As Nigeria battles a domestic insurgency and wilting trust in its armed forces, President Buhari's overhaul has exposed exasperation with the military's ineffectiveness to guarantee security for the country.
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Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has replaced four of the country's top military heads following months of pressure over the nation's worsening security crisis.
Buhari, who took office in 2015 with a pledge to stamp out the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency, had long ignored advice to dismiss the commanders of Nigeria's army, navy and air force, as well as the chief of defense staff. He announced their resignation and replacements on Twitter on Tuesday.
A recent spate of skirmishes in south-eastern Nigeria between the army and the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra group (IPOB) has further deepened Nigeria's security woes.
Coupled with Boko Haram's continued presence in the north and a spike in armed banditry, swathes of Nigeria remain near-ungovernable.
"Nigeria is probably more insecure than it's been in recent history," Ryan Cummings, the director of analysis for the Africa-focused risk management consultancy Signal Risk, told DW.
New chiefs face 'high expectations'
The reshuffle saw Major General Lucky Eluonye OnyenucheaIrabor become Chief of Defense Staff and Ibrahim Attahiru become Chief of the Army. The air force and navy now have new leaders in Air Vice-Marshal Isiaka Oladayo Amao and Rear Admiral A.Z. Gambo, respectively.
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Presidential spokesman Malam Garba Shehu said the reshuffle was "routine" and endorsed the new leaders.
"None have them have served less than 30 years in the armed forces," he told DW. "I think they are well-equipped to carry out the task at hand as long as the government gives them support."
Kole Shettima from the Center for Democracy and Development told DW the new chiefs will be facing "high expectations, especially given that three of the four were at one point deployed to the north-east."
Shettima believes coordination and personal understanding between the new leaders would be a big factor in their potential success.
"I think everyone probably knew the previous service chiefs were not even on talking terms and that undermined their ability to prosecute the war against the insurgency," he says.
For Cummings, the reshuffle is a sign of Buhari's "exasperation and toughness."
"The buck has been passed on to the four figures that have been removed from their respective offices rather than the president himself," he says.
Cummings adds that many of Nigeria's security threats are "rooted in systemic issues," such as resource challenges.
"This is not an issue where a simple change in military leadership all of a sudden addresses both symptoms and causes of insecurity in the country," he explains.
Fighting ongoing in southern Nigeria
Developments in south-eastern Nigeria have taken a violent turn this week, with clashes between members of IPOB's newly formed armed wing, the Eastern Security Network, and the Nigerian military.
There are reports of deaths on both sides. The origin of the flare-up is disputed, but correspondents say the Nigerian army retaliated after IPOB members allegedly killed soldiers.
In the town of Orlu near the Imo state capital Owerri, eyewitnesses said there was sporadic shooting, with residents taking cover to avoid stray bullets. The Imo state government has since imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in affected areas.
Resident Nawwal Yusuf placed the blame on IPOB "agitators."
"They attacked the northerners and killed four of them," he told DW. "We discovered four dead bodies. They have already been buried."
Peter Uche, a member of IPOB, told DW the separatist group had been repeatedly harassed by the government since starting a security outfit in their region.
"The soldiers and this government have been kicking against the IPOB members," he said. "I am not happy about it. Other regions in this country have their own security outfit. But we have been fighting, they have been fighting us, trying to eliminate us."
Separatist movement remains active
Historically, south-eastern Nigeria has been a hotbed for Biafran separatist agitation.
The Nigerian Civil War, which lasted from 1967 to 1970, pitted southern separatists — who wanted to form the independent nation of Biafra — against the Nigerian government.
There are also religious divisions between predominantly Muslim northerners and southerners, who are largely Christian.
Currently, numerous splinter groups in south-eastern Nigeria are loosely united, demanding the right to form their own state. IPOB's leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is in exile.
The region is one of Nigeria's richest in terms of mineral resources, specifically oil. But with oil prices currently low, the Nigerian government is struggling to finance its budget.
"You have a population and Igbo population that feels somewhat disconnected from Nigeria's federal government structures," says Cummings. "They feel that President Buhari does not specifically represent their interests."
But despite the increasingly loud calls from the IPOB for the formation of the state of Biafra, Cummings adds that, despite dissatisfaction with the Nigerian government, wider polls show there is "not much resonance" for separatism in the region.
Examining international solidarity with Biafra
More than three decades ago, the civil war against Biafra in Nigeria shocked the world. Many called for an end to the war — including well-known German personalities. But where did this wave of solidarity come from?
