It is said that Calm, Cerebral, articulate, amiable mien, these are qualities that typify former Director General of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brigadier General Paul Boroh (rtd). A man of great conviction and strategic insight bearing a surname that echoes in the annals of Nigerian history. Also from Bayelsa state like Isaac Adaka Boroh, Nigeria’s foremost advocate of resource control in the Niger Delta that culminated in an insurrection against the Nigerian state in 1966. But Paul Boroh who has no familial links to that Boroh is totally on the opposite side of the coin and history. General Boroh who enlisted into the Nigerian army in 1978 to serve his father land and give his all for the defence of Nigeria’s unity and territorial integrity, rose distinguishly through the ranks of that most noble national institution, reaching the enviable height of general.
But for this enigma of a man, generalship took a classical definition, for the general in the days of old was not just a man that leads forces to exercise might and brutality in the name of the state but whose actions on the front are designed to not only to secure the state in the immediate term but to maximize national interest usually in the long term. For Greek philosopher and historian Plutarch, the difference between a general and a statesman lies between daring and measuredness, or as the famous ancient Chinese strategist Tsun Su puts it, ” One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the most skillful. Subduing the other’s military without battle is the most skillful.”
Karl Von Clausewitz wrote, “To conduct a whole war, or (one of) its great acts, which we call campaigns, to a successful termination, there must be an intimate knowledge of state policy in its higher relations. The conduct of the war, and the policy of the State, here coincide; and the general becomes, at the same time, the statesman.” In other words, if a military leader should think only in terms of the operational aspect, he might fail to fathom the political intention.
It was gathered by Hobnob News that Paul Boroh was such kind of general, where the strength of arms meets the wisdom of the mind. For in the line of duty, the general was always a statesman, so every action was reckoned within the interest of ultimate state policy and intention. Boroh with his sharp intellect sees war as an instrument of policy and inseparable from political realities. No doubt his approach to action and duty must have contributed to his choice to lead the Nigerian contingent to Sierra Leone in 2000, an assignment that saw him bringing extraordinary gusto and impeccable comprehension to an extraordinarily fluid and precarious situation. Protecting the entire Freetown and key governmental functionaries and institutions of the country from attacks by rebel forces. He was also involved in some remarkable actions, such as the rescuing of about 500 peace keepers and military observers held captive by RUF rebels in Eastern Sierra Leone, and Operation OKRAhills which was to clear the major road to the hinterland to allow humanitarian aid available to civilians caught in the conflict. For his extraordinary performance, back home the then rising star of the Nigerian army was rewarded with the command of the 29th Battalion stationed in Kaduna state, where he was instrumental in the efforts to bring about a lasting solution to the intermittent ethno – religious crisis plaguing the state. Subsequently he was made the commanding officer of operation harmony in Bakassi peninsula in 2001 during the contentious days of the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon by the then Obasanjo administration, there again he was credited with a brilliant display that saw an highly tense situation managed effectively.
After a series of posting at the army headquarters, in 2009, Mr Boroh was appointed the Chief of Staff (Forces) of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and after a splendid tenure, he was made the first commandant of the Nigerian Army pioneer peace keeping center between September 2010 and March 2012. He was also the deputy commandant of Nigeria Armed forces Resettlement Centre (NAFRC) Oshodi Lagos. Three years later, immediately after his retirement from the army, this brilliant, thoughtful, principled gentleman was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to head the Presidential Amnesty Programme. Heading this important parastatal was no doubt an easy task for a man who had been at the forefront of international negotiation, dispute resolution and rehabilitation of affected people, both within and outside Nigerian.
Since leaving PAP, Paul Boroh who holds a Phd in Peace and Conflict studies and Phd in strategic studies from the University of Ibadan and University of Abuja respectively, has been the fulcrum of United Nations ceremonial activities Nigeria, especially when conceived around the promotion of peace, among his other international affiliations. Speaking recently on the occasion of the annual UN Peace Ambassadors day, he noted that world peace which should be a universal obligation is still being determined exclusively by state actors in a continuous geo – political clash of interests. Hence the need for a more conscious and vigilant international community through greater people to people diplomacy.
His view of international peace may arguably have contributed to his approach to peace building or born of experiences meritoriously earned. As people empowerment and engagement has marked his professional assignments. Unlike the other military greats this nation have seen who made their exploits during the military era, Boroh who is the child of a different milieu, either by necessity or inclination choosed a path to greatness that is more tortuous yet more noble. Not only committing to nation building but also to regional and global building through the advocacy of principles that are common to humanity. Boroh’s character is even more impressive than his accomplishments. Contemporaries are awed not only by his leadership abilities, but also by his honesty, commitment to principle, self-sacrifice, and sense of honor and duty.
This highly religious, and passionate Nigerian, believes that the condition of our tomorrow depends greatly on the sincerity with which we manage our diversity as a people. Boroh’s transition from General to statesman, though unheralded perhaps because he has never held the highest office in the land, seems smooth and divinely ordained, as they say cometh the hour, cometh the man, his personal efficiency and operational professionalism became an invaluable asset of state that easily overcame partisanship consideration, and these roles and enduing principles have certainly carved a niche for him in the absolute sense of the term. If former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, Abdulsalami Abubakar and others have their names carved out as statesmen, because of their singular gestures of peace when it mattered most, then Boroh who had been at the heart of turmoils and upheavals on the internal, regional and international level, with his consistent actions of peace, settlement, rehabilitation and reconstruction should be added to that pantheon. With a good grasp of geo – political intricacies and domestic requirements, he has continued to work with international platforms and domestic Non governmental organizations to proffer solutions to world problems and domestic policies.
Boroh like any public figure, has his detractors, but that has not stopped a man who has so much to offer from imparting particularly on the next generation when the opportunity presents itself, as it frequently does in a nation desperately in search of heroes and true leaders. Boroh has remained a steady beacon of light, hope and possibility.
Gabriel Enemona is a journalist and public affairs analyst, he writes from Abuja.
Hobnob News
