Muktar Usman Muktari-Janguza (JanguzaArewa)

For the referenced version of this article , click here It is time we stop using the ECOMOG operations as the paradigm case of the military’s combat effectiveness – because they were not! Soldiers paying respect to fallen heroes at the 2013 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebrations In an earlier article I assessed the claim, often made by our military and political elites, that the Nigerian military “brought peace to Liberia and Sierra-Leone”. In this article, I will outline what I believe to be five compelling similarities between the military’s ECOMOG operations in Liberia and Sierra-Leone, and its prosecution of the current war against Boko Haram.  Supply Shortages and Obsolete Weaponry Footage from Boko Haram’s assault on Giwa barracks, which they filmed . The terrorist sect almost overran the barracks because a crucial but aging weapon system guarding the entrance to the sprawling military installation malfunctioned In February th...

This article briefly describes what the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, now known as the Islamic State is; what its goals are; how historically unique its method of "State-building" is; and what dangers it poses to the Middle East State system. It also briefly suggests at least three pertinent lessons that countries in a similar situation to Iraq can learn. Islamic State fighters take part in a military parade along the streets of their proclaimed capital, the Syrian northern province of Ar-Raqqa (Reuters) What is the Islam State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) now known as the Islamic State (IS), and what are its goals?   The Islamic State Group believes itself to be a sovereign State; hence its reference to itself as such. It is a movement led by a man called Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi which aspires to re-establish a type of polity known as a Caliphate – an Islamic form of government underpinned by Shari’ah which first emerged in the 7 th century after the death...

For the referenced version of this article, click here . Just how true is the often heard claim that the Nigerian army brought peace to Liberia and Sierra-Leone? Soldiers stand guard during a military ceremony to honour war heroes (Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters) Boko Haram’s five-year long insurgency shows no sign of abating. With the group now seemingly capable of seizing and holding territory , questions over the military’s competence have grown louder. To rescue the army’s wounded pride our military and political leaders often point to what they claim is the army’s “stellar credentials” in bringing peace to war ravaged countries. The ECOMOG missions in Liberia and Sierra-Leone in the 1990s, which the Nigerian military led, is often presented as the prime exemplar of the army’s competence in combat. I've lost count of how many times I've heard something like “our boys brought peace to Liberia and Sierra-Leone” whenever questions are raised over the badly mishandled...