Nigeria is on the right track to winning the war on terrorism and the Boko Haram insurgents.
This is the view shared by Major-General Muyiwa Badewole and Captain Umar Aliyu, both retired officers of the Nigerian Army.
Appearing as guests on the special Independence edition of Sunrise Daily on Channels Television on Thursday, October 1, they both threw their weight behind the efforts being made by the Nigerian President in tackling insurgency in the North-East.
“I think the President means well for the Nigerian forces and for Nigeria,” Badewole said, noting that the President’s decision to relocate the Military Command Centre to Maiduguri was an early sign that he was taking the war on terrorism seriously.
Reacting to the President’s speech in the early hours of Independence Day, he stated that the December deadline given the military should not be misunderstood as promising a total end to the existence of Boko Haram.
“What he simply meant was that the ability of Boko Haram to inflict casualty on the Nigerian populace would have been seriously degraded.
“Low intensity conflict is not something you can just wish away. You will still find some renegades of insurgency taking place in some parts of the federation but the ability of Boko Haram to wage a sustained war would have been seriously degraded by December.”
Capt. Umar added that indeed there had been an issue of clarity in the President’s directive. He explained that the mandate given to the Troop Commanders is to “reclaim every inch of our soil from those insurgents.
“It’s unacceptable for them to hoist flags anywhere within Nigeria and by December 31st, there shouldn’t be any Boko Haram base or any flag flying.”
Umar, who is also a Security Consultant, stated that more responsibilities must be given to other security agencies as he believed that while the Army can reclaim territories, other agencies would be needed to sustain ownership of those towns and villages.
The retired officers also spoke about the changes that the military has experienced in recent months which they believe have contributed to the successes they have recorded against the Boko Haram.
While Major-General Badewole commended the quality of leadership and better attention being paid to the training and welfare of the soldiers, Capt. Umar asked for more to be done in the area of intelligence.
Both men also warned that Nigerians should not always believe the information coming from the camp of the insurgents but trust the Nigerian military.
They maintained that the release of videos does not necessarily mean that the insurgents still had control of Sambisa forest as the war is also psychological and Nigerians must not fall for their tactics.
“It is a feeble attempt to get attention which they don’t deserve,” Umar said.