Image: Getty Images/AFP
53 years of Biafra — the echo of independence
Two and a half years. More than 2 million lives: On January 15, 1970, the civil war in Nigeria finally ended. It was fought with the weapon of hunger and shook people all over the world. At the time, many Germans spoke out against the civil war. Half a century later, calls for an independent Biafra are growing louder again. We take a look back 50 years on.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
War at the expense of the weakest
Members of the Igbo, a predominantly Christan population in Nigeria, proclaimed the indepdendent Republic of Biafra on May 30, 1967. The region's nearly 14 million inhabitants celebrated their new state, but a year later, the first war since decolonization broke out. The name Biafra soon became synonymous with misery, hunger and death.
Image: picture-alliance/Leemage/MP/Lazzero
Terrible loss
When Nigerian troops took the city of Port Harcourt in May 1968, the separate state of Biafra lost its only point of access to the sea. From that point on, those who were trapped relied on supplies dropped from the air. It was a clear victory for the Nigerian army. The insurgents under General Ojukwu's leadership were far inferior and poorly trained.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives/TopFoto
The 'Biafra babies'
The Nigerian troops soon started a siege war, in which they tried to starve out the separatists. These so-called Biafra babies soon became known all over the world. The humanitarian catastrophe moved people to the extent that an unprecedented solidarity movement began. At its worst, up to 10,000 children and elderly people died every day in the summer of 1968.
Image: Gemeinfrei
A demonstration for people in need
The civil war over Biafra mobilized the public in Germany like no other previous African event. In August 1968, Biafran and German students began a five-day walk to Bonn. They demanded Biafra be recognized as a sovereign state. The flag with the rising sun (pictured above, right) became Biafra's national flag.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Hennig
Celebrity support
"As Germans, we should know what we are saying when we say the word genocide... because silence becomes complicit." Author Günter Grass was probably the most prominent speaker at a rally held in Hamburg in 1968 against the war in Biafra. His message hit a nerve in Germany: In the 1960s, people had started to deal with the past of World War II.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/ESH
'Hungry for Justice'
In Germany, bishops, parliamentarians and citizens' initiatives all got involved — the Evangelical Church Day in 1968 also focused on Biafra. Money and relief supplies were collected and flown to war-torn Biafra. Former German Air Force pilot Friedrich Herz initially trained in Biafra as a fighter pilot before flying against the Nigerian army.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Reiss
The Society for Threatened Peoples is born
In Hamburg, students Klaus Guerke and Tilman Zülch (pictured above) created the "Komitee Aktion Biafra-Hilfe." The organization received support from such diverse people as the Mayor of Berlin, Heinrich Albertz, writers Günter Grass and Luise Rinser and the Bishop of Münster, Heinrich Tenhumberg. The group later became the international NGO, the Society for Threatened Peoples.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Schutt
A war beyond rational thought
Historian Golo Mann praised those who went to the aid of Biafra, although his comments were not always understood: "A war in which British 'imperialists' and Russian 'communists' pull together on the same rope of crime, in which a former colony is fighting for the supposed unity of its state against a tribe which is not even 'socialist' is quite uninteresting...all theory is indeed harmful!"
Image: picture-alliance/Keystone/Röhnert
'Biafra — millions die'
In London, protesters marched from the former Soviet embassy to the prime minister's office at 10 Downing Street. They accused both the Soviet Union and Britain of supporting Nigeria's war against Biafra with by supplying weapons. Labor party politician Michael Barnes also spoke at a rally organized by the "Biafra Committee."
Image: Getty Images/Daily Express/R. Dumont
'A for Ausschitz — B for Biafra'
Many committed human rights activists were stunned by the lack of international engagement. They expressed their frustration in newspaper advertisements, in strong-worded appeals and even on posters bearing slogans such as "A for Auschwitz — B for Biafra." Well-known Germans like Erich Kästner (pictured above), Ernst Bloch, Marcel Reich-Ranicki and Martin Walser were just a few famous signatories.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images
Sending medical aid
French doctor Bernard Kouchner traveled to Biafra in 1968, where, as a part of the International Red Cross (IRC), he tried to provide medical aid to the population in need. Kouchner criticized the IRC's stance of not interfering in the politics of the warring parties. He went on to lay the foundations of the international NGO, "Doctors Without Borders."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/D. Faget
Calls for independence continue
Donations from all over the world kept the people of Biafra alive. Aid organizations and the IRC sent 7,350 aircraft loads containing 81,300 tons of food and medication. Despite the aid they received, Biafra had to surrender to Nigeria on January 15, 1970. But even today, the calls for an independent Biafra have not subsided.