FIGHT THE BATTLES YOU CAN WIN.

By Usman Mohammed

For a former General, Muhammadu Buhari doesn't appear very bright. His

knowledge of the Art of War appears blunted hence its no surprised he

was ousted from power over 30 years ago in a backroom coup d'etat by

his own soldiers. Or what else do you call a General who is fighting

war on two fronts and then goes ahead to open a third and even more

dangerous front?
Goring and Himmler warned Hitler not to open up a second front during

the Second World War but the eccentric megalomaniac did not listen and

he commenced an attack on Stalin and Russia opening up the Eastern

Front. The rest is history as the cold Russian Winter dealt a severe

blow on the Third Reich destroying its specter of invincibility.

Similarly a wide spectrum of analysts warned General Buhari to

leave Niger Delta Militants alone once he assumed power for the war in

the North Eastern Front against Boko Haram seemed more pressing.

But low the "wise" General did not listen and decided to attack

Government Tompolo, the leader of this group in an assault that failed

to decapitate the Militant leadership and only served as an impetus

for the assault on the nation's oil infrastructure. The rest is

history as the bleeding of lost revenue from having almost half of the

Nation's oil supplies shut in heralded the Almighty Recession.

Indeed the "smart" General has neither defeated the militants nor

captured Government Tompolo as the nation lies in ruins battling

runaway inflation and the worst currency crisis in a generation as the

naira competes with toilet paper for a status above the Zim Dollar.

As if the folly of this General is not enough he sits by and watches

unperturbed as a third front is opened up with the new plot to

exterminate the Shittes from public view.
The Islamic Movement of Nigeria, the umbrella Shia Group in

Nigeria has always been a nuisance but have been contained and kept

under wraps by avoiding confrontation with their militant wing. But

alas General Buhari appears to have left his history books in Daura

forgetting that in a similar manner, Boko Haram, that remains

undefeated after seven years of war started in the midst of a

Government crackdown. IMN is even more deadly for they have a strong

affiliation to the Theocracy in Tehran that is not taking this

crackdown lying down as the rhetoric on their State Cable News

Channel, Press Tv, has been unrelenting.
The Ayatollah in Tehran has only to order his Revolutionary Guards and

its Allied Hizbollah (Party of Allah) to provide arms and logistical

support to the IMN and the easy pickings the Nigerian Army is

currently enjoying will become another long drawn out guerilla war.

Why a supposedly smart General keeps on picking fights he can't

win is a mystery one can not wrap one's head around. And which economy

is going to support this new war effort?
Even the plan to commence oil exploration in the North appears muted

for with the likes of IMN and Boko Haram running amuck will this

strategy really succeed or isn't it another wasted pipe dream of a

General whose true prowess is subduing his wife in the other room? The

Nigerian Military is already overstretched.
Indeed the media failed to join the dots that on the day The

Army was cracking down on Shittes celebrating the Assura, was the Day

a Boko Haram Suicide bomber slipped through the reduced security

dragnet to bomb a busy park in Maiduguri. Hence one wonders what would

be the aftermath of a full blown war with IMN, Boko Haram and

Militants all in the Theatre of battle. The carnage will be

horrendous.
Meanwhile the one battle the President should be fighting he

ignores. The war against rampaging Killer Fulani herdsmen is only

fought in Abuja for no one wants to smell the stench of cow dung in

the palaces of the nation's ruling elite. Only here are Federal

muscles flexed to keep this menace at bay while in the hinterland

Nigerians are up in arms as these modern day marauders kill, rape and

pillage in order to secure prime pasture for their hungry cows.

Parts of Kaduna lie under siege as Herdsmen have invaded and

overthrown chiefdoms sacking towns like how the Barbarians sacked

Rome. But alas there is no drumbeat of war against these marauders for

they are kinsmen of the ruling clan and enjoy unwritten immunity.

This is the quagmire the nation lies in where a celebrated General

fails to pick his battles and wants to fight everyone leaving behind a

scorched earth policy.
No, in this recession don't be like this General, the harbinger of

hardship. Pick your battles wisely. Assess your opponent or competitor

before entering into a bidding war. If the odds of success are slim in

a venture don't venture into it. Choose your battles carefully. Pick

the fights you can win. Barter is good thus learn to get the best deal

possible.
Avoid defeat by weighing the odds and executing a well thought out

strategy. Obtain advise from more successful individuals.

Read history and learn from the experiences of others. This is

the key to success.
As one sits and watches this obscene drama play out, a silent prayer

is said against the Ayatollah in Tehran, that he gets too preoccupied

with his proxy war against Saudi Arabia in Yemen and Syria hence is to

busy to bother about the persecution of Shittes in Nigeria to send

military assistance to his Shia brother, I silently mumble.

But if even the Great Yakubu Gowon, the veteran and victor of the

Biafran war could mouth out his concerns that Nigerian leaders prefer

to press the self destruct button over exercising common sense most

times hence he wonders if our prayers are in vain or amiss thus I am

not holding my breath in anticipation when I see a General that wants

to fight with everyone.
One wonders which friends Buhari will have at the end of his

tenure? Fights with Tinubu, Saraki, Aisha, IMN, Militants, Judges etc,

while the recession draws the ire of angry hungry Nigerians enduring

untold hardship.
For the General he should learn to pick his battles wisely for

currently he is not taking any prisoners as the recession marches

on!!!

Disclaimer: "The views expressed on this site are those of the contributors or columnists, and do not necessarily reflect TheNigerianVoice’s position. TheNigerianVoice will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements in the contributions or columns here."