Borno State has been on the receiving end from Boko Haram attacks but there are high hopes of a turn of events as the Command Centre relocates to Maiduguri.
The Nigerian President announced the planned relocation of the Command Centre to Borno State during his inauguration on Friday, May 29 and Nigerians have continued to comment on the directive given by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The former Minister of Education and leader of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign organisation, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili says Nigerians should just wait to see how that speech will be translated into action.
Mrs Ezekwesili, who spoke to Channels Television in Abuja, described the speech as inspiring as it is loaded with action, one of the attributes of a good speech.
She, however, noted that translating the speech into positive results is what would determine if it was indeed a great speech, starting with the rescue of the Chibok girls.
A security expert, Capt. Aliyu Umar, is also one of those who believe that the decision to move the Command Centre to Maiduguri was a good one.
He said that the relocation would give the military the edge to fight the militants, recalling several instances where similar decisions had yielded positive results.
Capt. Umar said that the Nigerian Army might not have had a high number of soldiers running away from battle if their commanders had been around.
The retired Nigerian Army officer also frowned at times in the past when military chiefs have had to stay back in Abuja waiting to be told what was happening in the North-east, highlighting the constant breakdown of communications as a major set back in Nigeria’s fight against insurgency.
Vulnerable And Attractive Target
Another Security Consultant, Dr Onah Ekhomu, however, believes that moving the military command centre to Maiduguri may not yield the desired results in the long run, because of the transformation of Boko Haram’s tactics into pure terror.
He said that the decision would make the command centre a vulnerable and attractive target for the insurgents, recalling the spirited attacks that the insurgents have launched on the Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri in the past.
According to him, it takes one IED to destroy an entire facility.
Dr. Ekhomu also stated that effectively combating the group’s terror would require more of intelligence assets, more planning and a strategic assessment of Boko Haram’s capabilities.
A command centre is any place that is used to provide centralised command for some purpose.
It is sometimes considered to be a military facility, but the centre enables an organisation to function as designed, to perform day to day operations regardless of what is happening around it, in a manner in which no one realises it is there.
The command cenrtre is a source of leadership and guidance.
