By YUSHAU SHUAIB
There are few issues extra dignifying than when a towering public determine extends the courtesy of respect wrapped in humility. Normal Fortunate Irabor, former Chief of Defence Employees, exemplifies that uncommon mix of energy and beauty. When he invited me to the presentation of his new guide, “SCARS: Nigeria’s Journey and the Boko Haram Conundrum,” I used to be reminded that behind the imposing army uniform lies a person of reflection, mind, and empathy — except, in fact, one dares to cross the road.
This high quality stands in sharp distinction to the conceitedness I’ve encountered at a strategic institute the place a couple of officers’ inflated egos left little room for courtesy or mental trade.
I couldn’t attend the guide launch as a consequence of a scheduling battle with the Worldwide Public Relations Affiliation’s, IPRA, Golden World Awards in Ghana, the place each the Nigeria Customs Service and my organisation, Picture Retailers Promotion Restricted, IMPR, have been being honoured. On my return to Abuja, all copies of the guide had bought out on the designated bookshops, and I used to be as a consequence of journey to Canada that very same night time. Studying of my predicament, Normal Irabor personally ensured a replica was despatched to me — a gesture that spoke volumes about his character.
Taking the recommendation of his buddy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, that “to really get pleasure from a guide, learn it on an extended journey,” I opened it mid-flight and didn’t cease till I reached the final web page. In lower than 24 hours, I devoured the 300-page memoir — a deeply analytical, well-researched, and intellectually stimulating work that goes far past the standard autobiographical recount of a retired Normal.
Irabor’s SCARS stands out for its narrative type. It isn’t a self-indulgent memoir however a reflective chronicle that blends private expertise with historic evaluation and coverage critique. He writes with tutorial precision, referencing different students, area experiences, and verifiable knowledge. Between the strains, the discerning reader can sense his measured however agency convictions on the Boko Haram insurgency, Niger Delta militancy, IPOB separatism, Yoruba nationalism, and the societal decay that has haunted Nigeria since independence.
The guide is a panoramic chronicle — from the civil conflict and army coups to democratic transitions and insurgencies — providing a sober reflection on the alternatives and failures which have outlined Nigeria’s evolution. Notably, Irabor avoids sensationalism or name-dropping; even his acknowledgments are strikingly modest regardless of the calibre of personalities, together with former Presidents who later attended the disclosing in Abuja.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his foreword, aptly describes the guide as “a soldier’s sincere reflection on a nation’s unfinished journey.” However the true revelations lie inside the pages — in Irabor’s unflinching interrogation of Nigeria’s political and ethical contradictions.
Among the many guide’s most intriguing factors is his assertion that no full-fledged coup d’état in Nigeria has ever occurred with out civilian collaboration. He argues that troopers, certain by their oath of allegiance, typically justify interventions “by way of the prism of nationwide defence.” This interpretation shifts a part of the blame for Nigeria’s army incursions to opportunistic civilians who manipulate or allow such actions for private acquire.
Equally provocative is his historic framing of Northern Nigeria’s recurring non secular conflicts. Irabor traces their roots to Usman Dan Fodio’s jihad of 1804, viewing it as the start line of organised non secular militancy within the area. Whereas this attitude is traditionally grounded, it dangers oversimplification. Fortunately, Irabor tempers his argument by contextualising it inside the broader “millenarian revolts of early colonialism,” suggesting that each Islamic revivalism and Christian evangelism throughout the colonial period assisted in shaping Nigeria’s religious and social divides.
One space readers might discover conspicuously absent is any point out of the tragic demise of gallant Normal Ibrahim Attahiru, the late Chief of Military Employees who perished in a aircraft crash shortly after Boko Haram’s chief, Abubakar Shekau, was reportedly killed. Given Irabor’s place because the CDS, his silence on the matter is maybe deliberate — an act of discretion from an expert soldier who values institutional continuity over private disclosure.
Nonetheless, his candour shines by way of elsewhere. The sections on Northern Nigeria’s political elite are unambiguously crucial. Irabor faults the area’s leaders for presiding over deepening poverty, illiteracy, and insecurity regardless of their academic publicity and political dominance. He cites World Financial institution knowledge exhibiting that the ten poorest states in Nigeria are all within the North-East and North-West, with 87 per cent of the nation’s poorest inhabitants concentrated there. He attributes this grim actuality to elite hypocrisy, non secular manipulation, and the failure to translate political energy into social progress.
He notably denounces the politicisation of faith, utilizing the Sharia Motion in Zamfara (1999) as a case research of how political opportunism derailed governance. Quoting Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Irabor laments the “commodification of piety” — a course of by way of which faith turns into a instrument of management quite than a automobile for ethical upliftment.
He calls on Northern leaders to emulate progressive Muslim societies like Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which have harmonised religion with modernity quite than permitting faith to justify stagnation. His place on the Almajiri system is especially highly effective; he argues that no religion sanctions the institutionalisation of avenue begging or the abandonment of youngsters within the title of studying.
The chapter on the “Useless Horse Concept” is without doubt one of the guide’s most intellectually stimulating sections. Right here, Irabor makes use of the metaphor to explain Nigeria’s tendency to maintain “beating useless horses” — sustaining failed insurance policies and out of date establishments as a substitute of pursuing significant reform.
He cites the duplication of examination our bodies like WAEC and NECO, the Nomadic Training Programme, and the regional cut-off mark coverage as examples of how Nigeria perpetuates inefficiency below the guise of inclusiveness.
The dialogue on Boko Haram is each historic and diagnostic. Irabor situates the insurgency inside a continuum of spiritual and socio-political crises, from the Maitatsine riots of the Nineteen Eighties to the Sharia clashes of 1999–2000. He chronicles how Mohammed Yusuf, the sect’s founder, started as a member of Borno’s Sharia Implementation Committee, solely to interrupt away and radicalise disillusioned youth by preaching in opposition to Western training and authorities corruption. The guide exposes the irony of Boko Haram’s dependence on Western expertise — weapons, communication instruments, and propaganda platforms — even whereas denouncing Western civilisation.
Irabor portrays Boko Haram not as a purely non secular motion however as a symptom of governance failure, financial deprivation, and elite negligence. He identifies the drivers of extremism as “unaddressed political grievances, weaponisation of faith and tribe, a biased authorized framework, and weakened establishments.”
In his closing reflections, the Normal presents a practical pathway ahead: diplomatic negotiation, socioeconomic and political realignment, and governance reforms that reward advantage and restore belief. “The time for change is now,” he writes, “and it should start with fact, inclusion, and a dedication to real progress.”
SCARS isn’t just a memoir; it’s a mirror reflecting Nigeria’s wounds — the scars of conflict, hypocrisy, and wasted potential. Irabor’s writing is measured however fearless, scholarly but deeply human. His critique of the North will not be an assault however a plea for introspection; his evaluation of Nigeria’s management failures will not be cynical however reformist.
This guide is a necessary learn for anybody in search of to know Nigeria’s enduring crises — from insurgency and management to the complicated interaction between religion, politics, and nationwide id.
Normal Fortunate Irabor’s SCARS leaves readers not with despair, however with hope — the hope that confronting our scars truthfully is step one towards nationwide therapeutic.
•Shuaib, an award-winning writer and writer, wrote through: yashuaib@yashuaib.com
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