with

Ben C. Abraham.

DEFINING JUSTICE FROM THE PULPIT

‘I have watched what is going on around our country. With pain at the age of 63, I believe I have become a mother in this Nation and can speak to this Nation. I have never spoken to our present President, but I will speak to you today, Sir. The Government is failing us; I look at what is going on in Jos, what is going on in Benue, what is going on in Kwara; what is going on all over the country and I am worried, I am pained. There is a dichotomy I see, two standards I see; I see one standard for the North and another standard for the South. Whenever a few Igbo boys have gotten angry and acted or reacted, they send Navy, Air force and Military to go and stop them. They take armoured tanks to the East, but we see Fulani boys stand and speak on the internet, they say anything, do anything and nothing moves. Instructions are given for nobody to move. Well, Nigeria belongs to all of us. God put us here. No man put us here. Christians and Muslims……. Sir, why are the same soldiers and air force not hovering over Jos, over Kwara, over Southern Kaduna…if it were Igbos there will be artillery, there will be fireworks…I don’t know what the agenda is…Let there be justice. What you do in the North do in the South…’ One compulsory subject you must pass in law training is Jurisprudence and legal theory; a course, abstract in some way, that teaches you the different schools of law, legal theory and what law could be when viewed from different perspectives. These perspectives also foreground what Justice is. That is why justice means different things to different people; each person belonging to one school or another. And you will agree with me that one of the key challenges facing Nigeria today is what true justice is. While the argument has been out there for some time, an unfamiliar but powerful voice reverberated from an unlikely source on Easter day – Pastor Sarah Omakwu, lead Pastor of Family Worship Centre Abuja. The opening quote is part of what she said about justice in Nigeria. And I believe quite a number of people can relate to her sentiments. It is interesting when we hear leaders preach unity, brotherhood and oneness on the one hand while superintending over divisive actions and spluttering incendiary rhetoric on the other hand. We encourage ‘unity’ when the stars align for us. Perhaps only just before and during the civil war has Nigeria seen the level of division and leadership failure it is presently witnessing. Elders, people who should speak up, have lost their voice because of their proximity to power or tribe; what street lingo refers to as, anywhere belle face. May God bless the woman of God who spoke truth when it mattered most.

THE FALL OF ANOTHER GENERAL;

In November 2025, the Commander of the 25 Task Force Brigade based in Damboa, Borno State was ambushed while on patrol near Wajiroko, captured alive and later executed. That was Musa Uba, a one-star General of the Nigerian Army. He was perhaps the first high profile victim of the internecine war with terrorists since Brigadier General Dzarma Zirkusu in 2021. His death, both shocking and telling, echoed far and wide but also signaled a shift in the war. Since then, more questions have been asked about the true situation of Nigeria’s war with extremists. Even though the Military authorities downplayed the effect of the General’s death, many people chose to see it differently. It was interpreted as a sign that the terrorists were getting bolder and coming closer despite trillions of Naira voted for equipment and welfare. And it took just about four months and twenty days for our fears to be confirmed as another one-star General fell to the murderous hands of Boko Haram terrorists. Brigadier OO Braimah, Commander of the 29 Task Force Brigade in Benisheikh Borno State was overwhelmed when he and his men came under multi-frontal attack about 3am on April 9, 2026. When the dust settled, about 18 soldiers lay dead including Braimah and a Captain, Azubuike Esimai. While the Defence Headquarters stuck in permutations whether to announce the deaths, grapevine flourished; from speculating that the General’s MRAP vehicle refused to start as he bade to escape; to saying that he fought from the vehicle but was incinerated by the jihadists, everybody had something to say or conjecture. Why not? It’s not every day a General is killed in war. How many more lives have to be sacrificed before we make some sense of this war? Like many Nigerians, I think that something is not right about the whole stuff, this war or what you call it. I say it with all reverence to the fallen men and women of the armed forces and the civilian victims. Here are rag tag groups of Islamic extremists running over Army Forward Operating Bases (FOB) and even Brigade HQs without much resistance. When Braimah’s death was finally announced, other reports began to filter out. One Intelligence expert Salihu Mahmoud said that credible intelligence had been received three days before the attack but the Army ignored it. The Borno State Prof Governor also confirmed the report. Others said that a memo had been sent to AHQ about the state of equipment on the front lines at Benisheikh but nothing was done. The real problem with the war is not the jihadists’ invincibility; it is the disparate approach to it. There is surely the grapevine in every war and in fact, every event, but the level of losses in this war lends quite some credence to the grapevine.

……AND ONE OTHER THING:

 COMPLICATING THE WAR?

Few days ago, news broke that about 774 Boko Haram fighters who the Army claim to have repented were reintegrated into the society in a ceremony held in Gombe State. Since 2016 when the deradicalization program for ex Boko haram fighters commenced under Operation Safe Corridor of the Nigerian Army, hundreds of former jihadists have taken advantage of the program to lay down their arms and embrace peace. Since that time too, Nigerians have voiced their opposition to the program citing the dangers involved. Many cite the recidivism factor where many ‘former’ fighters return to duty for their group either in a different capacity like espionage or in active capacity wielding arms. In extreme but live situations, they join the Nigerian army to ‘fight’. Despite these concerns the Government has pushed back and continued the program. Thousands of victims’ families, both soldiers and civilians, have also voiced their frustration. In the current phase of reintegration formalities, the same questions came up. Journalists queried the program citing the possibility of some of them joining the Army and working against them in the battle field. Somewhat flabbergasted, the Program Coordinator, Brigadier-General Yusuf Ali stated that such insinuations were part of the fake news they were battling. He claimed that the Army had their own procedures and processes for intake and such procedures could filter out the former fighters. Waooh! While I won’t join issues on how the Army conduct their intake, the simple question is, ‘why would you not enlist the repentant insurgents if you truly believe they have repented to the point of reintegrating them into the society?’ Or, ‘is there any real difference between the society and the Army? If these former fighters have indeed repented to the point of reintegrating them into the society, they should also be given a place in the Armed Forces if they desire. It is postulations like those of the General that many Nigerians have argued about. If you say they are repentant then they can join the Forces; if you don’t want them, the question is, why? Is it that they are not truly repentant? And that is the main thing. It is that ‘fear’ that has triggered Nigerians to resist the program. Even without joining the Army, these ex-fighters can still act in intelligence and recce for the insurgents, their ‘former’ base. Already we have heard such reports – repentant fighters actively working with their ‘former’ group. From the look of things, there may not be a let up soon if what the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) said recently is anything to go by. In a viral video which a friend sent to me, the CDS, in a bid to justify the reintegration program even quoted from the bible, making copious reference to the parable of the prodigal son. He preached repentance and forgiveness for these people leaving Nigerians with their mouths open. Our CDS? Again, something is not adding up; the more the ‘repentance’ and reintegration, the more the spread and multiplication of these groups, the deadlier the attacks by these terrorists and the graver the consequences and fatalities. Should soldiers really be involved in discussing repentance with confirmed terrorists who took soldiers’ lives? Abeg oo, I no dey house.