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 coming into the saddle.
It is natural that the man that has made himself the face of Nigeria’s resilience against agents of destabilization become the target of sustained campaign of calumny. General Buratai has consequently witnessed a period of attacks on his person. He was demonized to no end with even his personal finances coming under scrutiny of those that saw this as a strategy for getting rid of him so the coast will be clear for them to take the country apart. They failed in this.
The next target was to attempt undermining the institution he leads.
Detractors manifested in various forms and executed the most outrageous of strategies. Some accounts even reported them as going as far as supporting Boko Haram terrorists and separatists to create the impression of an Army that is incapable. Incidents of the terrorists staging guerrilla attacks are played up as failure on the part of the Army. Sincere hearts understand that such attacks truly means that the terrorists are being hit in hard places and they are hard pressed to justify to their political backers that they merit continued sponsorship.
The actual intention of these anti-humanity plots often become apparent as they all often expose themselves in the end by ending in calls for the General to leave office. It is interesting to note that irrespective of their deafening clamour, they represent the minority. The larger majority, made up of calm and rational citizens, fully appreciate the achievements of General Buratai in securing the country against the agents of destabilization, for which they are grateful.
Kaduna State University, as a corporate citizen, is among these appreciative majority. As an institution with a rich cohort of leading brains in the country, its assessment of General Buratai as deserving of the honorary Doctorate Degree in Leadership and Peace is of great consequence. The institution must have arrived at its decision only after painstaking empirical study of the General’s contributions to leadership and peace in the country.
The conferment is a validation of every other award and accolades that had come the way of the COAS prior, of which there are many. Those organizations that had hitherto been reluctant to honour his contributions because they fear what the vocal minority would say should feel emboldened by what Kaduna State University has done.
They should step forward and recognize General Buratai’s contribution especially since this will bring him under pressure to do more, for the reward of hard work is more work.
To Nigeria’s performing COAS, this ode to his exemplary leadership and achievement is a challenge to him to step up his game even higher. There is still more he can do for the fatherland. He should perceive the chants of the naysayers in unison with the accolades of the appreciative masses and the chorus for him to go for greatness.
Lawrence Audu writes from Guzape Hills, Abuja.
