Nigeria’s involvement in the war against Mali’s Ansar Dine rebel fighters was met with cynical skepticism by several opinion leaders and individuals in the nation. It is however in my opinion, the best decisions the Federal Government has taken in recent times.
It is a fact that the much dreaded Boko Haram sect has ties with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM,) and shares the same vision; to destabilize current democratic structures, as a means of enforcing strict sharia laws, which will include public executions, amputations and whipping. Obviously to achieve this feat will be no small feat, as it will take them light years to achieve such vision, but they will certainly succeed in disrupting peaceful human, economic and political existence/activities, as they have started already.

From every perspective viewed, Nigeria remains ultimately at the receiving end of the insurgence in Mali. Many of the Boko Haram culprits caught have confessed to have received training in Northern Mali where the government has lost control of the territory. A breakaway group of the Boko Haram, or a branch of it rather, had attempted to deter Nigerian soldiers from joining the war in Mali by attacking the first batch of troops deployed to Mali with IEDs along Okene-Lokoja road last year. Their sole reason, though impliedly coded, was that their arsenal was going to be attacked; however, thankfully, they couldn’t stop the daring Nigerian Army from landing on Mali’s soil.

On February 28th 2013, 162 troops were transported to Mali bringing to 1200 the total number of Nigerian troops to Mali. Two Alpha Jets and one MI-35 were also been dispatched to give aerial support to the troops. Nigeria has so far contributed $5 million USD to the African-led International support mission to Mali (AFISMA). Many Nigerians may consider these resources to be a colossal loss to the country, but a second thought should justify the inadequacy of Nigeria’s seemingly enormous commitment to ending the war in Mali, in view of the fact that Nigeria controls about 55% of the economy in West Africa so her negligence in a war like this would invariably prognosticate Nigeria’s declining economic relevance in the West African region.
By involving herself in this war, Nigeria has reduced by far, the impending Boko Haram menace in her country. It is evident that since the deployment of troops to Mali, more dreadful attacks such as bombings in public places in Nigeria have reduced. Without mincing words, I would like to reiterate Foreign Minister Ashiru’s words, “The deployment of Nigerian troops to Mali is in the best interest of Nigeria”.

Nigeria’s involvement in the war against Mali’s Ansar Dine rebel fighters was met with cynical skepticism by several opinion leaders and individuals in Nation. It is however in my opinion, the best decisions the Federal Government has taken in recent times.
It is a fact that the much dreaded Boko Haram sect has ties with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM,) and shares the same vision; to destabilize current democratic structures, as a means of enforcing strict sharia laws, which will include public executions, amputations and whipping. Obviously to achieve this feat will be no small feat, as it will take them light years to achieve such vision, but they will certainly succeed in disrupting peaceful human, economic and political existence/activities, as they have started already.

From every perspective viewed, Nigeria remains ultimately at the receiving end of the insurgence in Mali. Many of the Boko Haram culprits caught have confessed to have received training in Northern Mali where the government has lost control of the territory. A breakaway group of the Boko Haram, or a branch of it rather, had attempted to deter Nigerian soldiers from joining the war in Mali by attacking the first batch of troops deployed to Mali with IEDs along Okene-Lokoja road last year. Their sole reason, though impliedly coded, was that their arsenal was going to be attacked; however, thankfully, they couldn’t stop the daring Nigerian Army from landing on Mali’s soil.

On February 28th 2013, 162 troops were transported to Mali bringing to 1200 the total number of Nigerian troops to Mali. Two Alpha Jets and one MI-35 were also been dispatched to give aerial support to the troops. Nigeria has so far contributed $5 million USD to the African-led International support mission to Mali (AFISMA). Many Nigerians may consider these resources to be a colossal loss to the country, but a second thought should justify the inadequacy of Nigeria’s seemingly enormous commitment to ending the war in Mali, in view of the fact that Nigeria controls about 55% of the economy in West Africa so her negligence in a war like this would invariably prognosticate Nigeria’s declining economic relevance in the West African region.
By involving herself in this war, Nigeria has reduced by far, the impending Boko Haram menace in her country. It is evident that since the deployment of troops to Mali, more dreadful attacks such as bombings in public places in Nigeria have reduced. Without mincing words, I would like to reiterate Foreign Minister Ashiru’s words, “The deployment of Nigerian troops to Mali is in the best interest of Nigeria”.

Nigeria is not the only country with military presence in Mali, in fact it only has 1200 out of the 3,300 troops from Senegal, Cote D’ivoire, Benin Republic and other West African countries in Mali. More surprisingly, Chad has deployed 2500 troops and 52 armoured tanks to Mali. Chadian soldiers are relied upon for their exceptional navigational skills in desert warfare. This just goes to show that Nigeria can do more than what she has done already.

It is worthy of note that the invasion of the combined troops in Northern Mali has led to the discovery of 50 supply caches, 10 workshops for making bombs to be used outside Mali (probably Nigeria), and it has also led to the killing of Abou Zeid, a notorious Al-Qaeda leader in the Islamic Maghreb who has abducted more than 20 hostages earning millions of Dollars through kidnappings since 2008. Zeid has since fled his home country, Algeria, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia, and joined in the war against Mali’s government until his death last week. Another Al-Qaeda leader, Belmokhtar is also feared dead while Nigeria’s heir to the Boko Haram dynasty, Mohammed Shekau is also believed to be in Mali. Already, signs of weakness of Boko Haram insurgence is evidenced by their poor sortie like in last Sunday’s attack where 20 of them were killed and others wounded. Some factions are already calling for a truce while some Northern leaders (perhaps their patrons) are pleading for unconditional amnesty for Boko Haram members.

The Ansar Dine insurgence has greatly declined as AFISMA and other troops are pushing through until they completely gain hold of Northern Mali for Malians. The only fear is that the Ansar Dine fighters may employ guerilla tactics of blending in villages near the deserts in order to re-group later. According to the Director of Defense Information, Col. Mohammed Yerima, the peace loving Malians have expressed gratitude to the Nigerian troops by donating cows to them and also pledged to uncover Ansar Dine or Al-Qaeda fighters within them.

Compared to the gains, Nigeria has nothing to lose, including her sweet brent crude committed to winning the war for Malians, and for Nigerians. Nigeria stands to gain, directly or indirectly, more than any other country that is involved in the war in Mali.

By Bizum Yadok

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Weighing the gains of Nigeria’s involvement in the war against Mali’s rebels by Bizum Yadok