Lt–Gen. Tukur Buratai: soldier and
historian, has a place in history. If it’s
correct that no list of the greatest
people of the 20th century is complete
without General George C Marshall
and that of the World War II without
Winston Churchill, the world will
remember Buratai as the ‘organiser of
victory’ and ‘the last great Nigerian
soldier’ in the fight against terrorism.
His choice by President Muhammadu
Buhari as the Chief of Army Staff was
spot on. Not because he hails from
the terrorism-ravaged state of Borno,
but because of the professionalism
and military dispatch with which he
carried out the assignment of routing
the mindless Boko Haram that
slaughtered children, men and
women in the North-eastern part of
the country.
Courageously foxy, brutal in mien and
disposition and deliberate in the
deployment of troops, Buratai will
enter the pantheon of war heroes, if
as the Defence Headquarters said, the
expedition will be over before the
three months deadline given to
uproot the terrorists by President
Buhari.
Unlike his predecessors who barked
orders from the comfort zones of
their offices in Abuja or preferred to
grandstand in Aso Rock, Buratai was
on the field with the troops.
Wednesday morning, he led Nigerian
troops on a field inspection of the
recaptured strategic town of Gamboru
Ngala in Borno State, crossing a
bridge to Fatokol where a huge crowd
of Nigerians received them with
cheers and tears of joy.
An appreciative director of defence
Information (DDI), Col. Rabe
Abubakar, enthused, “these terrorists
have been subdued, even if they are
adopting other means and are re-
strategising, we are also doing the
same and pre-empting them.
“So, right now, they are completely in
disarray, have no command and
control of where to plan. We have
even taken over their camps that most
of them abandoned and are
attempting to blend into towns and
communities. We have also
apprehended some of them and very
soon, innocent Nigerians can move
back to their communities.”
The war against terror took a
different turn since July 13 when the
rotund service chiefs were replaced
with new ones, who, apparently more
apolitical, discharged their duties as
officers and gentlemen.
r
Buratai, who had been in the trenches
with the troops as the commander of
the Multinational Joint Task Force
which has its headquarters in
N’Djamena, Chad, all the same came
to the fore, shooting from the hips
and with all barrels.
He exhibited the uncommon canny to
identify with the troops. He exercised
with them, ate with them and boosted
their morale through welfare
packages, including adequate supply
of drugs, equipment, compensation
with accelerated promotion for
deserving gallant soldiers on the field
and ensuring that those unjustly
court-martialled were given reprieve.
At the last count, 3,032 officers and
men who would have either been sent
to their early graves or imprisoned
have regained their love for
soldiering, for God and country.
But the 20th Chief of Army Staff could
also be weird. Said to be an
accomplished infantry senior officer,
he enjoys the company of wild
reptiles and rears snakes. He has two
snakes farms in Nasarawa State and
keeps some in his personal house in
Mararaba on the outskirts of the
nation’s capital.
Commissioned in 1983, there has been
no time that his multiple command,
administrative and instructional
appointments over his 34 years
illustrious career has been called to
service more than now. His
meritorious discharge of the
responsibility at once, restored the
confidence of the civil populace in
our military as it called to question
the judgement, integrity and
professionalism of those who had
superintended the fight against terror
since it broke out in 2009 and for
which over 5,000 lives have been
reportedly lost.
Born November 24, 1960 in Buratai
town in Biu local government area of
Borno State that has suffered greatly
from the brutal threat of the Boko
Haram group, General Buratai is a
highly decorated officer. He is a
Member of Historical Society of
Nigeria, with two Master’s Degrees,
one in History from the University of
Maiduguri and another in Philosophy
from the Bangladesh University of
Professionals, Dhaka.
Buratai attended the Disarmament,
Demobilisation and Reintegration
Course in the year 2000 at Cornwallis
Park, Annapolis county, Nova Scotia,
Canada and the United Nations Staff
and Logistics Officers Course, India.
At the height of militancy in the Niger
Delta, he was also called upon to
quell the uprising. These must have
equipped him for the assignment that
will place him in the nation’s hall of
fame as a soldier-statesman.
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