That the Nigerian Army has problems is pretty obvious. Perhaps, the challenge extends to the entire armed forces, but the Army is the one that has been in the news.

The Army, as usual, is the one that bears the brunt of defending the nation whenever it is challenged either from outside or within. It is the flag bearer any time Nigeria is called upon to participate in peace keeping operations within the sub-region and other parts of the world, be it the Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Sudan or Chad.

The Nigerian Army’s biggest accomplishment was its ability to restore the unity of the country during the civil war. It was subsequently able to repel a series of Islamist rebel attacks in Maiduguri and Yola during the 1980s. Just five years ago, the Army was also able to force the Niger Delta militants, who were fighting for resource control, to drop their arms and settle for late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s amnesty programme.

Members of the court martial sit during the inauguration to try soldiers accused of mutiny tasked with fighting Boko Haram militants in Abuja on October 2, 2014. Nearly 100 soldiers tasked with fighting Boko Haram militants in Nigeria’s far northeast appeared at a military court martial on Thursday, facing a range of charges including mutiny. The hearing comes just weeks after a tribunal sentenced 12 soldiers to death following their conviction for shooting at their commanding officer in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, in May. AFP PHOTO

We alsorecall that it was the Army that conclusively crushed the kidnap network in Aba and Ngwa-land, and destroyed Osisikankwu, whose armed bandits were already angling to become a political force, making demands and arm-twisting the political authority in Abia State

It was this same great fighting force, which started wilting in the face of a full-scale war waged by Boko Haram, the Al Qaeda and ISIL-linked Islamist group, which has now named its occupied territories in Adamawa and Borno an “Islamic Caliphate”. This is the only challenge that the Army is meeting with both divided house and divided attention. Some officers and men are reportedly channeling funds, arms and strategic information to the enemies.

Some senior officers are said to be misleading troops into ambushes, leading to loss of precious lives, while some others at the very top echelons are being accused of treasonable corruption. They are said to be diverting funds meant for arms purchases, and buying obsolete equipment. Some serving and retired officers are alleged to be worth “billions”.

We do not know whether all these things being said are true. All we know is that a foreign busybody mercenary called Dr Stephen Davis is accusing some people of “sponsoring” Boko Haram. We also know for sure that there is a series of court-martials going on. Already, 12 officers have been sentenced to death, while others bagged jail sentences. Another batch of 97 personnel and officers have been arraigned.

Their alleged offences range from mutiny to disobeying orders from their superiors, right down to refusal to participate in the on-going military operations. It was also during this sad period that wives and family members of army personnel drafted to the war front took the bizarre step of barricading the gates of military barracks in Maiduguri to ensure that the deployment did not take place “until they are given the right equipment to fight”.

On the other hand, the Federal Government presented a request for one billion US Dollars loan to procure modern military equipment to the federal parliament, which was speedily granted. Efforts to procure the arms have resulted in scandalous interception of two batches of smuggled foreign currencies ($9.3 million and $5 million) in South Africa, which the Federal Government has admitted were meant for arms purchases. So, there is abundant evidence that the Army is having serious problems.

Many have wondered: How is it possible for a “rag-tag” band of Islamist fighters to roll back the mighty Nigerian Army, storming out of their hiding places in Sambisa Forest to establish an “Islamic Caliphate”? Well the answers can be gleaned from the fact that our army has the kind of problems it has never been faced with during previous challenges. During the Biafra war, the federal side came together as one against the breakaway Republic of Biafra.

The war eventually produced heroes on the Biafran and Federal sides. Who are the heroes of our war on Boko Haram?The one name that should have automatically come tops was General Azubuike Ihejirika, the former Chief of Army Staff, but alas! He is being accused, or more appropriately, smeared with accusation of being a Boko Haram sponsor by people who have axe to grind with President Goodluck Jonathan.

Mighty China, in spite of its large army and advanced technology, fell to Genghis Khans’ Mongols, a band of horse-mounted nomadic fighters. The problem was mainly lack of support for the regime in power, corruption in the Chinese army and the sound strategic savvy of the Mongol generals. They went on to create the largest empire in human history.

It is obvious that the general rot in the Nigerian system – the corruption and mad quest for easy money has permeated our armed forces. Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, put it correctly when he said Boko Haram fighters were better equipped and motivated than our army. The quest for more arms by the Federal Government is one evidence, and the yearning by Boko Haram to have an Islamic caliphate where they can practice their weird form of Islam is another.

I think we should support the on-going effort by the military high command to return sanity to its rank-and-file. At least, the armed forces did not take the path chosen by their Malian counterparts when the Islamists and Tuareg rebels seized half of the country and set up their own sort-lived Islamic republic.

The army commander, Captain Ahmadu Sanogo, simply went to Ouagadougou and removed President Toumani Toure from power and installed himself. He accused Toure of not giving the forces the equipment to fight and win. At least, our own army has chosen the more civilised and better option of internal cleansing.

We must allow the Army to carry out its assignment and put itself back to shape. Even though we are in a democracy, where the public opinion cannot be stifled over anything under the sun, we must remember that too much interference in military affairs may ultimately backfire, with serious consequences for our democracy and the unity of our country.