ATTACK ON A DEFENCELESS DEFENCE ACADEMY

The recent attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy does not come as a surprise to me. I have never been impressed with the crop of officers produced by that institution, so the reported case of negligence and incompetence is also not a surprise to me. 

In addition, Kaduna state has always been a hotbed of violence and recently the headquarters of bandits in that region. The attack was embarrassing of course, but it's neither the first nor the 50th attack on a military formation in Nigeria. What I find funny though is the fact that there could even be a broken fence in a military formation resident in a highly dangerous area and that bandits could come in and "shoot sporadically", kill, kidnap and leave unscathed.

Where was the base security? Why were there no routine patrols in an area that has experienced frequent attacks? And most importantly, how many people were on guard duty for them to be so easily overpowered and the rest unable to respond to the attack? Why were capable personnel in other parts of the base not mobilised instantly to go after the attackers? It is shameful and a massive national disgrace to Nigeria and its Armed Forces. But unfortunately, it's not the first and it most likely won't be the last.

I have heard that they are planning to court-martial the erring officers, but that's simply an effort to save face. What the military should look into is how such a dereliction of duty could have happened in the first place. It's a clear statement on the policy and levels of discipline in the institution and also a reflection of the leadership and training. We hear all the time of the military carrying out heroic feats during routine patrol, but now that such feats were sorely needed, they were caught unawares. It's unfortunate.

I would recommend a thorough investigation and an immediate change of leadership along with a full review of the institutions' programs and security architecture. If military institutions are so porous, what does it say about the security and sovereignty of the country and its citizens??