top echelon of the army was a major setback for the terrorists, who were persistently and defiantly badaulted by Nigerian troops on the battlefield. General Buratai migrated the counter-insurgency war to the doors of the terrorists and began recording victories for Nigeria.
Essentially, in December 2015, the administration of President Buhari had managed to control and decimate the Boko Haram insurgency. Towards the end of 2016, President Buhari began to demand Nigerian territories seized and occupied by insurgents in the north-east. And in December of the same year, Nigerian troops invaded and captured the fearsome Sambisa Forest by entering Camp Zero, home of Boko Haram faction leader Abubakar Shekau, and other senior commanders.
Looking back, President Buhari's footprint in the fight against insurgency in Nigeria over the last three years has yielded impressive and rewarding results. More than 16,000 Nigerians captured by Boko Haram have been saved and reunited with their families and communities. More than 100 Chibok schoolgirls were saved and almost all of Dapchi's schoolgirls were quickly saved from their captors.
The majority of IDP camps in the north-east have been dismantled, with thousands of IDPs, including those from the diaspora, having returned to deserted communities and villages in secure environments. Significantly, the Buhari presidency limited the atrocities of Boko Haram to the boundaries of the Lake Chad Basin and remote areas of the Sambisa Forest enclave.
The Buhari presidency not only prevented Boko Haram from conquering other territories, but no Nigerian territory was under Boko Haram occupation. The 17 LGAS were taken over by Nigerian troops. And all the religious and traditional leaders dislodged or dismissed by the Northeast insurgents have been reinstated. Most of the Northeast cities, under the furnace of Islamist militants such as Maiduguri and Damaturu, are now bubbling with life, another sign of a return to normalcy.
Peter Drucker said, "Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being loved; Leadership is defined by results, not attributes. Thus, President Buhari went on to the leadership chair of Nigeria and immediately grasped the enormity and severity of Boko Haram's threat. He spoke less or demonstrated his leadership through actions than words.
Today, Boko Haram is an emaciated monster in the country, because his ability to surrender without worrying about the horrific atrocities committed on Nigerians has been severely beheaded. And President Buhari is currently considering the latest defeat of the Boko Haram insurgency, while Nigerian troops are carrying out mine clearance operations in the region.
Nevertheless, Nigeria's victory over Boko Haram has cost considerable human and material resources for the country. To Nigerians who have paid the supreme price and are still fighting the insurgency, President Buhari consoles or encourages the words of Steve Buyer; "For those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, we are grateful that such men and women are here. For those who continue to serve, we honor their commitment. For those who return to civilian life, we honor their service. "
Okpabi, researcher on peace and conflict resolution, wrote at Nigeria Nile University in Abuja.
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