Nigeria and Boko Haram

Deutsche Welle: The Islamist militia Boko Haram has been launching attacks throughout the country, and the government and military have not been able to stop them so far. What is there to say about rumors that parts of the military even support or cooperate with Boko Haram terrorists?

Garba Umar Kari: Well, you say "rumor" and I also still believe that these are rumors. I fervently pray that they are rumors, because if they are true, then we have a very serious problem. I know about the issue of corruption, I know about the issue of neglect, and I know of the inability to arm [troops]. But I am not sure that there are elements within the Nigerian military who are with the Boko Haram people, even though there are suggestions to that effect. To me, there is nothing on the ground that would really convince me.

Still, is it a coincidence that such rumors spread as the election year 2015 draws near?

It is unfortunate that elements within the presidency have been [involved in] efforts to try to link everything with 2015. That is one of the major reasons why the Boko Haram problem has become intractable and has defied all attempts at a solution - simply because it is like somebody who is supposed to face west and he's facing east. You see, as far as I'm concerned, the attempt to link the insurgency and the Boko Haram problem to 2015 is counterproductive, is unwarranted, is unnecessary, and is misleading. That is what I have to say.

Who profits from the war and the state of insecurity in Nigeria, especially in the North?

There are those who profit. Certainly, those who profit are those who do not wish Nigeria well. There have been suggestions and some mysterious prognoses and diagnoses that Nigeria will [disintegrate] by 2015. This was a position that was taken years back. So I think that those who subscribe to that idea are the first beneficiaries. The other beneficiaries to me are the generals and the upper structure of the Nigerian military, who have been [feeding off] the … defense budget. These are also the beneficiaries of this insurgency. However, all Nigerians, even the international community and all Africans are the major victims of this Boko Haram problem, because a Nigeria that is affected by insecurity is bad news for the international community and bad news for Africa… And therefore we should be talking in terms of victims and not of beneficiaries of the insurgency.

Do you mean that there are high officials in the army that profit from defense budget increases?

In the past three years, a third of the Nigerian budget at least goes to defense every year - we are speaking of a trillion naira [5 billion euros, $6.8 billion] – with little or even nothing to show for it.

What happens when all these appropriated funds have been released? If they have been released, they certainly would be with the military generals and the major contractors and elements within the government [apparatus]. So these are the beneficiaries. They benefit from the billions and trillions budgeted for defense every year.

If in recent times there have been complaints, they used to be muted, but now they are loud complaints by the ordinary troops, the ordinary troops deployed particularly in the emergency states. [They have been] complaining of neglect and complaining that even their basic daily needs are not being met. And budgetary allocations have been made.

In a country with a population that is made up of Muslims and Christians and which has seen a difficult power balance between both sides, Goodluck Jonathan obviously wishes to run for another term. How does that resonate with the officials in the army?

The military should at all times subordinate itself to the civilian authorities. And therefore, ordinarily, the military should not be unduly concerned about who governs them. It is not their business to decide for the rest of the country who should lead Nigeria. They have a responsibility, which is to secure the country against external aggression and attack and to ensure that there is internal peace and security.

I don't want to believe that the military have a candidate or that they have a disposition toward a particular political party or a particular candidate, because that is not what they are supposed to do. I expect them to be professionals and I expect them to work with whoever emerges through a free, fair, transparent and credible electoral process. That is the most important thing.

Garba Umar Kari is a political scientist and analyst at the University of Abuja.

Interview: Philipp Sandner