The Nigerian Army has said an article published by
London-based news magazine, The Economist, was crafted to denigrate, demonise
and destabilise the Nigerian government.
The article titled, ‘The Crime Scene at the Heart of
Africa,’ was published in the magazine’s October 23, 2021, issue.
It described the government of the President, Major General
Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), as inept and high-handed, adding that it had also
failed to tackle corruption.
It also alleged that the Nigerian Army, which it described
as “mighty on paper,” often sold equipment to insurgents who destabilise the
nation.
Reacting, the Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier
General Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement on Saturday, described the article as
orchestrated by a network of detractors and coven of dark forces working very
hard to adorn the Nigerian Army in an unfitting garb of infamy.
The statement read, “The Nigerian Army has been notified of
a recent article published in the online version of the “Economist”, a
London-based magazine, titled, “Insurgency, Secessionism and Banditry Threaten
Nigeria,” which was ostensibly crafted to denigrate, demonise and destabilise
the Nigerian Government. The report also contained some unimaginable slurs
targeted at the Nigerian Military and the Nigerian Army in particular, to which
we would like to respond.
“Even as the real intention of the otherwise respected
Economist magazine in publishing such toxic concoctions weaved up as report on
Nigerian Government’s response to the multi-faceted security challenges
assailing the country is yet to be unravelled, the source of the article is
very clear. It is one of those deliberate falsehood and noxious narratives
orchestrated by a network of detractors and coven of dark forces working very
hard to adorn the Nigerian Army in an unfitting garb of infamy. The vile report
which the Economist chose to offer its platform for publication, spared no
effort in trying to vilify and rubbish the image, character and reputational
standing of the Nigerian Army, but failed woefully.
“As a professional,
hard-fighting and globally respected institution that has continued to occupy
deserved glorious position in the comity of global defence forces, the Nigerian
Army is certainly not what the so-called report by the Economist tried to
characterise it.
“How is it conceivable that an international magazine worth
its name and professional reputation would agree to lend its medium for a
hatchet job of an article without as much as committing little effort to find
out the real truth about the Nigerian Army? How is it imaginable that the
Nigerian Army that has distinguished itself as a worthy contributor to global
peace and security through regional, continental and international peacekeeping
and peace support operations would be characterised as “Mighty on paper”? How
can the Nigerian Army that has restored democracies, brought peace to troubled
lands and stabilised the sub-region through the dint of hard work, commitment
to duty, discipline and professionalism be so denigrated?
“Is it the ‘ghost soldiers’ of the Nigerian Army that have
weathered the storm of terrorism and insurgency of Boko Haram and Islamic State
of West African Province Terrorists (ISWAP) in the north eastern part of the
country and parts of the Lake Chad region?
“In case the Economist magazine and those who fed it all the
lies it published do not know, the Nigerian Army working in a joint
environment, has been able to stop ISWAP, a very formidable international
terrorist organisation in its tracks, in spite of all the obstacles, including
arm sale blackouts on its way. The Economist and its ilk ought to have known
that the Nigerian Army has long distinguished itself as a professional force
that does not toy with accountability nor shirk from its statutory
responsibility of defending Nigeria from external aggression or internal
insurrection.
“Is it not curious that an otherwise respected international
magazine could so easily be sucked in by the antics of conflict merchants and
agents provocateurs who are uncomfortable with the steadfastness, patriotism,
unwavering commitment, sacrifice, ruggedness and resoluteness of the Nigerian
Army in stamping out terrorism, banditry and other violent crimes assailing the
country and the West African sub-region? How the Economist magazine failed to
do simple due diligence on the said fabricated report is worth interrogating by
those who are interested in distinguishing between rogue journalism and
professional one.
“Let it be known to the Economist magazine and those who
concocted the lies they published that the gallant officers and soldiers of the
Nigerian Army are undeterred, undistracted and totally unfazed by the
harebrained assertions contained in that silly report.”
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