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Nigeria is once again confronted with an uncomfortable truth: our greatest national security failures did not arise from the strength of terrorists, but from the weakness, contradictions and possible compromises within those entrusted to defeat them.

Major-General Danjuma Ali-Keffi’s revelations are not the rantings of a bitter retiree. They are meticulous, chronological, and so detailed that they cannot simply be dismissed with the usual “politically motivated” label that public officials hide behind whenever uncomfortable truths surface.

And they point, unmistakably, to one inescapable conclusion: Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai, has serious questions to answer.

Ali-Keffi accuses Buratai of:

• resisting the establishment of a joint intelligence task force created to fight terror financing;
• attempting to seize intelligence that did not belong to the Army;
• undermining a high-level national security assignment endorsed by all intelligence agencies;
• intimidating a subordinate through an unusual late-night summons;
• and fostering an atmosphere of hostility that crippled an operation that was on the brink of breaking the back of banditry.

These are not light accusations. They strike at the very heart of national security.

THE QUESTION NIGERIANS MUST NOW ASK

If Ali-Keffi’s account is credible and nothing in it suggests frivolity then Nigeria must confront a frightening possibility: Did the Chief of Army Staff, knowingly or unknowingly, impede operations that would have dismantled major terrorist networks?

That question is not defamatory. It is a legitimate national inquiry. And it must be asked. Because Ali-Keffi’s account suggests that decisions taken at the highest level of the Army may have:

• delayed counter-terror breakthroughs,
• weakened operations that were producing tangible results,
• created operational confusion, and
• given armed groups breathing space at the very moment they were near collapse.

This is the kind of conduct that, in any serious country, would trigger a parliamentary inquiry, a special prosecutor, and a sweeping security review.

WHEN A CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF PLACES TURF ABOVE SECURITY

If even half of Ali-Keffi’s statements are accurate, then what we witnessed during that period was not leadership, but a power struggle masquerading as command authority.

Instead of providing institutional support, the Army leadership allegedly fought a turf war, not with terrorists, but with a joint intelligence outfit whose only purpose was to weaken terrorists. This is not the behaviour of a leader committed to defeating violent groups. It is the behaviour of someone determined to protect control at all costs, no matter the consequences to national security.

Let it be said plainly: This editorial is not accusing Buratai of working for terrorists. Only a court or formal inquiry can make such determinations. But Ali-Keffi’s revelations raise the possibility that actions taken by the Army leadership, intentionally or otherwise, may have benefited violent groups by disrupting the very operations designed to eliminate them.

That possibility alone is dangerous enough. And that possibility alone is enough to demand answers. Silence will not wash these allegations away. Counter-press statements will not make them disappear.

Nigeria demands and deserves a full, transparent, public clarification from Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai. If he acted rightly, he should have no fear explaining his decisions. If he acted wrongly, the nation must know.

A MATTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY, NOT PERSONAL REPUTATION

We are not dealing with trivial accusations. We are dealing with claims that decisions taken at the highest level of the Army may have:

• undermined counter-terror operations,
• endangered civilians and soldiers,
• and prolonged a war that has cost thousands of lives.

These are matters that go beyond personal reputation. They go to the core of whether Nigeria was betrayed by those sworn to protect it.

BURATAI MUST SPEAK AND NIGERIA MUST LISTEN

Ali-Keffi has spoken. He has placed facts, timelines and allegations on the table. Now the country waits for Buratai. In a democracy, no public official, past or present, is above accountability. And no military officer, no matter how decorated, is above scrutiny when national survival is at stake.

Buratai may deny. He may defend. He may dismiss. But what he cannot do, what he must not do, is remain silent.

Nigeria has buried too many innocents to continue burying the truth.