December 31 deadline on Boko Haram

With less than a hundred hours to the December 31 deadline to the military to defeat the Boko Haram terrorists by President Mohammadu Buhari, upon assuming office, scepticism still runs high on whether the deadline has been met. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, recently said that the Nigerian military had met the […]

With less than a hundred hours to the December 31 deadline to the military to defeat the Boko Haram terrorists by President Mohammadu Buhari, upon assuming office, scepticism still runs high on whether the deadline has been met.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, recently said that the Nigerian military had met the December deadline to defeat the Boko Haram terrorists.
“Today, I can report that the war against Boko Haram is largely won and can confidently say this because just recently, I led a group of 33 journalists from both the local and international media to the hotbed of the insurgency, that is, Maiduguri, Kondugua, Kaoure and Bama.
“I can report to you that the entire 70 plus kilometres stretch from Maiduguri to Bama and all the way to Banki which leads to Cameroun and the Central African Republic are in the hands of our gallant troops,” the minister said.
But despite the presence of Army chiefs on Christmas day, reports from Borno state have confirmed that Boko Haram insurgents were able to take over Kimba village and killed at least 14 people.
This is coming few days after the federal government declared that the war against insurgency had been won, and just recently Buratai’s hometown was also attacked while Kimba village has been a flashpoint between the army and the insurgents for the past 6 months.
This attack comes just less than a week to the December 31st deadline expiration set by President Muhammadu Buhari. And this is close to two years after the Chibok girls who were kidnapped and are still yet to be found.
Many Nigerians see the government’s reaction to the December 31st deadline as not true but mere propaganda and a tactic in war that may help weaken the Boko Haram terrorists.
Agreed the Nigerian Army has done well because some towns hitherto taken over by the insurgents have been liberated, but containing the insurgency is a matter that goes beyond issuance of deadlines. The Army should give an outline of what they have done in detail and also mention their shortcomings.
While we are mindful of President Muhammadu Buhari’s open-ended ticket to the Army, the army command should as a matter of urgency, finish the war to the end until Boko Haram is defeated completely.
The Boko Haram is not strictly a military affair and the war is not time bound therefore would not be said to have been won completely until all internally displaced persons have relocated to their various homes.
The federal government should be more vigilant and bear in mind that Boko Haram activities is still going on in neighboring countries where there is every tendency for them to regroup and strike back in Nigeria, and might even spring up again under different guises.
The Nigerian Army should be mindful that the insurgency issue goes beyond being a propaganda game, it has moved to a new theatre where it is difficult for Nigerians to properly verify the truth, therefore there should be proper enlightenemt.
Government must acknowledge the economic, political and social dimensions of the Boko Haram challenge and should address the non-military aspects of the crisis.
The security forces should also desist from carrying out attacks on ordinary Nigerians for the harm Boko Haram had done and stop alienating the society thus improving the government’s intelligence-gathering capacity. The positive image of the authorities should prompt the citizens to come forward and provide important information on the insurgents’ activity.