A trilogy of books highlighting fearlessness, doggedness and the unwavering determination of the Nigerian Army and the Armed Forces in general, was today launched in Abuja Nigeria's Capital.
The Books which are in honour of the Former Chief of Army Staff, and the immediate past Ambassador of Nigeria to the Republic of Benin Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Burutai were written by Jibrin Baba Ndace, giving his account of Nigeria’s counter insurgency operations under General Buratai as an embaded Journalist.
Spealking at the Occasion, the Chief of Defence Staff General Lucky Irabor spoke of the fund memories of working with General Turkur Buratai and the embeded journalist through the thick of insurgency.
He congratulated the author Jibrin Ndace whom he said trully deserves the warm remarks as he is a highly committed individual, a core professional journalist, a patriotic Nigerian who has shown so much commitment in supporting the armed forces and other stakeholders that made one contribution or the other in the counter terrorism and Counter insurgency efforts.
"Let me specially thanked Jibrin Ndace for the written and the unwritten contributions which he has made, I believe our country should celebrate some persons and I am hopeful our country would celebrate and recognise silent achievers and contributors to the development of our nation. I believe that Ndace is qualified to be recognised as such"
General Lucky Irabor also spoke highly of General Adeosun and General Buratai who being a focus person, was able to identify the key role of media operations and how it can be infused into kenetic actions, which led to the imbading of Journalist into the Nigerian Army tours.
"The leadership style of General Buratai was to fight from the frontline. We as members of the armed forces remain very professional based on the core principles that were entrenched in our training and the values we inculcate into our officers, but even at that, there are still areas that reviews are carried out and when there are doubts, we take measures to fill them up"
"But it will be unfair to disparage men and women of the armed forces who toil night and day for the rest of the society to sleep with their two eyes closed. There are those among us that might have done beyond the call of duty or under perform and measures are taken to redress those, but the narrative of generalizing should not be so" stated General Irabor.
General Buratai in who's Honour the Trilogy were written expressed pride for the work done by Jibrin Ndace and said it is a great thing that records are being kept for posterity. He appreciated the Service Chiefs led by the Chief of Defence Staff General Lucky Irabor for maintaining the momentum and doing the country and the armed forces proud while paying tribute to the fallen Heroes.
"Around 2019 to 2020 the theatre was very hot and while the nation was in lock down, all the generals were in war front, the dreaded Timbuktu triangle was ventured into by the troops and the areas were cleared before I left office. There is a lot to telk about the war against insurgency".
Embeded Journalist
According to General Buratai, the idea of embaded journalist come about and for the first time in Nigeria's History, the Nigerian military had journalist in the forefront of the war with the military. He siad Media operations is something that is critical which is called information operation or psychological operation in the Military.
"It was necesitated by the fact that Nigerians were feeling defeated unfortunately by the Boko Haram propaganda when we came in, we had to defeat that fear of Boko haram and of the unknown that befell the citizens as the attacks entered into the hearts of the city in Abuja with places like Nyanya, mosque and churches"
"This media operations was one of our strategies to ensure that these propaganda was eliminated from our minds as we ensured press goes along with us to achieve this purpose which is one of the results of this launch today. Among these embeded journalist is Mohammed Abdulkadri of NTA, Ben Shamang of Voice of Nigeria, Blessing Otunu of Channels Maiduguri then, Brenda Ngusur amongst others who were well Coordinated by General Sani Kukasheka Usman" stated General Buratai.
The trilogy Books.
The Former Army Chief pointed out that being a histrian himself, he knows the importance of records, while expressing pride over the author whom he described as a courageous journalist and a selfless person.
The Three books written in Honour of the former Nigerian Army Chief are titled "Walking the War Front" "Duty Calls" and "The Lonely Grave".
The book Reviewer, Former Spokesman Army, General SK Usman said the book, "Duty Calls", a 281 pageged account showcases the unwavering determination of the armed forces whike "Walking the War" highlights fearlessness and makes for a compelling read for all journalist in the defence and security beats and anyone interested in General Buratai's exploits.
Another Reviewer, the Vice Chancellor, Bayaro University, Kano Dr. Ahmed Awal Haruna said the writer remained resolute and commited despite being a civilian to document the details. He described the "Lonely Grave" as a mixture of strange talk and poetry which highlights those who promote ethnicity, and things that do not promote nationhood as well as service, commitment etc. While Duty calls talks about the cobatants and the sacrifices they make for the nation.
The Author Mr. Jibrin Ndace said "it became important that we tell our stories by ourselves with our narratives, hence the decision to write these books".
He pointed out that "It is important to also single out those commit offenses in the military rather than castigate a whole institution that works tirelessly for the wellbeing of the country".
The book launch witnessed a turn out of Government Funtionaries, Political Elites, member of the Armed Forces both serving and retired, royal father including the Emir of Kagara Representing Etsu Nupe and Emir of Biu, Mai Umar Mustapha Umar II, journalist amongst others.
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