FILE PHOTO: Some hunters in Borno
Egbe Omo Oduduwa endorses the recent call by the hunters in Borno on Nigeria’s military to allow them become part of the war against Boko Haram terrorism, bringing into focus the need for a review of Nigeria’s security and defense architecture. Acceding to the hunters’ request will no doubt be of a fundamental significance, not only in terms of intelligence and reconnaissance, two vital elements of military operations but also underscores the Regional imperatives of security and defense in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-national Nation State.
It is instructive to note that part of the reasons adduced by the hunters for making this request was precisely to avoid what they called “idleness” on their part as Boko Haram’s activities had rendered them helpless in pursuit of their hunting profession, a situation the hunters say can be mitigated by their knowledge of the terrain. Furthermore, by seeking to be absorbed into the military, the hunters’ idleness will be taken care of by their becoming gainfully employed as part of the military, two specific areas of primary interest to the Buhari administration: employment and security, while also enabling the military’s professionalism and competence through embedding the hunters knowledge or experience into training, policy and doctrine of the military itself.
Beyond this immediacy however, is the role of the Armed Forces of the post-colonial state especially when geo-political considerations determine the effectiveness or otherwise of a military structure, hence, absorbing “hunters” into the military in fighting Boko Haram must also be viewed within the context of the current revving up of the Sunni/Shia contradiction, especially when the conflict has now formally reared its head in Nigeria with the recent confrontation between Nigeria’s military and the Shia movement.
There is no doubt that the Western World is backing Sunni Saudi Arabia’s …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
