In an exclusive, no-holds-barred interview with Africa Today News, New York, Flight Lieutenant Christopher Uchenna Obasi (rtd) unveiled his highly anticipated book, “Beyond the Battlefield: Understanding Strategic Military Intelligence from a Nigerian Perspective.” As a seasoned veteran and expert in military intelligence, Obasi offers an unprecedented exploration into the evolution, challenges, and significance of strategic military intelligence within Nigeria’s historical and contemporary landscape.
With an illustrious career in the Nigerian Air Force and a diverse academic background, Obasi presents an in-depth analysis of Nigeria’s military intelligence from the pre-colonial era to the present day. His book delves into crucial aspects, including the pivotal role of intelligence in conflict, comparative analysis under different political regimes, counterinsurgency operations against Boko Haram, and the profound implications of technology on intelligence gathering.
During the captivating interview, Obasi sheds light on the intricate network of Nigeria’s intelligence community, providing detailed insights into the various agencies and their interplay. He fearlessly tackles significant intelligence failures, pushing the boundaries of discussion and transforming them into invaluable lessons for the future. The book also delves into the ethical dilemmas inherent in intelligence gathering, raising profound questions about the moral complexities of this field.
“Beyond the Battlefield” covers a wide spectrum of intelligence disciplines, encompassing human intelligence (HUMINT), open-source intelligence (OSINT), and signals intelligence (SIGINT). Readers gain a comprehensive understanding of these essential components and their impact on strategic military intelligence.
Moreover, Obasi illuminates the broader implications of military intelligence beyond the immediate battlefield. The book explores how intelligence influences diplomacy, regional collaboration, decision-making processes, and counterterrorism efforts. With an eye towards the future, Obasi identifies emerging concerns such as cybersecurity and emphasises the importance of intelligence training and education.
Flight Lieutenant Christopher Uchenna Obasi (rtd) captivates readers and interviewers alike with his wealth of experience and expertise. His groundbreaking work, presented in “Beyond the Battlefield,” provides a vital resource for anyone seeking a comprehensive understanding of military intelligence in Nigeria and its broader implications.
The interview with Flight Lieutenant Christopher Uchenna Obasi (rtd) offers an unfiltered glimpse into his remarkable journey, drawing on his distinguished military career and diverse academic accomplishments. As readers eagerly await the release of “Beyond the Battlefield,” it is clear that Obasi’s groundbreaking book will reshape the discourse on strategic military intelligence from a Nigerian perspective.
What inspired you to delve into the field of military intelligence and write this book specifically from a Nigerian perspective?
Obasi: Thank you for having me. The ancient Chinese general, philosopher, and strategist, Sun Tzu said: “Military intelligence is the key to war; without it, you cannot win.” I was inspired to delve into the field of military intelligence following my realisation that effective intelligence gathering, analysis, and timely presentation are at the heart of any formidable security architecture. It would interest you to know that I was of the Air Provost’s specialty while serving in the Nigerian Air Force. The Air Provost, or Air Police, is the Air Force equivalent of the Army’s military police and the Navy’s Naval Police. As you may be aware, the Air Police is the primary arm of law enforcement in the Nigerian Air Force. Therefore, it is not surprising that the first book I wrote after I retired from the Service was “Batons and Handcuffs: The Ideology of the Military Police”. However, I came to understand that to provide excellent law enforcement, you had to be thousands of miles ahead in terms of intelligence. I was lucky to have developed that consciousness quite early in the Service because it made my work so easy.
I remember that in one of the units I served in the South-Southern part of Nigeria, one of my senior colleagues used to describe me as a “rapid response officer”. This was based on the fact that I had my eyes and ears everywhere in the unit, so once there was any incident anywhere, you would see me there in a matter of minutes. I had informants even in the commander’s office – not necessarily to undermine the commander but to prevent his staff from sabotaging him. We were also able to nip a lot of things in the bud due to our painstaking intelligence, which was also timely. Accordingly, having understood the importance of intelligence at my own micro level of law enforcement, I decided that it was necessary to emphasize the role of intelligence in effective military operations in the interest of the Nigerian state.
How does Nigeria’s historical and contemporary context shape the evolution and challenges of strategic military intelligence?
Obasi: In the Book, I described the trajectory of contemporary military intelligence in Nigeria and partitioned it into three phases namely; the colonial era, the era of military regimes, and the era of democratic governance and insurgency. We argued that military intelligence in the colonial era was geared towards two main purposes, which were to protect Metropolitan trade routes as well as the colonial regime. The word “Metropole” is used in the Marxist Base and Superstructure Theory to refer to a former colonizing power. However, there could be an inference to be drawn from the fact that the colonial mentality of using certain aspects of law enforcement to protect the colonial regime provided the ideological foundations for the deployment of military intelligence for regime protection during the era of military interventions. Accordingly, we believe that the defective deployment of military intelligence during the era of military regimes was responsible for the unnecessary killing, maiming, and witch-hunting of opposition political figures in that era. A case in point is the NADECO and Abacha Debacle of the 1990s. Additionally, we saw that the deployment of military intelligence during the democratic era was seriously challenged by the emergence of insurgencies and cyber-insecurity. This posed a serious problem for the intelligence community, which had to grapple with the added responsibilities of devising an appropriate intelligence framework or methodology to support counterinsurgency operations, which were relatively alien to the Nigerian Armed Forces, as well as counter cyber-insecurity which was becoming an embarrassment to the Country.
Could you elaborate on the role of military intelligence during the Nigerian Civil War and its multifaceted impacts on the conflict?
