The recent setbacks experienced by the Nigerian military in the fight against insurgency has been blamed on the unwillingness to fight by some members of the Nigerian Army, thereby confirming reports that some junior officers of the Nigerian army are no longer committed to the fight against insurgents. But he kept mum on the allegations that some officers are acting as informers to Boko Haram and herdsmen, thereby deliberately putting the lives of their own troops in danger.
Reports were rife about how some senior officers send troops out and then inform the insurgents of the troops location, thereby setting them up for massacre. Although this has not been independently confirmed, it was given as part of the reason for the mutiny experienced sometime ago within the Military.
There are also allegations that the army is being used to further the cause of the insurgents. This was once voiced out by a former Chief of Army staff, Theophilus Danjuma, a position that has resulted in accusations and counter accusations between the government army and the retired General.
Speaking on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of a five day workshop for middle level officers, Buratai said those who are unwilling to fight should leave the service. But he made no mention of possible fifth columnists.
“It is unfortunate, but the truth is that almost every setback the Nigerian Army has had in our operations in recent times can be traced to insufficient willingness to perform assigned tasks or simply insufficient commitment to a common national and military course by those at the front-lines”, he said
“Many of those on whom the responsibility for physical actions against the adversary squarely falls are yet to fully take ownership of our common national or service cause. And this is the reason why I have always ensured that the promotion of army personnel is essentially based on professional considerations only.
“But we all know that professional capacity is not a sufficient condition to succeed in a task; willingness to perform the task is equally necessary. We all know that leadership is core to military professionalism; hence all military professional courses include aspects of military leadership skills acquisition,” he concluded.
