10 lessons ordinary Nigerians can take from the Taliban victory 

Ayo Akinfe 

[1] Do you know that 100,000 Taliban fighters defeated 300,000 US-trained Afghan troops? 

[2] While the ragtag Taliban army were on horseback and using pick-up trucks, the Afghan Army had tanks, armoured personnel carriers, drone support and all other modern military gadgets 

[3] The Taliban were using Pakistani-made AK-47s, which are highly inaccurate, while the Afghan Army were using slick US-made M16 assault rifles 

[4] What the Taliban have proven is that when you are determined, you can achieve unbelievable things 

[5] The Afghan Army was 10 times more formidable than Boko Haram, Iswap, Fulani herdsmen, kidnappers, etc currently plaguing Nigeria but they were comprehensively defeated 

[6] Nigeria’s army is not even as well funded, supported and equipped as the Afghan Army, so is very vulnerable to a determined group of zealots 

[7] Unlike Nigerians who keep waiting for a messiah to come to their rescue, the Taliban took matters into their own hands. They were not waiting for the Afghan government as we always do in Nigeria 

[8] Have you not noticed that “religious groups” do not wait for “God to fight their battles.” They get off their backsides and do it themselves

[9] Fortune favours the brave. I expect the Taliban to soon behead all those judges who jailed their members and throw every educated woman in jail. Personally I have no sympathy for the Afghans as they allowed the Taliban to overthrow their elected government without lifting a finger to resist 

[10] I also expect hunger and an economic crisis to soon bring Afghanistan to her knees. Personally, I will not contribute a penny towards any fund. We should not be rewarding cowardice