Obasi: As you know, the Nigerian Civil War is an emotive one. However, a critical point to note is that during the Civil War, military intelligence was copiously utilized by both sides. Intelligence was used by both sides to evaluate each other in terms of personnel strength, movements, weapon inventory, capabilities, etc. There were also times when timely intelligence served as a force multiplier. A typical case in point is the Abagana disaster of March 31, 1968, where a small group of Biafran troops led by Major Jonathan Uchendu, acting on credible intelligence, annihilated a convoy of Nigeria’s 2 Division in guerilla fashion. Additionally, both sides employed military intelligence in their quest to achieve diplomatic breakthroughs while seeking the support of the international community. Unfortunately, there were also times when wrong intelligence led to field or administrative disasters, like the Nigerian aerial bombardment of Umuahia in 1969 following faulty intelligence that identified the defunct Biafran capital as having a heavy concentration of Biafran forces, whereas the reverse was the case.
The bad intelligence led to humongous civilian casualties on the Biafran side. Furthermore, the “raid” on Asaba, which resulted in the gruesome massacre of hundreds of civilians, was caused by faulty intelligence, which hinted that the people of Asaba were sympathetic to Biafra. In retrospect, we now know that the intelligence was merely sentimental, given the fact that Asaba had a significant Igbo population.
In your book, you compare the effectiveness of military intelligence under democratic and military regimes. What were some notable findings or differences you discovered?
Obasi: As we have noted earlier, the effectiveness of military intelligence during the military era could be assessed from the viewpoint of regime protection. As such, it was not unusual that allegations of harassment, torture, and murder of opposition political figures became the order of the day. This is in contrast to military intelligence in the democratic era, which is still grappling to master the terrain of unconventional operations. However, it is observed that military intelligence during the era of military regimes was more centralized and under stricter control. This came with the advantage of quicker decision-making. Additionally, apart from the issue of regime protection, military regimes in Nigeria were known for the overwhelming deployment of military intelligence for internal security. This seems to be premised on the assumption that a threat to security anywhere in the country could lead to a threat to the regime. This phenomenon appears to explain the minimal level of insurgencies during the era of military regimes in Nigeria when compared to democratic dispensations.
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How has technology influenced intelligence gathering and analysis in Nigeria, and what are the implications for the future?
Obasi: The application of technology in Nigerian intelligence gathering is still in its rudimentary stages. However, there has been reasonable progress in the application of ICT for enhanced data and imagery analysis, and a number of aircraft are currently being deployed for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) activities, which provide a wide range of capabilities like real-time imagery about enemy locations, movements, weapons holding, combat assessment, and much more. Additionally, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have made considerable contributions to intelligence gathering in Nigeria. The UAVs bring with them the advantage of stealth, which many of the ISR aircraft seem to lack. Notwithstanding, there are opportunities for improvement, especially in digital forensics, cyber-security, data management and analytics, training, capacity building, etc.
Can you discuss the various agencies within Nigeria’s intelligence community and explain how they interplay to ensure effective intelligence operations?
Obasi: We discussed extensively the nature and interplay of military intelligence agencies in the Book. However, we think that more emphasis should be placed on the working relationships of these agencies rather than their modus operandi. Rivalry is still an issue among the intelligence agencies within the Nigerian defence and security architecture.
Only a few days ago, we witnessed how the DSS and the EFCC were drawn into a “battle” for the ownership of a certain building in Lagos. Additionally, allegations of information and intelligence hoarding are also rife among these agencies. These are the issues. The Nigerian intelligence community must find a way to bury these rivalries and work together for the overall objective of protecting the Nigerian state.
“Beyond the Battlefield” addresses intelligence failures and ethical dilemmas. Could you provide some examples and explain how they can be valuable in the future?
Obasi: To be fair to intelligence agencies, no system is perfect. Don’t forget that we are in Africa, where national economies are struggling with a lot of issues that have resulted in inadequate funding to provide the infrastructure required to get things done. However, this is not an excuse for failure because, in some cases, security breaches also occur due to human and professional ineptitude. If data is not properly collected or analysed, we can’t always blame it on a lack of funding. Additionally, when such information is made available to those who need it but fail to utilize it, we can’t also blame it on a lack of funding. Consequently, we must state here that every failure of intelligence must be seen as an opportunity to learn and improve. For example, the Asaba invasion, which I cited at the beginning of our discussion, was predicated on faulty intelligence, which was based on assumptions and sentiments rather than empirical facts, and as expected, it resulted in the deaths of innocent people. It is unfortunate that even today, we still hear of fighter jets bombing villages and killing innocent people, primarily because of poorly processed intelligence. This is a testament to the fact that we are yet to learn from past mistakes.
Furthermore, I pointed out some failures of the Nigerian intelligence community with respect to anticipating and preempting events before they happen. In the Book, we gave the example of the “Ja’amatu Ahlis Sunna Liddawati wal Jihad” or “Boko Haram” and how the Nigerian intelligence community failed to anticipate the sect’s potential for violence at its inception. The same mistake is currently being made even in the fight against banditry, where counterinsurgency operations are launched in one part of the Country without adequate anticipation that surviving insurgents could resurface in another part of the Country where the heat is less. These issues must be properly addressed for future benefits.
Thank you for your time.
Obasi: It’s my pleasure.
Finally, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Flight Lieutenant Christopher Uchenna Obasi (rtd) for granting us this invaluable interview. His willingness to share his expertise and insights has enriched our understanding of military intelligence in Nigeria and its profound implications. We express our deepest appreciation for his dedication to shedding light on this critical aspect of national defense and for his commitment to shaping the discourse on strategic military intelligence. Thank you, Flight Lieutenant Christopher Uchenna Obasi (rtd), for your invaluable contribution.
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