When he was appointed
On October 4, 2010 as the new National Security Adviser by President Goodluck
Jonathan, succeeding retired Colonel Kayode Are, there was so much expectation
from Gen. Andrew Owoye Azazi (rtd).
Azazi, a former Chief
of Army Staff and later Chief of Defence Staff, took over from the acting NSA,
Colonel Kayode Are (rtd), who held the position temporarily following the
resignation of Gen. Aliyu Mohammed Gusau.
His appointment was in
keeping to Jonathan’s promise to overhaul the nation’s security apparatus
following the October 1 Independence Day bomb blasts in Abuja.
Returning fresh from
his retirement to assume the National Security Adviser (NSA) post as a civilian,
Azazi inherited a range of challenges from extremists, including the militant
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in his native land, and
the rise of a new violent Islamist group called Boko Haram, which first emerged
in 2009.
In arriving at the
choice of Gen. Azazi as the new Security Adviser, the then President’s Special
Adviser on Media, Mr. Ima Niboro, had said in a statement that “Azazi had a rich
and illustrious career in the military during which he rose to head the Nigeria
military intelligence as Director of Military Intelligence (DMI).”
As if to test Azazi’s
counter-terrorism skills, shortly after taking office, he presided over the
interception and public exposure of a large illegal shipment of weapons from the
Islamic Republic of Iran.
In what was considered
as a golden opportunity to bare his fangs, Azazi was not only left toothless but
speechless on the origin of the weapons and tactlessly conceded to the Foreign
Ministry to make the official allegation before the United Nations, refusing,
however, to speculate publicly on where the shipment emanated from.
And in a major boost to
the anti-terrorism efforts of the government in the face of unrestrained
attacks, the United Nations Security Council had sued all countries to cooperate
“actively” with Nigeria and Azazi in tackling what has become Nigeria’s
Frankenstein Monster.
But if Nigerians
thought they were going to get any respite with Azazi in the saddle, they were
mistaken. The activities of the Boko Haram sect spiralled out of control. It was
believed that his tenure as NSA, rather than address the myriad of security
challenges, Nigeria became somewhat a nest of terrorist activities. Those who
hitherto slept with one eye opened, had to learn to adjust to a new style of
having both eyes firmly open while asleep.
With listlessness and
crass ineptitude as hallmark of reign as National Security Adviser, the country
continued on an inexorable bloodbath, much worse than ever witnessed before his
appointment.
His public statements
as NSA on terrorism matters tended to be circumspect. By allowing the Foreign
Ministry and judicial authorities to make definitive statements to the public,
he left no one in doubt that he was not sensitive and responsive to
counterterrorism matters. In sharp contrast to his public showing, Azazi was
believed to be aggressive behind the scenes.
For instance, the State
Security Service (SSS), which reported to Azazi, had had to take what observers
considered then as an unusual step in November 2011 by arresting a senator and
charging him with aiding Boko Haram.
But anyone who vilified
the sacked Security Adviser for only being aggressive behind the scene got a raw
deal when at the South-South Summit, Azazi had to hit below the belt at the
party in power. He was quoted as saying the PDP’s brand of politics, especially
the way it picked its candidates for elections, was partly responsible for the
Boko Haram problem.
He had said: “A
situation where a political party insists on fielding a particular candidate
over another to get a massive win, and that if they get that massive win the
party has arrived, is the source of the problem.”
His tirade was
considered impolitic by several politicians who refused to take the comment
lying down. Not a few insisted that his head must be put on a chopping board for
the open show of ingratitude to the party in government.
It was a political faux
pas that would navigate the rest of his stay in office as NSA. Despite several
calls for his sack, it appeared then that the President was only bidding his
time.
Like a similar dish
prepared by the Boko Haram sect for the ousted Inspector General of Police,
Hafiz Ringim, Azazi’s was carefully reserved for him in the womb of time.
Whether it was cold or hot, it did not matter after all. But what matters now is
that once again, the nation’s security Augean stable must be cleared for a
breath of fresh air.
Rather than adopt
pragmatic approach to tackling the menace of Boko Haram which has seen the
country’s umbilical cord gradually ebbing away, Azazi appeared to be applying
extremist threat doctrine in shaping a national response to Islamist extremism.
After the Christmas 2011 Boko Haram bombings of churches, Azazi strongly
cautioned fellow Christians against talk of retaliation against Muslims or even
wider religious warfare. He called on citizens to question the strategic
intentions of the perpetrators, insisting that counterterrorism policy must
address those strategic intentions.
Discussing Boko Haram
and its strategy to incite retaliatory sectarian violence, Azazi had offered:
“Have we thought of what their ultimate intentions are? Why will somebody go on
to bomb Christians on a Christmas Day? Look at the ultimate intentions. Do they
want to really raise tempers elsewhere?”
Even though President
Jonathan may not have fared well in all facets of governance, his obvious
failing is generally believed to be in the area of security. This has led many a
Nigerian to conclude that the sustenance of Boko Haram attacks is a failure of
the Presidency’s security team. This has severally culminated in the call for
the President to constitute a new security advisory team with new ideas and
vision on the country’s security nightmare.
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