Opinion: Ode to a performing general

By:Lawrence Audu

Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General TY Buratai was amongst other Nigerians recently honored with an honorary Doctorate Degree in Leadership and Peace by the Kaduna State University.

Apparently in recognition of his contributions to the country. Far from being a one off affair, the award is one of many that have come the way of this fine gentleman, whose stellar qualities have weathered the barrage of unpalatable moves to undermine his integrity and commitment to serving the nation. The negatives thrown his way are to be expected.

General Buratai has become the face of Nigeria’s resilience against plots that should ordinarily have disintegrated the country by now. A combination of external and internal forces are at work to unravel the country – manifested as a decade long Boko Haram insurgency (now mostly confined to the borders of Nigeria with Chad and Nigeria, courtesy of the Nigerian Army), militancy in the Niger Delta, killer herdsmen, separatists in the south-east and kidnappers across the land.

The projection, largely foreign sponsored but implemented by local proxies, is that no country can survive one of the aforementioned plagues without going into liquidation. But such projection for Nigeria, which some had expected Boko Haram to have completely destroyed by 2015, failed to factor in that Nigeria will come up with a Buratai.

When the mix of all the troubles are activated at once, even the best of Armies should ordinarily be overwhelmed and again such projection lost sight of the resilience and inspiring leadership that the COAS is capable of.

So it was that in the midst of all the existential threats to Nigeria, General Buratai managed the Nigerian Army to deliver results that have confounded the detractors of the country. Not only has the Army warded off the series of attacks on the country, it is now in the process of rolling back the damages that these destructive elements had wrought over the years, particularly the period preceding his…